Parents in shock at brothel by school

The Club Red Door owner says his clients have nothing to hide. Photo / Steven McNicholl

A man who has outraged parents by opening a brothel directly opposite a school says people should be more worried about the rapes and murders children see on television than what happens behind the doors of his business.

The Club Red Door has opened across the road from Henderson Intermediate School, angering parents, staff and residents who say brothels should not be located so close to children.

"It's a bit of a shock," said board of trustees chairman Ron Crawford.

"We spoke to the mayor and he's said there's nothing we can do about it. There are more controls and restraints around dogs."

The board planned to discuss options for dealing with the brothel at a meeting last night. Mr Crawford said some parents were so angered that they were considering recording details of clients and publishing them on the internet or a large billboard outside the school.

However, such threats do not worry the owner of the club.

The man - who refused to give his name - said he was not worried as he was conducting a legal business and was within his right to be there.

"If they don't like it then that's just hard luck. By law I'm allowed to do this.

"It's as simple as that."

When asked if he had considered the implications of running a sex business so close to children, he replied, "why should it worry me".

"I'd be more worried about what the kids are seeing on television: the rapes, killing and murders."

The man said his business was no big deal.

"What grown adults do behind closed doors ... it's called love-making ... why should that be dragged into the gutter."

The man said 95 per cent of the clients parked at the front of the business as they had "nothing to hide" and it was "their rights as humans" to be able to visit a brothel.

He said parents had threatened to expose details of clients at other brothels before but it had never made any difference.

If anything their protests would "make the business even better".

Parents at the school yesterday afternoon had mixed views on the brothel's location.

"I don't think it's appropriate because it's not something children should be having in their faces - it's something they find out about later," said caregiver Janice Kosterman.

Some parents didn't mind at all, with one mother-of-four saying it wouldn't really have any impact on her children and she'd only be concerned if they could "see what's going on".

Prostitutes Collective national co-ordinator Catherine Healy said there was a "high degree of angst" around the location of brothels.

She said many people worried about the clients, especially fearing they would hang around schools, but the reality was they were usually going discreetly to see adults for services and weren't interested "standing outside the school gates".

Threats to publicly shame clients were "unnecessary and silly" and would only heighten awareness by the children about what was going on.

Prostitution has been a lawful activity since the enactment of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003.

Waitakere City Council said owner-operated brothels with fewer than four workers could operate from a home without resource consent or a licence providing they abide by traffic, noise and signage regulations.

Officers would however look into the business to ensure it was complying with regulations.

Waitakere MP Paula Bennett said she didn't feel comfortable with "the proximately of these kinds of businesses to schools" but it was within the law and a matter for local government.