White Hart Lap Dancing Application - Licensing Committee

The papers have been published for the Lewisham Council Licensing Committee meeting on Thusday 14 August at 6:30 pm. The meeting will take place in Committee Room 4 of Lewisham Town Hall and will be open to the public.

The meeting will only be considering three applications, the most contentious of which is the application from the White Hart pub at 184 New Cross Road for strip tease and lap dancing. The application from landlord Kenneth Linwood makes it clear exactly what is proposed: 'I wish to provide entertainment, being striptease and lap dancing. I would like to have the dancers during the day and evening. Approximately 8 dancers at any one time' with facilities including 'dance floor, tables, a booth for private dancing and poles for pole dancing' (no mention of what the hotel rooms upstairs will be used for). Proposed opening times are given as 2:00 pm to 2:30 am, seven days a week.

A huge number of objections have been lodged to the application, as well as some statements of support. The landlord has collected eight pages of signatures on a petition in support of his application, and there are seventeen pages of signatures on a petition headed 'No to a Lap Dancing Club in New Cross Gate'. In terms of letters and emails, there is only one in support of the application, and 140 against. Those registering objections include local councillors, Joan Ruddock MP, the Metropolitan Police, local churches (All Saints and St Catherine's), the Queens Road GP Practice (near to the pub), Eaves Housing for Women, the Hair & Beauty Studio and Parkers Estate Agents. I am not normally to be found in such respectable company, but reading through the various letters has strengthened my opposition to this proposal.

A lot of people talk about the negative impact of the proposal on the immediate area. The fact is New Cross feels like a traffic corridor with little public space. Whatever people think about the progress of regeneration in New Cross, the plans for a new library and health centre, plus a pedestrianised area, at least offer the possibility of the 'Kender Triangle' being a public area where local people might feel safe and comfortable. Obviously having a lap dancing club in the middle of it makes a mockery of that vision. Unfortunately these objections might not carry much weight in their own right, as the Licensing Act 2003 allows a narrow range of reasons for license applications to be refused.

I was particularly struck by the views of women who will have no choice but to pass by the White Hart because of its proximity to the only road crossing at this end of New Cross Road and Queens Road - and who fear sexual harrassment from drunk punters standing outside for a smoke or coming out afterwards. One letter states: 'As three young women living locally, I can guarantee that our lives would be affected by such a club being allowed to open. I believe that permitting longer drinking hours in a venue where unfulfilled sexual titillation is at the core, is a recipe for disaster once customers leave the pub'. Another says: 'I already feel that I have to go out of my way to walk on the other side of the road when coming from or going to the bus stop, particularly at night, as I feel unsafe around that stretch of road. The club is likely to make matters much worse, attracting to the corner people who have not only drunk a lot, as now, but who are also excited and eager to exploit women. I assume that any of them who want to smoke will have to congregate outside anyway. If I, or any woman walk round that corner, we would either have to run the gauntlet of the gathering or step out into the very busy road'.

I would recommend that people attend the meeting of the Licensing Committee and be prepared to back up their written objections in person if needed. Further details of the meeting should be available from maria.mead@lewisham.gov.uk

One thing that has surprized me about this whole affair is how easy it can be for contentious applications to get through without anybody knowing about them. Many people only found out about the White Hart application at the last minute - through the South London Press, at this site, Brockley Central and emails from friends. When I first heard out about it I could find no details of the application on the Lewisham Council website, and reading through the officer's report on the application I can see why. It states 'The application was advertised in accordance with the regulations (premises and Loot 9 July 2008)'. Who reads Loot?! What about local papers and what about the Council website?

See also: result of application.

White Hart in New Cross - lap dancing license row

The White Hart pub (184 New Cross Rd) has applied for a licence to provide striptease, lap and pole dancing on its premises from 2pm to 3am, 7 days a week.

