YOUR timely report on the proposed club at 34 Hamilton Terrace in Leamington (Courier, last week) prompted me to send in a letter of objection to the district liscensing office.
But whatever your readers think of the plans, they need to be aware that the specific grounds for lodging an objection are quite limited. They include public safety, crime and disorder, public nuisance and protection of children.
Clearly the appli
cation would particulary concern those who live and work in and around Hamilton Terrace. And it seems that liscensing officers may plan to limit objection to those in the immediate vicinity. But I believe that should be challenged. This is not an application for a corner shop or local takeaway.
The proprietors will no doubt seek custom from a wide area and its impact would be proportionate. Anybody who regularly visits or walks through the area may have good reason to express legitimate concerns about the club's effect.
Licensing such a club is not a decision based on moral attitudes. Supposing a brothel was planned: it would provoke a degree of outrage and be prosecuted in any case, but it might in fact satisfy an existing appetite, whereas lap dancing is all about stimulating lust, while never providing satisfaction.
The club application seeks to combine this stimulation with drinking, throughout the day and well into the night. The impact of alcohol alone on public order and safety is depressingly obvious (just ask the police or hospital A&E). Is this club realistically going to insist that its customers only touch one or two or maybe three glasses of its profitable drinks on offer?
My point is that drink and frustrated sex could be quite a toxic mix. Reason indicates that at the very least some outbreaks of insulting behaviour are likely and possibly more serious social disorder. Are all the departing punters, tanked up and gagging for it, about to go on their way quietly and contented like well behaved 'gentlemen'? - Richard Ashworth, Willes Road, Richard Ashworth,.
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