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ArticlesYou are in: London > London Local > Your Stories > Articles > The Strip Club at the End of My Street?! The Strip Club at the End of My Street?!By Kate Smurthwaite How would you react to the prospect of your local bar being granted a licence to become a strip pub? Residents and businesses in Stoke Newington have taken action. I moved to Stoke Newington in 2004, to one of the thousands of three-bedroom Victorian terraces that attract more young families every year but are also home to an unbelievably diverse community.听 The fantastic range of restaurants reflects this with everything from Turkish grills to Thai, Indian and new trendy gastro-pubs popping up every week.听 It鈥檚 an area that鈥榮 going places, community groups are springing up.听 This week new trees were planted in my street. Satchmo鈥檚 was the latest trendy bar to open in the area.听 We popped in for drinks and were set to make the place our local except that they weren鈥檛 all that friendly.听
When the bar was quiet they closed at nine, when friends of ours tried to start a comedy show called The Poodle Club downstairs I saw no sign of the posters to promote it around the bar.听 We went back to our old local.听The Poodle Club moved up the road to the White Hart where the staff rave about it to customers and it鈥檚 rammed every week. Then a letter came through my door from a group called Stop The Strip Pub.听 They had noticed a single A4 sheet of paper stuck in the window of Satchmo鈥檚 announcing their intention to apply for a licence to offer table and pole-dancing daily from 11am until the early hours of the morning.听 I wasn鈥檛 even sure whether to believe it but I went along to the protest just in case.听 Now I鈥檓 volunteering every hour I can spare to canvas support for the objections. SupportThe reaction has been incredible.听 People that I鈥檝e talked to want to sign letters, take petitions for their friends and put up posters.听 People thank me for letting them know.听 Offers of support have come flooding in.听 Local businesses have offered meeting space, free drinks and one local resident insisted on giving me a bowl of her homemade soup! Support has rolled in from high places too.听 Ken Livingstone offered his 鈥渇ull support鈥, Diane Abbott said she's 鈥渉orrified鈥 at the proposals.听 Other people supporting the campaign include Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe, and all three local ward councillors, two of whom attended the protest. ObjectionsIt鈥檚 hard to know where to start with the objections 鈥 the shop opposite is a Turkish wedding shop.听 By tradition many such weddings start at the dress shop and it鈥檚 common to see women in sumptuous dresses gathered outside being photographed on their big day. If the licence goes through these gatherings will be directly in front of the clientele who have stepped outside to smoke between table dances.听 Within a stone鈥檚 throw is a Mosque, a Church (by co-incidence currently involved in a campaign to combat human trafficking by addressing the businesses that provide the demand driving the crime), a community centre, a venue offering Tae Kwon do lessons to children ... oh and there鈥檚 a primary school too. A young Turkish woman living on the same residential street as Satchmo鈥檚 went in to ask what was planned.听 The reaction?听 She was asked if she had come in to audition. Evidence collected by the Lilith report suggests a marked increase in rape, sexual assault and harassment in areas where strip clubs have opened up. The news lately has had a sinister feel for women.听 Between Stephen Wright, Levi Bellfield and Mark Dixie, it鈥檚 never been clearer we live in an age where attitudes towards women are broken and need fixing.听 What exactly is the argument FOR a strip club in a residential area? Residents and local businesses have until 25th March to lodge their complaints and can find out how to do so at our website. Click on the link up on the right hand side of the page.Kate Smurthwaite is an award winning comedienne and blogger.91热爆 London asked Scott Davis, the manager of Satchmo's, to comment on local objections to the application for a Sex Encounter Licence. He feels the fears of the Stop the Strip Pub campaigners are unfounded:Satchmo's bar is looking to re-invent itself as a modern and stylish cocktail bar offering dj's, live sports and adult entertainment including burlesque, pole dancing and table dancing. While it is certainly within everyone's right to voice their opinion, unfortunately our application is being opposed by a small group of local residents who basically don't want it in 'their back yard'. I personally held a meeting for this group in the hope of educating them on our application and where it stands in today's society but was met by a bunch of people who had already made their minds up. Stringent regulationsNone of them know this part of the licensed industry yet they voiced several unfounded quotes which I hope now to address. With any new application of this kind, comes stringent regulations, operating procedures, policies, standards and close relationships with all local authorities.听 These cover safety of the public and staff on and off the premise, crime prevention and security to name but a few. On top of this the venue management, although licensed, are further assessed by the police to make sure they are suitable operators. These are measures rarely exercised in other parts of the licensed trade and ones that are put in place to ensure the safety of the public. Issues and concernsOn the issue of exposing children to the adult industry: We plan to open only in the evenings, long after school children have made their way home. On the off chance of children or youths wandering past at night security would prevent them loitering near to the premise. On the issue of bringing undesirables to the area: We intend to operate a well run business that will not attract undesirables. There are Sauna's and full sex clubs already operating in this area! The people you fear we will attract are already being catered for locally on a level far beyond our application. I haven't heard of any local problems relating to these businesses. On the issue of proximity to local residents and churches: We wish to work closely with local community groups to address any concerns they may have. We can ensure the professional running of the venue and the standard of clientele on the premise. London is extremely built up and because of this, we all live within reach of things that may not cater to us personally but also have a place in society. We do have great support from many locals, including families and business owners and welcome any enquiry from the local community. last updated: 12/05/2008 at 17:01 Have Your Say
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