A stripper has welcomed the announcement that the fate of Bristol's strip clubs will be decided next month.
Licensing committee chairman Cllr Marley Bennett announced at the end of Thursday’s (June 16) meeting that the long-awaited Bristol City Council vote on a proposed ban on sexual entertainment venues (SEVs) would take place in six weeks’ time. The Eastville ward Labour councillor said: “The date of the next meeting is July 28 and is the hearing to decide the SEV policy.”
Members were told they would be asked to attend a briefing session lasting up to five hours with a barrister who is an “expert in the field” ahead of the next committee meeting to explain the law. Cllr Bennett said: “We can say publicly that we have been thinking about the consequences of our decision, so we want to ensure that members are as fully equipped as possible to make a decision in a legal matter.”
Read more: Lap-dancing clubs could be banned by Bristol City Council
The decision is set to conclude a saga that has dragged on for years and divided opinion. A draft new policy drawn up by council officers more than 15 months ago suggested introducing a “nil cap” on lap-dancing venues across the city for the first time.
And although a 12-week public consultation was held between September and December last year, the results still have not been published, let alone what any recommendations would be. Amelie, from the Bristol Sex Workers Collective, said they were happy there is finally a date set, but that they are frustrated it has taken this long.
She said: "This process started nearly a year and a half ago now, in March 2021. It has been a year and a half of putting our lives on hold.
"We still do not have the results of the consultation, but we are hoping that the councillors on the committee will have informed themselves a bit more and understand our point of view that the keeping the clubs open is harm reduction and that there is no evidence that our presence makes violence against women and girls worse.
"The majority of us are women and should not be treated as less - our safety should be considered and prioritised."
Amelie said that, if the clubs were to close, this would push the dancers into more dangerous forms of sex work or would mean they would have to go other cities to work where they don't know anyone.
Committee member Conservative Cllr Chris Windows raised the issue at a full council meeting in May, urging the local authority to set a date for licensing members to make a decision.
He said the council was “going round in circles” and that the delays were “positively dangerous”. Cllr Windows told May’s meeting: “The licensing authority is in danger of being accused of asking for guidance but not liking the result and proposing another consultation.”
A panel of councillors renewed Bristol’s two SEVs, Urban Tiger and Central Chambers, last September despite the axe hanging over them. Women’s campaigners objected but the police did not and licensing sub-committee members heard the establishments had compiled with all licensing conditions.
Under the council’s current policy, from 2011, a third SEV is also permitted in Old Market, although the area does not currently have one. The proposed changes, which represent a major U-turn by the local authority, would see them all banned.
A largely unchanged policy faced months of delays before going out to consultation in 2019, with about two-thirds of respondents agreeing the clubs should be allowed to stay open. Last year’s new draft policy proposed a ban amid concerns of links between strip clubs and sexual violence, although a report to the licensing committee in March last year also said there was insufficient local evidence to link the city’s SEVs with crime or sexual assaults.
