AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL MEDIA RELEASE

24 March 2006

Council seeks clarification on brothel judgement

Auckland City has now considered the High Court judgment of Justice Heath and believes it only overturns the location controls on brothels.

The High Court ruling from Justice Heath was delivered last week after Club 574 sought a judicial review of the council's bylaw.

The council and the lawyers for Club 574 both agree that the judgement only quashes the location controls on brothels and not other parts of the brothels and commercial sex premises bylaw.

The two parties are now asking Justice Heath whether this is the intention of his judgement.

In addition to location controls for brothels, Auckland City's Brothels and Commercial Sex Premises Bylaw also includes controls on:

 the location of commercial sex premises

 signs

 licences

 operational health and safety requirements,

The chairperson of the Planning and Regulatory Committee, Councillor Glenda Fryer, says the council is now considering the best way to regulate the location of brothels in future.

"There are a number of options open to us. We could rely on the District Plan to manage the location of brothels. Another option would be to review the entire bylaw.

"Whatever we do, we want to make sure that we have a robust and lawful regulatory system in place for these businesses," she says.

Ms Fryer says the council will also take a great interest in an upcoming Parliamentary review of the Prostitution Reform Act.

ENDS

Note to Editors:

District Plan provisions are in place to offer some control over the location of brothels in the city. This means brothels could operate in some business zones and the mixed-use zone. Large brothels could not operate in residential zones, but small owner-operated brothels would be allowed to operate in residential zones provided they comply with home occupation rules.

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