Brothel closes door

Nathan Crombie
Sex is no longer for sale at the Taratahi Hotel with the closure of the first legal brothel in Wairarapa.
Hotel owner and licensee Richard Skelley said yesterday the brothel closed on Wednesday and he is now living at the premises, which prostitutes and brothel management vacated the same day.
"The girls have all left and I'm living here now and busy tidying it up. I daresay the brothel closure will be a nice Christmas present for council," Mr Skelley said.
He said a Wairarapa businessman with a keen interest in darts and pool is looking to reopen the landmark hotel as a pub, which could happen as early as next week if a rush of "paperwork with council" is completed in time.
Mr Skelley said the departing tenants, who could not be contacted yesterday, had emptied the hotel of their furniture and chattels and would probably also remove a stage and two poles that were erected for dancers.
He said the second floor of the building was used for management accommodation and prostitutes, "who came over the hill when required", had lived onsite in a block of six downstairs rooms.
It is understood the brothel owners had run a bar at the rear of the building with a central room that allowed clients to view and choose prostitutes, with sex toys also on sale and phone bookings fielded in the same space.
Mr Skelley bought the building in May last year and is the licence-holder for the premises.
A Wellington-based group leased the State Highway 2 hotel at Clareville north of Carterton, and in early March became the first brothel in Wairarapa to open after the Prostitution Law Reform Bill came into law in 2003.
The establishment of the brothel ignited a storm of community protest and led to the drafting of the first brothel bylaw controlling location and signage in Carterton.
In June the council passed the amended Prostitution Bylaw 2007 that forbade brothels from displaying neon or flashing lights or signs containing sexually explicit or offensive words or images.
They will not be permitted to operate within 100 metres of sensitive sites, including community and educational facilities, places of worship, marae and other brothels and within 50m of a residential building.
Legislation at the time the brothel opened required every operator of a prostitution business to hold a certificate issued by the Auckland District Court registrar and demanded they abide by any bylaws established by the district council where they are based.
Carterton mayor Gary McPhee yesterday welcomed the brothel closure and the possibility the building would be tidied and reopened as a bar.
"I don't think the brothel closing is a bad thing at all. It did upset my community and I've never heard of any brothel adding positively to any town.
"It would be great to see the
building tidied up and reopened as a bar again, which is a business I would prefer to have at that location. It is the face of Carterton after all."
Mr McPhee said there had been "a lot" of complaints taken at council over past months about noise and loud music late at night.