Brothel to fight closure decision

An Auckland brothel owner is using the Bill of Rights Act in an attempt to stop his Epsom "gentleman's club" being closed through a bylaw.

Club 574's owner Anthony Grant has said a bylaw which bans such businesses from residential areas and from around places of worship contravenes the Bill of Rights Act.

Mr Grant said the Auckland City Council brothels and commercial sex premises bylaw ethically discriminated against his legal business.

His lawyers have filed papers in the High Court at Auckland seeking to quash the bylaw on the grounds it contravenes the act and is "susceptible to capricious and unprincipled application".

Mr Grant has also sought a judicial review of Auckland City Council's decision not to grant Club 574 an exemption to the bylaw.

The brothel is seeking an early decision by the court to keep operating on Manukau Rd while the case is heard.

Club 574 has recently had a $1.5 million upgrade and employs about 45 prostitutes. It is the fourth brothel to face closure after being declined an exemption under the bylaw.

Others, like The White House and its massage parlour, Monica's, in the historic Theosophical Society building in Queen St, have been granted exemptions to stay open.

The court papers said councillors, who voted 3-2 in March not to grant an exemption, gave "no substantive reasons" for the decision and that the hearing was "unfair, arbitrary and wrong in law".

In a brief written ruling, the councillors said public issues of safety and security in the residential area outweighed any "needless or injurious effect" on the brothel.

The papers said the councillors gave too much weight to objectors. The brothel was described as a "peaceful", no-nuisance operation going about its legal business behind a 2m-high wall and scheduled trees.

The brothel had a "legitimate expectation" for an exemption given the council's previous decisions and rulings, the papers said.

A council spokesman confirmed it had received the papers and would be defending the case.

* Christchurch man Terry Brown has taken a similar case under the Bill of Rights Act, citing ethical discrimination by the Christchurch City Council's bylaw restricting brothels to the central business district. The case will be heard in June.