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Still time to have your say on the proposed Brothels Bylaw

Christchurch City Council

Tuesday 26 June 2012, 4:17PM

By Christchurch City Council

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CHRISTCHURCH

There is still time for people to comment on the Council’s proposed Brothels Bylaw which will place greater restrictions on where and how operator-run brothels can set up business.

The public consultation on a proposed Christchurch City Council Brothels (Location and Commercial Sexual Services Signage) Bylaw closes at 12 noon on 10 July 2012.

Currently, there are no bylaw controls on where brothels can set up business in the city. The proposed Brothels Bylaw would restrict the location of brothels, other than small owner-operator brothels, to specific commercial areas in Christchurch and Lyttelton and will not permit them to be located on a property that shares a boundary with a school or is immediately adjacent to any important open space area in the Central City.

Alan Bywater Programme Manager Strong Communities says brothels at present can effectively operate wherever they want, as long as they comply with the district plan rules. The Council decided a bylaw was the best means to address this issue, particularly as the earthquakes had displaced many of the known operator-run brothels in the Central City.

“Although the Council cannot totally prohibit brothels, the Prostitution Reform Act allows the Council to identify areas of the city where they cannot operate. Prior to the 22 February 2012 earthquake there were only 13 known operator-run brothels and 12 of these were in the Central City – we are not anticipating any increase in the number of operator-run brothels as a result of the bylaw. The Central City is still one of the areas the Council has proposed brothels can operate from.

“What the Council is proposing is a tightening of rules around the location of brothels. Our aim is to identify areas of the city where this activity is allowed, away from schools and residential areas,” he says.

Controls will also be placed on signage advertising commercial sexual services. This means signage would be allowed and regulated in the same areas where brothels are allowed to locate and prohibited elsewhere.

Small owner-operator brothels (SOOBs) as defined in the Prostitution Reform Act, would continue to be permitted across the city.

The proposed Brothels Bylaw can be viewed:

 

Public consultation on the proposed Brothels Bylaw runs from 11 June until 10 July 2012. Submissions on this proposal can be made either:

               Freepost 178
‘              Submissions on proposed Council Brothels Bylaw 2012’
               Christchurch City Council
               Democracy Services
               PO Box 73013
               Christchurch 8154

Hearings, if necessary, will be held in July 2012, with a final decision likely to be released by September 2012.