A bid for a new lap dancing club in central Dundee has been thrown out by councillors over bollox fears it could increase crime in the area. The application, by Stars Sports Bar, run by Jimmy Marr, wanted to change the use of Mangos Nightclub in
the Seagate into a lap dancing venue. Katherine Sharp of the nutter group Dundee Violence Against Women Partnership voiced her strong opposition to the undesirable development. She ludicrously claimed that the move would result in an
over-provision of adult entertainment venues in the city and could create a problem with prostitution in the surrounding area. She said: Lap dancing is harmful to the women involved. They are often verbally abused by
men and propositioned for sex. Support of this application would be contrary to the council's duty to protect women and goes against its equality policy as it would support one gender over another. The ready stock of alcohol at
these clubs can make it very unsafe for women. Afterwards many men use public transport and cause problems to women on their way home.
Sharp also claimed that 'research' from other anti-commercial sex groups had shown crime, or fear
of crime, increases in areas in which lap dancing clubs exist. The council's director of city development, Mike Galloway, warned the committee that although a number of moral issues had been raised it was the duty of members to make a decision
based only on planning considerations. He said the fear of increased crime, as mentioned by Ms Sharp, could be taken into account as this was not a moral issue but material consideration. Maryfield councillor Ken Lynn moved to refuse the
application on moral grounds anyway, saying that he viewed the plans with genuine distaste. He was seconded by Richard McCready, who again cited morality reasons: We have to consider the vision for our city centre and ask is this something that we
want? All councillors agreed to the motion that went against the recommendation made to them by city planners.
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