Manukau planning to ban brothels in the suburbs

By WAYNE THOMPSON


Manukau City Council wants similar brothel bylaws to Auckland City in the hope of discouraging a flow of sex businesses down the Southern Motorway.

The council has approved a draft bylaw restricting brothels to certain business zones where they already exist.

But its desire to copy the Queen City's ban on brothels in residential areas is likely to be controversial.

The bylaw is open for public discussion throughout February before it is finalised.

But already some councillors argue that stamping out home-based brothels goes against the spirit of the act that decriminalised prostitution and lays the council open to legal challenge.

A councillor who campaigned to clean up Hunters Corner, a notorious hotspot for street prostitution in Papatoetoe, said the draft bylaw was disappointing.

Noel Burnside said the council should be more relaxed about brothels in areas zoned for "home enterprises" and industrial areas.

He said this would have encouraged street prostitution to go indoors.

He found it more disgusting to have half-naked people in the streets of commercial and retail areas.

Peter Pearson, of the Prostitutes Collective, said Manukau City's restrictions were not quite as bad as Auckland City Council's.

"Auckland didn't want brothels anywhere from a religious perspective," he said.

"But Manukau's ones already exist in the business zone."

The collective believed prostitution would continue in the suburbs and in homes as it had for years - regardless of any bylaw.

Manukau Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said it was a good thing that the draft bylaw was similar to Auckland's.

"It is important that there are similar bylaws in each city, because we do not want brothels to concentrate in just part of the region where it is easier to set up."

Council consultant Adrienne Young Cooper and policy planner Chris Smith suggested allowing brothels in home enterprise zones because in many respects they could be compared to any home occupation in accordance with the District Plan.

This would let the council manage and monitor them to ensure standards of hygiene and public health.

However, the council decided to ban brothels and home enterprises from all residential, rural and business zones 1 2 and 3.

Brothels will not be allowed to set up within 250m or in sight of the main entrance of childcare and daycare facilities, kindergartens. schools, libraries, recreation centres, halls, scout and guide dens, marae, churches and places of worship.

The council wants signs limited to 1sq m and will not allow words or images which are sexually explicit, lewd or otherwise offensive.

Consultant Adrienne Young Cooper and Chris Smith say between 10 and 15 massage-type businesses are likely to be operating as brothels in Manukau City Centre, Papatoetoe and East Tamaki/Burswood areas.

An unknown number of small scale "home based" or outcall services are likely to be operating in all parts of the city.

Brothels permitted

* Brothels will be allowed in business zones 4, 5 and 6.

* These zones are widespread across the city and occur in the Airport, Mangere, Wiri, East Tamaki, Waiouru, Manukau City Centre periphery, Highland Park, Botany Downs and Manurewa.

* Most larger scale sex services businesses are already in business 4, 5 and 6 zones.

* Any existing brothel complying with District Plan can stay where it is and there are believed to be two or three in this position.

* In zone 6 areas, brothels will need resource consents.