Sex motel too close to homes, say critics

Parity Place incumbents say the motel plan is wrong for their cul de sac. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Opponents of a "Brazilian Motel" on the North Shore hope to stop the venture getting a brothel licence by showing it is too close to homes and does not fit in with nearby motor industry businesses.

They will put their views at a public hearing at the North Shore City Council chambers on April 23.

Yesterday, a regulatory subcommittee of councillors Callum Blair, Margaret Miles and Kevin Schwass was chosen to hear the Desire Motel's licence bid for the former factory in Parity Place, Glenfield.

The committee will decide whether to grant dispensation for a breach of the brothel bylaw.

Although the bylaw allows brothels in the Business 9 Zone, it also says they should not be within 250m of a residential area. Homes are closer than that but council environmental protection team leader Warwick Robertson believes this is a technical breach because the site has no direct access to the houses.

Council policy is to direct commercial sex premises away from residential areas. The application for a brothel licence is a back-up to the motel venture, which got land-use consent on February 2 but is not yet operating.

Desire director Frederico Ronnau said the motel would cater for couples or singles requiring a rendezvous for one to three hours and would offer rooms at an hourly rate. He said the motel was not a brothel, though sex workers might use the premises.

Two owners of industrial buildings and businesses in Parity Place said yesterday that a brothel was inappropriate for their small cul de sac of 40 mainly family businesses and they would contest the application.

Murray Johnson said he was angry council officers had granted land-use consent without consulting the motel's neighbours.

"This street is a community of the motor industry where we all help each other ... and children are here at their parents' work."

Fred Collie said the proposal better suited the city's entertainment area, but it looked as if the promoters wanted Parity Place's cheaper rent.

People who wish to put a view should contact the council before next Tuesday.