31/3/2008

Local News in Fleet

Fight for topless dancing

A plan to stage topless pole dancing evenings in a Fleet bar has been thrown out.

Hart district councillors also refused permission for an extension to alcohol sales at the Sports Bar in Albert Street, Fleet.

Bar owner Neal Hayes said he will appeal against the decision, taken by a three-member panel of Hart’s licensing committee following a detailed hearing and nearly 90 minutes of deliberation.

David King, Hart District Council’s senior licensing officer, opened the hearing at the civic offices in Fleet on Thursday.

He said the application was for an extension of alcohol sales until midnight from Monday to Wednesday and until 1am on Thursday, with the option dancing until midnight from Monday to Wednesday and until 1am from Thursday to Saturday.

Mr King told the hearing: “The performance of dance is to include adult entertainment in the form of exotic table dancing.”

The council’s environmental health department raised concerns about the application due to public nuisance, while the police were concerned about associated crime and the protection of children from harm while the adult dancing was being performed.

Mr King said both objections were withdrawn after Mr Hayes agreed to a number of conditions. These included having three specially trained security staff to keep an eye on those entering the bar and customers’ behaviour inside.

No one under the age of 21 would have been allowed on the premises during the dancing evenings and there would have been no entry after 11pm.

Mr Hayes had agreed to put up warning signs at the entrance stating that adult dancing was being performed.

He agreed to blank out doors and windows so passers-by could not see into the premises when the adult dancing was being performed. Furthermore, he promised that there would be no contact between customers and dancers.

Mr King said that Mr Hayes would conduct a review of the adult entertainment after three months of it taking place.

Addressing the hearing, Mr Hayes said he was finding it difficult to compete with bars in Fleet Road as his is the only independent bar in the town and is off the main high street.
He was looking at doing a once-a-month table-dancing event.

Mr Hayes told the hearing: “It’s something that might not work and the customers will not come to and in that case we will stop doing it.”

When asked to define ‘exotic dancing’ Mr Hayes replied: “It’s more of a show. It’s not going to be a seedy lap dancing bar which some people are trying to make out.”

He said there would not be full nudity, with four or five girls taking it in turns to do a show on the stage.

Mr Hayes said the shows would take the form of topless pole dancing.

He added: “Most of the dancers will wear bikinis or bikini-like tops.”

Panel chairman Cllr Colin Ive asked: “So there will be an element of striptease?” to which Mr Hayes replied: “Yes.”

Mr King said the council received 11 letters of objection from nearby residents.

Cllr John Pearson spoke at the hearing on behalf of a couple who live opposite the bar and have two boys aged nine and 12. The children sleep in a front bedroom looking straight across the road towards the front of the bar.

“Boys will be boys,” Cllr Pearson said. “With the proposed adult entertainment taking place just across the road from their bedroom, the boys will inevitably become aware of it and thus run a significant risk of suffering harm from this knowledge.”

Cllr Pearson said Albert Street residents already regularly suffer from antisocial behaviour by people walking from the town centre the worse for drink.

He said this has resulted in vandalism, people urinating and vomiting in gardens, as well as shouting, swearing and sometimes fighting in the street.

Cllr Pearson concluded: “The proposed licensing of performance of dance of an adult nature is unacceptable in premises situated in a residential area such as Albert Street.”

One woman from Albert Street told the hearing: “A sports bar is fine — a sports bar with sleaze in it is not.”

Another woman fumed: “This is fully clothed men being titillated by semi-naked women.”
After reaching a decision, Cllr Ive told the hearing that the panel had carefully considered all the evidence but had decided not to grant the licence.

They decided to reject it because the applicant had not addressed concerns about the prevention of public nuisance and the protection of children from harm.

After the hearing, Mr Hayes told the Fleet Mail: “Naturally I’m shocked and disappointed with the decision. I’ve been here for seven years and there’s never been any trouble.

“I will definitely appeal.  There are no legal reasons why the application should not have been granted.

“We went above and beyond the requirements made by the council.

First printed in: Fleet News and Mail