Reply With QuoteWhat a load of sh*t!
Having read it, it seems like a half decent article. Wouldn't trust the media on this issue though but it seems like the adult industry is standing up for its rights!!
Complete with infographics!
Kings Cross and Potts Point might be the red light district capital of Sydney but there are surprisingly quite a few brothels located in quieter suburban areas. The Telegraph reveals where the 223 legal brothels are located — as it gets easier for more to be approved. SEE THE LIST
They are the hidden red light districts of suburban Sydney where brothels do a roaring trade and locals are largely oblivious.
Yet the introduction of mandatory local planning panels in March 2018 – which have removed elected councillors from deciding on development applications – could make it easier for the city’s 223 legal brothels to expand and multiply.
As brothels prepare to open on July 1 following a COVID-19 shutdown, data from every Sydney council reveals Surry Hills has as many brothels as it does pubs (18).
Kings Cross/Potts Point remains a red light district despite the lockout laws crippling strip clubs’ trade, with 10 legal brothels still there.
But it is in the suburbs where things get interesting.
Willoughby Council area has the highest concentration of brothels per person outside the City of Sydney, with ten establishments and 56 rooms in use.
Six of those premises are located in the upper-middle class suburb of Artarmon, compared to only three bars in the area.
Penrith (9), Marrickville (8), Rydalmere (6), Brookvale (5), Taren Point (5), and Peakhurst (5) are also the other suburban hot spots.
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Sex industry consultant Julie Bates said planning panels – which the state government made mandatory shortly after the public inquiry into Salim Mehajer’s former Auburn Council – are a game changer.
“Planning panellists, unlike some councillors, leave their moral agendas, if they have one, at the door and focus upon the planning aspects of the application before them,” Ms Bates, the principle of Urban Realists Planning and Health consultants, said.
“Planning panels therefore take the emotion out of the decision and are more likely to support a recommendation for approval provided by the planning staff of council – who are the experts.
“Many of these recommendations for approval have, in the past, failed to gain consent when going before councillors for final determination.
“My experience as a trainer in sex industry land use for planning panels, and my recent experience having a DA positively determined by a planning panel in the City of Sydney LGA last year, tells me it is a far fairer and more sensible process.”
Ms Bates said strict planning rules in most councils will make it difficult for new brothels to be established.
The figures have also revealed the sexless suburbs of Sydney where not one legal brothel operates.
The so-called ‘Bible belt’ in northwest Sydney has lived up to its name, with neighbouring councils The Hills and Hawkesbury reporting zero brothels.
Ironically, private investigators say councils with low numbers of legal brothels tend to have more illicit establishments.
Camden and Ryde councils have one each.
The general manager of one Sydney council said: “I would expect that with the new planning panels in place – where councils are excluded from decision making – brothels will now have a greater chance of gaining approval than would they previously would.”
In terms of council areas with the greatest concentration of brothels per head of population, City of Sydney (one for every 3360 people), Willoughby (1:7430), Georges River (1:8637), Inner West (1:8668), Penrith (1:10,892) and Parramatta council areas (12,563) are the main ones.
The only Sydney council to report problems with legal brothels is Cumberland Council, which issued a $3000 fine to a Guildford West brothel in 2018 for building an additional room without development consent.
Saul Isbister is the president of Touching Base Inc, an organisation which assists people with a disability and sex workers to connect with each other.
He said local councils and media interest have been a major obstacle in getting legitimate businesses approved.
“Having failed to act like responsible adults in dealing with an adult industry, their decision-making power was sensibly taken away from them by the state government and given to the more professionally orientated local planning panels,” he said.
SECRET MEETING THAT GOT BROTHELS BACK TO BUSINESS
It was the meeting in a brothel between government officials and sex industry figures that helped unzip the NSW bonk ban.
NSW Health staff were given a walk-through of western Sydney brothel Ma Belle Cheri July 10 in an effort to show the government they were safe and ready to get down to business.
As the government faces increasing pressure from industries everywhere to lift COVID-19 restrictions, brothel owners are celebrating that NSW establishments will open July 1.
Julie Bates, who has been representing 22 Sydney brothel owners in negotiations with the government, said the meeting at Clyde near Parramatta “was very respectful”.
“I am grateful that we will see the range of sex services opening – with consultative safety plans approved by the government – on July 1,” Ms Bates told The Sunday Telegraph.
“These are general plans that will be generic across all personal services, including beauty therapy.
“In sex services we are advising people to avoid close face-to-face contact.”
Ms Bates said their new safety plan will not include customers having to use the CovidSafe app or wear masks.
However, clients may be asked to leave their name and number with the premises to ensure contact tracing in the event of an outbreak. This information would then be destroyed after 28 days.
There will also be a 10-customer limit.
The federal government’s three-step plan recommends brothels and strip clubs remain closed indefinitely, although the NSW Government has pressed ahead to make its own ruling.
The majority of the state’s 10,000 sex workers have been out of work since the pandemic struck. New Zealand's sex industry reopened mid-May with safety plans.
Individual sex workers that are working from home or visiting clients have been allowed to continue trading.
The only council to receive a complaint during the COVID-19 lockdown is Randwick Council, which dealt with a complaint about an individual sex worker conducting services at their home.
The council didn’t take any action because they say practice is legal.
Ms Bates, Ma Belle Cheri owner Kate and other members of the consortium believe many “businesses that promote erotic massage as a primary service” may have mistakenly opened July 13 because of confusion around the term “massage parlour”.
“Massage parlours has always been a euphemism for brothels and I’ve been getting calls from people saying that they are going to open,” Ms Bates said.
“If the federal government can't get the definitions right, imagine what it is like for a lay person trying to navigate this.”
What a load of sh*t!
Having read it, it seems like a half decent article. Wouldn't trust the media on this issue though but it seems like the adult industry is standing up for its rights!!
So they did a walk in the future on July 10th, do this jurnos proof read their work?
Journalism standards have sunk to new lows over recent years.Originally Posted by Arnie_Fan_81
"The federal government’s three-step plan recommends brothels and strip clubs remain closed indefinitely, although the NSW Government has pressed ahead to make its own ruling."
Wow! Well done NSW government!
Surprised aunty Glady permitted it, perhaps in exchange for approval of another 3,500 blocks of flats out West
Who is aunty Today?
Are there really 5 brothels in Peakhurst? I could only find 1.
Must include Mortdale - Barry Ave and Riverwood - cougar town & 327a Belmore Rd. Not sure where #5 is though. Maybe the one in Narwee.
Gotta love Sydney!
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