Council rejects sex shop plan over proximity to women’s support service

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter 

An application for a city-centre sex shop has been turned down, mainly because it would be next to a specialist service helping victims of sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.

A council licensing sub-committee placed “significant weight” on the Singleton Street location in its decision, adding that the sex shop would be also just across the road from the Grand Theatre.

Councillors also had concerns about the proposed name of the shop, Swon, because of its similarity in spelling and pronunciation to one of the initiatives which has a presence next door called the Swan Project.

The Swan Project supports sex workers and those seeking to exit sex work and councillors felt the similarity in the names created “a real potential for confusion”.

From the applicant 

The applicant, Eve Goodman, said she was disappointed with the decision and now plans to open a new lifestyle shop instead.

The sub-committee’s decision said there were no concerns about the suitability of Miss Goodman. She said at an earlier meeting she hadn’t been aware of the work being done by the adjacent specialist service but, on hearing about it, she strongly supported it.

Miss Goodman managed a sex shop in Park Street before being made redundant and said it had always been a dream to run her own venture. Swon, she said, would be inclusive, sex-positive, female-owned and operated, and built around the values of consent, education, and dignity.

She sought to create a safe and respectful space for adults – women in particular – to “explore their sexuality safely, confidently, and without judgement”. Being made redundant, she said, was “devastating” and she felt like she lost the community she had built up as well as her job.

Neighbour complaints 

Councillors also heard from Janine Evans, the manager of a multi-agency support organisation which commissions One Stop Shop – the specialist service next to the proposed sex shop.

Ms Evans said a lot of consideration had gone into choosing the One Stop Shop building in Singleton Street as a location. Vulnerable adults and children were supported there, she said, and in the service’s view the proposed sex shop risked undermining One Stop Shop’s purpose.

She said said the objection – one of three submitted to the council – was not on the basis of any moral view on sex establishments.

One Stop Shop is separated from the proposed sex shop by a narrow parking area with its main entrance on the side facing away from it.

Miss Goodman said Swon would have mirrored stickers on its ground floor windows and that an internal partition would prevent people on the street seeing anything inside it when customers went in and out.

The sub-committee retired to consider the evidence and it has taken weeks for draft minutes about the decision to be published.

Councillors noted there was a general presumption against licensing sex establishments near facilities including theatres and women’s
services under the council’s policy.

Licence application 

The sub-committee concluded the licence application should be refused on the grounds that granting it “would be inappropriate having regard to the character of the relevant locality and the use to which premises in the
vicinity are put”.

The decision added: “Having considered the evidence as a whole, the sub-committee found that the cumulative effect of the nearby One Stop Shop, The Grand Theatre and the surrounding family shopping environment created a locality whose established character was incompatible with the operation of a sex establishment.”

Miss Goodman told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that after managing the shop in Park Street she’d wanted to open one “that felt like me”.

“I was disappointed by the licensing decision and I’ve been busy getting Swon ready to open as an independent lifestyle shop on Singleton Street,” she said. “Think plants, vintage finds and personal care. The vibe is very much you’re having a look and suddenly you’re emotionally attached to a lamp.”

The mother-of-two said it would open by the end of November.