The plans are being vigorously opposed by the New Cross Gate Trust (the successor to New Deal for Communities for New Cross), by local councillor Ian Page and an increasing number of local people. They argue that allowing the White Hart to become a striptease, lap and pole dancing venue will increase crime in the New Cross area, as well as making New Cross a destination for sex entertainment and prostitution.

More specifically they point out that the area immediately around the White Hart (including the traffic island and the area by the Barclays and Post Office cash points) has been identified by both NDC research and Transport for London as an existing crime ‘hotspot’. In 2007, New Cross was included in the Metropolitan Police’s ‘Challenging Wards Programme’ to tackle areas with the most serious crime issues, one of only eight wards out of 628 in London to be selected.

Licensing Law

One difficulty for opponents is that the powers of Councils to refuse this kind of license have been restricted by the Licensing Act 2003 – whether local people and/or councillors object on principle to having a lapdancing club in their area is immaterial unless they can clearly demonstrate that the specific application will have a negative impact on one or more of the four licensing objectives: Crime & disorder, public safety, prevention of public nuisance, protection of children from harm.

One thing in the opposition’s favour however is that Lewisham Council has previously designated the New Cross Corridor – the area along New Cross Road – as a Cumulative Impact Zone (CIZ) due to the higher levels of crime in the area. This means that it should be for the licensee (in this case the landlord of The White Hart) to prove that the proposed variation would not add to the problems in the area rather than leaving it to the objectors to prove that it will.

My personal view...

My own pro-feminism was influenced by hanging out with women who paint bombed porn shops in their spare time and took a straightforward Andrea Dworkin position that pornography (including sex shows) equals violence against women.

Later I have known feminist sex workers who take a different view. They have convinced me that not everybody who works in the sex industry is a passive victim of male violence and that some of the legal measures against it can actually put women working in the sex industry in greater danger (e.g. by forcing them underground)

Despite this I am still clear that lap dancing clubs are there specifically to attract the kind of bloke who thinks that women exist solely for their sexual gratification, and having more of these blokes hanging round in New Cross Gate is bound to have an impact in terms of increasing harassment of women walking by. What’s more pissed up punters of this type will be a honey pot for street robbery, which again will increase the risk for other people having to pass by this area at night. Lets be clear what’s being proposed is not some post-feminist burlesque performance art but the sleaziest kind of strip joint.

I have some sympathy for the landlord of The White Hart, Ken Linwood, who has told the South London Press that the pub risks closure. The pub is a historic landmark on this ancient road junction (see pictures at Notes from The Island) and it would be a great shame if it had to close. But the fact is if it becomes a lap dancing joint it will in effect have closed as a pub in the sense of a public space where men and women can go and have a quiet drink without being harassed. The pub is not very busy at present and needs doing up – but there must be another way of making it a more popular place for local people to go.

If you want to put across your views on these proposals you will need to write to the Licensing Team at Lewisham Council by 30th July 2008 (that’s tomorrow). Their address is Licensing Team - Laurence House, 2nd Floor Laurence House, 1 Catford Road, Catford SE6 4RU (Tel: 020 8314 6400) Or email licensing@lewisham.gov.uk

The application is due to be heard on 14 August (although there is a possibility that the date may change).

See also result of application

White Hart Lap Dancing Application Refused

Lewisham Council's Licensing Committee last night rejected the application from the landlord of the White Hart in New Cross for a license for lap dancing, pole dancing and stripping. Apparently the meeting was well attended, with nine objectors speaking. The committee retired for an hour and a half before announcing its decision (there are some report backs at the the Telegraph Hill Forum). There remains the possibility of an appeal against the decision, but I hope the landlord will think again.

Although I opposed the plan (see earlier posts) I do not wish to join any kind of witchhunt to force the landlord out of town. I really hope that the pub survives, in fact part of the reason why I objected to the lap dancing plans was that it would no longer really be a public house. I have had a couple of memorable drinks there myself and chatted to the landlord who was friendly enough to me. It could certainly do with brightening up a bit, but the place has plenty of potential, a good location and space for music and dancing.

