Brothel fears see council defer planning policy
Posted
The Kalgoorlie-Boulder City Council has rejected a new planning policy which it feared would see brothels crop up in residential areas.
At its Monday meeting, the council voted to defer the policy until it sought further clarification of the proposed laws.
Under the new Act, businesses which employ no more than two workers may be exempt from seeking planning approval.
Mayor Ron Yureyvich says the council is concerned about the implications the new laws might have on the city's planning approvals process.
"We've made it very clear that the situation of people operating a brothel in residential areas must undergo the same scrutiny that anyone who proposes to operate a business in a residential area," he said.
A prominent brothel owner has warned that a new stream of people will enter the sex industry to take advantage of a loophole in the Government's Prostitution Amendment Act.
Mary-Anne Kenworthy says the Act allows people to set up small, more profitable, brothels in residential areas.
"By allowing two girls to work together with the councils not able to turn it down, they've allowed this big gap where anyone can go and rent houses and apartments and rent them to working girls just for a rental fee," she said.
