Chow brothers' liquor licence hearing wraps up

Strip club owners Michael Chow (left) and John Chow. Photo / Michael Craig

A two-day liquor licence hearing that has heard from competing adult entertainment operators has ended at the Auckland District Court.

John and Michael Chow have filed two applications for the Auckland part of their business - one for a new on-licence for the Mermaid Bar and The Splash Club on Karangahape Rd and another for the renewal of an on-licence for the Penthouse Club and Galaxy Club on Gore St.

The applications are opposed by Jacqui Le Prou, owner of the rival Calendar Girls chain of strip clubs.

Police and Auckland's Medical Officer of Health have not opposed the applications.

Sweeping suppression orders have been in place throughout the hearing before a panel of the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.

The panel is chaired by Judge John Hole who will issue a minute tomorrow clarifying what can be reported.

The Chow brothers also own Mermaids and The Splash Club on Wellington's Courtenay Place and Il Bordello, another adult entertainment business in the capital.

They have resource consent for a 15-storey brothel on the corner of Victoria St and Federal St opposite SkyCity in central Auckland - the site of the former Palace Hotel.