The landlord is not without his supporters, but some of them are not really helping the future survival of his pub. Over at the Millwall fans forum House of Fun, there's been some discussion about this, basically suggesting that people should stop worrying about strippers when there's more important things to oppose like an Afghan Community Centre in the area and 'a dubious club a few doors up, looks like an Africans only place' (presumably a reference to Scenarios - get up to date lads, it's been closed for ages). The same guys regularly seem to spend more time on the forum spouting racist nonsense about everything under the sun than talking about football - though they do get pulled up on it by other Millwall fans who are definitely not all racists, contrary to popular prejudice and BNP/NF fantasies.

Someone posted some anonymous comments here last night too seemingly implying that the closure of local pubs was the result of some liberal lefty drive which was forcing 'common white people' to move to Bexleyheath. Well I've posted lots here against closing local pubs and about the history of 'common white people' (like me), but I also think 'common black people' are just as much part of our area. Why shouldn't there be an Afghan Community Centre in New Cross, there's plenty of English people in Aghanistan, most of them in uniform admittedly.

People who really care about pubs surviving should think about whether their behaviour is part of the problem. Because who really wants to take their kids or girlfriend/boyfriend to a pub that is dominated by racist pissheads giving off loads of attitude to people they judge as 'off the manor'.

(Comment welcome but racist comments will be deleted - if you don't like it start your own blog)

White Hart lap dancing a step nearer

New blackout windows in the White Hart in New Cross suggest that the landlord is pushing ahead with plans to turn it from a pub to a strip club - possibly called Unique's judging from the lettering on the windows.

Anyway the matter is due to be discussed at the Telegraph Hill Ward Assembly next Monday night, 7pm in the Honor Oak Community Centre, Turnham Road. There will also be a discussion on some of the wider issues at a meeting on 'Pornography and Feminism' at Goldsmiths College (Small Hall Cinema) in New Cross on Tuesday 24th February at 6pm. Angela McRobbie and guests will be debating 'the purported post-feminist liberation of pole dancing and the mainstreaming of porn'. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it, but would be interested in hearing McRobbie's take all on this, as she is one of the few academics to have written anything insightful about one of my passions, the politics of dancing.

Incidentally - and unconnected to the pub or the lap dancing row - last Friday's South London Press reports that a group of teenagers were apparently shot at last week by a youth on a bicycle at Queens Road/New Cross Road junction near to the White Hart.

White Hart Lap Dancing Saga Continues

Kenneth Linwood, the landlord of the White Hart in New Cross, has lodged a legal appeal against Lewisham Council’s decision not to grant a licence for striptease, lap and pole dancing at the pub. The first hearing for the appeal will come before the Magistrates Court on 15th October 2008.

It seems that the 'for sale' sign outside the pub has been there for a while (details here), rather than being prompted by recent events as I suggested earlier.

I think it's a shame that Ken has gone into this bunker mentality - it would have been better if he'd accepted that it was a mistake to close the pub and open a strip joint instead. There was overwhelming local opposition to his plans and he really is digging himself into a hole by appealing - because the fact is he needs people to come into his pub and he is making himself and therefore the pub increasingly unpopular.

Having said that, opponents of the plans will need to get their act together, as Magistrates Courts can and do overrule licensing decisions made by Councils.

See previous posts for the background to this row.

New Cross - strip club and library news

Not a good week for New Cross Gate - looks like plans for a new library and health centre have hit the skids, while The White Hart looks like being turned from a pub into a private members' strip club:

Hotel owner wins appeal to open strip club (This is London, 14 January 2009): 'A Hotel owner has won his appeal to open a striptease and lap dancing club in New Cross. An application by the White Hart Hotel, in New Cross Road, to open a strip club on the premises was refused by Lewisham Council in August. More than 100 letters of objection and three petitions signed by 232 residents against the plan were received by the council, including a letter of objection from the police. White Hart owner Ken Linwood won his appeal against the decision at Bromley Magistrates' Court yesterday. Mr Linwood argued the strip club is the only way his business can survive.'

