Council heading back to judge over brothel ruling

The Auckland City Council will go back to the judge who quashed its brothel bylaw and ask for confirmation he meant his ruling to apply only to where brothels are located.

If the council is right, its rules on signage, licences and safety and health requirements could stay in place.

The council yesterday said it and lawyers for Club 574 - the Epsom brothel which brought the successful challenge against the bylaw - believed Justice Paul Heath's ruling applied just to location.   

Planning and regulatory committee chairwoman Glenda Fryer said both parties would now seek the judge's confirmation this was the case.

Auckland was now considering the best way to regulate brothels' location.

"There are a number of options open to us. We could rely on the district plan ... [or] review the entire bylaw," Ms Fryer said.

"Whatever we do, we want to make sure that we have a robust and lawful system in place to manage these businesses in the city."

Also yesterday, Christchurch City said it was abandoning legal efforts to reinstate a bylaw restricting where small owner-operated brothels could be set up. Justice Graham Panckhurst set aside the bylaw last year.

In his judgment, Justice Heath said while it was understandable many people did not want to live near a brothel, Parliament had intended brothels would be allowed to operate somewhere.