Wilmslow Town Council has agreed to say no to Sexual Entertainment Venues in Wilmslow.
At their meeting on Monday, 20th August, councillors voted in favour of requesting that Cheshire East Council set the appropriate number of Sexual Entertainment Venues in Wilmslow town centre at zero.
As it currently stands there is one licensed Sexual Entertainment Venue on Grove Street, ST Lounge which was granted a new licence in March. However, the Town Council is hoping that this will change when they next apply for their annual licence.
Cllr Gary Barton, who requested that this item be added to the agenda of the meeting, told fellow councillors that Grove Street isn't flourishing as we would all like and whilst he wouldn't want to blame that solely on the ST Lounge he felt it wasn't helpful to have that venue there as it is damaging to the town centre.
He said "It is very clear that this venue is not appropriate for Wilmslow Town Centre and I very much feel that Wilmslow is a town which should be at zero level for this type of venue" - pointing out that it is surrounded by residential areas, four churches and Wilmslow Prep School which is immediately adjacent to Grove Street.
Cllr Barton added "We cannot revoke annual licences, unless there have been breaches, but we can effect the renewals. We are merely trying to get the ball rolling with Cheshire East Council and make the Town Council's position clear."
Marion Amir-Hekmat spoke on behalf of 'Make Wilmslow Matter' at the Town Council meeting, which is a group consisting of local residents, schools, businesses and churches who feel strongly that sexual entertainment has no place on the pedestrianised thoroughfare of Grove Street.
She said "This year the law changed, and the Government's new 'Sexual Entertainment Licence' adopted by Cheshire East Council was intended to give greater powers to local businesses, residents and councillors to determine the location of sex establishments.
"Councils can now consider it inappropriate to grant a licence where the characteristics of the locality include: an area predominately comprising residential accommodation; parks and children's play areas; schools and youth centres and places of worship. All of the above are the characteristics of the current location of the ST Club."
Angela Chatfield, a mother of two teenage daughters who has lived in Wilmslow for 21 years, also spoke at the Town Council meeting.
She said "I fail to understand why the Council ever allowed the ST Lounge to open in Wilmslow Town Centre in the first place - the activities which are promoted in this establishment, I believe, present a very real threat and a risk to any female, young or old who happens to be walking quite innocently in the vicinity of Grove Street during the hours when the ST Lounge is trading.
"The ST Lounge in Wilmslow town centre is situated very close to a large residential area, it is close to a number of businesses, to numerous schools and to places of worship. The residents of Wilmslow do not want this cheap and perverse establishment to be trading within their midst. Local businesses do not want the ST Lounge in close proximity to their premises because it has been proven that establishments up and down the country which are not dissimilar to the ST Lounge, tend to denigrate the area."
Whilst some members of the public greeted the Town Council's decision to request that Cheshire East Council sets the number of Sexual Entertainment Venues in Wilmslow town centre at zero with cheers, Cllr Jim Crockett pointed out "We have no authority on this, Cheshire East Council issues the licences, we can make recommendations but that's as far as it can go."
What do you think about ST Lounge being located on Grove Street? Do you think Cheshire East Council should set the level of Sexual Entertainment Venues in Wilmslow at zero?
Share your thoughts via the comment box below.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
When married men visit these types of establishments it often causes problems in marriage and relationships. I am not a prude and enjoy erotic art as much as the next person, however I do believe that this type of establishment demeans women, and men too. It is live pornography - no more - no less, the word pornography comes from ancient Greece, meaning the sexual writing or pictorial representation of the lowest people in society - in other words - prostitutes. They were the strata of society that the rest of society detested and treated with derision and scorn.
Women carrying out this type of work are not seen as being equal in every sense of the word, as men. When a woman lap dances, it is purely for the gratification of men, there is no consideration given to wether she is on her period, has a cold, is hungry, tired, frightened, drugged, humiliated or just simply not sexually aroused. She is not treated as a human being at all, but just as a sexual toy or object, to be discarded like a 'used tissue' when served her purpose.
This is the not the type of work I would want for my daughter so I therefore do not want it for any of my 'sisters' either. I wonder how many women would choose to do this type of work if they were educated to a level where they could earn a decent living wage without having to resort to taking their clothes off for men's sexual gratification.
How many men would actually be proud of their wives, girlfriends, daughters, mothers doing this type of work? I suspect not many. I am a heterosexual female and love the naked human body, especially men, however I have never visited a male strip event and never would, I believe that those types of events are demeaning to men too. Any human being is worthy of much more respect that these establishments afford them.
I am so happy that Cheshire East Council have decided to carefully consider the licence for this establishment as I have never heard of any good coming from this type of place. It would not be appropriate for Wilmslow and in a multicultural society, as the UK is, it is insulting to women and girls of differing faiths.
This also sends a clear message to society that this type of work and establishment is not appropriate in 2012 and this is a small battle won in the war of double standards, hypocrisy, inequality and protecting our daughters from sexual exploitation.
I thank you!
Residents - not very many near other than in the lovely block of flats which would have made a much more sensible place to start objections when the old Police station was wrecked. Where were the vociferous then?
If they don't like Wilmslow and it's variety of entertainments then there are plenty of rural villages with no ameneties to move to!
As to sexual exploitation, the dancers choose to work there. They are usually well educated and therefore able to make decisions.
I visited the ST Lounge a few months ago. It was the only venue open late and was busy with people, men and women, enjoying a drink. The clientèle were better behaved than in most pubs or bars in the vicinity and the girls seemed anything but uneducated or mistreated. Quite frankly the amount they were being paid for dances suggests that they are not the ones being exploited.
Your position seems to be that these girls are treated as something less than human and the lowest of the low. This is just plain incorrect. I think if someone visited the same venue I went in a few months back and behaved like this then they would pretty quickly find themselves out on their ear and not welcome back.
As to claims of damaged relationships, I'm not quite sure where you get this idea from in relation to these types of venues. If anything, men are more likely to go home and want to make love with their partners. Quick, call a divorce lawyer!
I'm not suggesting that Grove Street is the ideal venue for this establishment, just that your arguments centre around largely inappropriate and unfounded accusations when taken in relation to this particular business.
We`re not talking Amsterdam here, we have one discreet venue which appears to be well run. As a woman who considers herself to be pretty keen on women`s rights I would doubt very much if the workers at this venue are in any way exploited.
I Agree Simon. If Wilmslow as a B2C commercial destination is to thrive then we need conditions conducive to attracting individual and independent outlets to set up shop. Not chain stores that can be found in any town centre but places, people and services specific to Wilmslow. Distinction or slow death.
We know that high streets have changed over the years and will continue to do so. There may be uses for premises that won't be massive commercial money spinners, but attract people and in turn benefit the business' in the vicinity. (Okay I haven't thought of one, but somebody has/will)
If rents/rates are prohibitive then we're excluding the possibility of these (as yet non existent) ventures from being created or small independents from establishing themselves and signing ourselves up to a future town centre of chain store bookies.
Think long term Wilmslow.
I have a colleague who many years ago when many shopping precincts were being built tried to apply for premises and was repeatedly refused. He had 5 stores at the time. Eventually he knew someone involved in one of the application process' that had yet again turned him down and he was able to ask why he was getting nowhere. The answer came that they were only accepting applications from organisations that had 12 or more stores. The councils took an accountants approach to safety first in making decisions on tenants and therefore towns futures. The damage was irreparable, welcome to the age of every town centre looking the same. We need to be brave and think outside of the box. We need to persuade those with the means to effect change, to find the will
rant over.