Some local residents are outraged that a notice designed to inform the public that a lap dancing club had submitted a licence application has been "effectively buried".
ST Lounge on Grove Street applied to Cheshire East Council (CEC) for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence towards the end of last year and as part of the process they had to place a public notice in a local newspaper and a site notice outside their premises.
However a group of local residents "who find sexual entertainment in Wilmslow shopping precinct totally inappropriate for this small attractive market town" are annoyed that the advert appeared in the Manchester Evening News rather than the Wilmslow Express.
Marion Amir-Hekmat told wilmslow.co.uk "I would challenge the definition of the Manchester Evening News as a local paper, being a paper based 11 miles away. In Wilmslow and Alderley Edge our local paper is circulated weekly and is known as the Wilmslow Express Advertiser.
"I am further dismayed that this "local advert" ran in the Friday 30th December 2011 publication, a date when interested parties are least likely to read and object."
Ms Amir-Hekmet feels that the Licensing Department at CEC should "consider whether tactical advertising, such as this, to reduce objections should be deemed unfair and biased; prevent effectively "burying" public notice information by refusing advertisements placed between Christmas and New Year when interested parties are least likely to read and object and share information openly with local residents on such important issues as this."
She has written to CEC asking for an explanation as to why the local Wilmslow Express was not selected for this advert, why it was approved for a Manchester Newspaper and a list other companies that have been allowed to "tactically advertise".
Marion Amir-Hekmat added "I have yet to meet a resident who saw the advertisement but I'm assured by Nicky Cadman from the Licensing Department that this is what happened and furthermore this process is legal, unbiased and fair; - by the way, it is now too late for Wilmslow residents to object.
"As over 80 people had previously written to the licensing department concerning this premises, had we seen the advert we felt sure there would have been a very strong response.
"We feel that Wilmslow residents and tax payers right to be heard has been denied."
A Cheshire East Council spokesman said: "A valid application for a Sexual Entertainment Venue Licence Schedule 3, Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982 in respect of the ST Lounge, 16 Grove Street, Wilmslow, was received by Cheshire East Council's Licensing Section on 23rd December 2011.
"The application was advertised in the form of a public notice in the Friday December 30th 2011 edition of the Manchester Evening News. The applicant has informed Cheshire East Council that there was an error at the Wilmslow Express newspaper where it should have appeared in the Thursday 29th December 2011 edition, and that it was placed in the Manchester Evening News instead in order to comply with the regulation that the public notice (in the prescribed form) must be published in a newspaper circulating in the Council's area not later than 7 days after the date the application was made. This complies with regulations. There was also a site notice displayed.
"A total of 13 letters of objection have been received from interested parties and a date will now be set for a hearing of the General Licensing Sub-Committee before the application is processed any further."
