BEDFORD, UK, April 5, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A local council in the UK unanimously voted last night to refuse space for “sex entertainment venues” in a move being hailed by Christian campaigners as a solid step towards rolling back the erosion of traditional values.
The small town of Bedford, however, stopped short of adopting a “nil approach” to granting licenses for strip and lap dancing clubs that have blighted sections of many larger cities in Britain. Councillors said they feared that completely banning the granting of licenses could leave the council open to costly lawsuits.
The adopted policy states that in the opinion of the Council, “there is no locality in the Borough that is considered appropriate for a Sexual Entertainment Venue.”
Supporters of the policy say that potential applicants will now find it much more difficult to have an application approved. The council has already rejected a number of applications for lap dancing venues in recent years.
Councillor Ian Clifton defended the new policy saying that if the council bans the clubs outright, “they will just go underground and operate illegally elsewhere.”
Campaigner and former Bedford Borough Councillor Peter Chiswell refuted this, saying, “I believe there are strong legal grounds for adopting a zero policy. There’s a strong legal case for doing so and a strong defence should they vote for this. The law allows a nil policy.”
A public consultation was carried out between November and February, which heard directly from 2,000 local people, out of a population of about 80,000, who unanimously supported a total ban. Chiswell also presented a petition with 3,000 names asking for a nil policy.
Surveys carried out by the council also showed that a majority of people in the area support a nil policy.
Cllr. Sam Pryce also supported a total ban, saying, it would “show that the council is willing to listen to the concerns of a very large number of people in the area and give the opportunity to vigorously represent those views.”
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Bedford Cllr. Louise King, said although she was “faintly troubled” at the idea of a total ban, “I would certainly not wish to see an explosion of sexual entertainment venues in our town, as I feel that the very notion of sexual entertainment degrades women and is probably also on some level insulting to the men who pay through the nose to watch any such performance. The assumption that men cannot function without the opportunity of a glimpse of female flesh is ridiculous.”
In 2009, alarmed at the growth of sex entertainment venues, MPs passed the Policing and Crime Act that requires any strip club where live entertainment takes place more than 11 times a year to apply for a license from its local authorities. The campaign group Christian Concern for Our Nation reports that since the new law was put in place granting local councils the power, refusal of applications from sex establishments has become a growing trend across UK cities. Applications have been refused in Oxford, Maidstone and London as well as Bedford.
Andrea Minichiello Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, commented, “We are massively encouraged by the multiple successes we have seen in opposing sex establishments in city centers.”
“It’s great to see local Councils using their new powers for good and responding to people’s concerns about such places. Our city centres should be kept as community spaces where parents can take their children without fear,” she said.