Whangarei brothel to apply for consent

The Whangarei District Council has agreed to a request by a brothel owner for an extension of time to file a resource consent application.

The Bach, which calls itself an "ethical brothel" and operates from the Marina Court Motel on Riverside Dr- right next door to where a childcare centre is being built.

On February 22, WDC wrote to the owner of The Bach, Antonia Murphy, advising her of the need to obtain a resource consent as the business was operating outside the permitted hours for the Living One Environment the motel was in.

This means because of District Plan rules, hours of operation for commercial activities are limited to between 8am and 6pm.

Under the Resource Management Act, WDC wrote to the The Bach and asked the business to apply for a resource consent.

WDC regulatory services manager Grant Couchman said a planning consultant hired by Ms Murphy assumed the resource consent had to be lodged within 30 working days.

He said under the Act, the application had to be lodged within 30 days.

"We're not unhappy with that because at the end of the day, consents sometimes take longer to come. We're satisfied as long as progress is being made in terms of that process," Mr Couchman said.

WDC would not take any enforcement action at the moment but would continue to monitor the situation.

The brothel has already caused consternation for the owners of the The Bach art co-operative that trades just a few hundred metres away on the other side of the Town Basin.

The Bach art co-op was upset there could be confusion over which business was which.

The Forum North Childcare and Education Centre still planned to move from the Fire Brigade Hill location to Riverside Dr despite the brothel opening next door.

The centre said it would be approaching WDC over the issue and said it was getting the site ready and doing the groundwork.