Brothel seeks permission to operate near school

A Birkenhead brothel is seeking an exemption from North Shore City Council bylaws so it can continue to operate near a school.

The council has received a dozen submissions about the application from the Ming Ren Club, including one from Birkenhead Primary School.

School principal Nigel Bioletti said the brothel, which is above a video rental shop, was only about 40m from the school's lower gate.

The bylaw says brothels must be more than 125m from schools and community facilities.

"It's pretty close," said Mr Bioletti. "While it's in a shopping precinct and children don't really walk past it, we would rather it not be in the vicinity from a community point of view."

He said the school was the hub of the community and its hall was well used at night for community events.

Council environmental protection team leader Warwick Robertson said the brothel's location breached the rules.

In addition, the resource consent terms restricted it to opening at 6pm but it had opened at 10am.

"Apart from that, it is not causing any major problem."

Mr Robertson said public views on the waiver bid would be accepted up until Monday.

He said it was not clear how the bylaw would stand up to a challenge in the light of a recent High Court ruling on the Auckland City Council's bylaw banning brothels from residential zones.

Justice Paul Heath ruled that Auckland City's banning of brothels from residential areas was too sweeping.

The council is now considering the best way to regulate brothels' location.