[I guess Lewisham Council could appeal against this - I won't rehearse the previous arguments against the Landlord's plans, if you are interested look at these earlier posts]

Credit crunch throws landmark development into jeopardy, Newsshopper, 12 January 2009: 'A landmark development scheme worth £37m has been thrown into jeopardy after its developer pulled out due to the credit crunch. The New Cross Gate Community Centre is due to be built on a 0.9 hectare area surrounded by New Cross Road, Briant Street, Wynne House, Bower House and Besson Street. Three blocks, including 172 flats, an eight-GP health centre, public library, gym, creche, cafe and pharmacy, are planned to take the place of council housing which has already been demolished. Work on the project was due to begin last July, but no construction has been carried out so far. Now a question mark hangs over the scheme’s future after developer The Rydon Group pulled out, blaming the current financial crisis'.

Last Lap at the White Hart

The White Hart in New Cross has abandoned its short-lived conversion to a lap dancing Gentlemen's club, the focus for a Stop the Strip campaign that brought 100 people to a demonstration there on May 22 (pictured). One factor may have been advice that as a listed building, the pub was not permitted to have black out windows.

Anyway it's back open as a pub, so you don't have to be a particular kind of Gentleman to go there anymore. In fact on Sunday night, there's some more agreeable kind of dancing (to my taste) with a DJ playing funky house. Let's hope the pub survives, it's a good space in a key location in New Cross.

White Hart Latest

As previously reported here, the landlord of the White Hart in New Cross is appealing against the decision of Lewisham Licensing Committee to refuse permission to convert the pub into a lap dancing/striptease club. Lewisham Council is defending the appeal and a date has now been set for the 13th and 14th January 2009 at Bromley Magistrates Court.

People who submitted letters and other evidence to the original hearing do not need to write again as these automatically become part of the papers for the new case. The hearing will be in public but you will not be able to speak unless you have been specifically called to appear.

Most of the arguments were raised in the original hearing, but if you have significant additional evidence that could affect the outcome of the case you could contact licensing@lewisham.gov.uk.

South London Pirates

Pirate radio is one of the often neglected benefits of living in London. There's far too much talk and not enough music on most of the official stations, and a narrow range of music. Outside of London there's even less choice. Over the years, pirate radio has led me to the odd party and turned me on to new music - I can vividly remember the first time I heard jungle, lying in Brockwell Park with my radio. Nowadays many of the pirates have websites where you can download podcasts of their programmes anywhere in the world, but you can't beat coming across something unexpected while fiddling around with the radio.

The pirates are still in a healthy state in South London. On Monday, driving between Sydenham and New Cross I picked up the following stations:

• Metrolove (92.2 fm) - soul, r'nb, hip hop, ragga - back on air despite being raided recently. According to this week's Mercury (13/8), it had been broadcasting from a garage behind the Jasmine House Estate , Wickham Rd in Brockley until Ofcom raided it on 7 August, taking away £5,000 of equipment including a sound system due for use at Notting Hill Carnival
• Unknown fm (90.6 fm) has been going for 10 years, with a diet of every kind of house music. And unlike some pirates which seem to exist mainly to promote events and club night, the focus really is on the music.
• Rinse fm (100.4 fm) has been broadcasting for 14 years and is one of the best places to keep up with the latest mutations in London dance music (grime, dubstep, funky etc.)
• Selectuk (99.4 fm) - more house and garage.
• Xtreme (101.8 fm) - soulful house.
• Freeze (92.7 fm).
• Live fm (101.5 fm) .

I also came across a non-pirate I hadn't heard before, South London Radio (107.3 fm). It proclaims itself as the station for 'Lewisham, Bromley, Croydon and the surrounding areas' . Lots of classic 80s and 90s soul/funk when I was listening (Loose Ends -Hangin' on a String, Incognito - Don't you worry about a thing), plus local news on the hour - they covered the White Hart lap dancing row.

New Cross Pub News

There is a 'For Sale' sign up on the White Hart Inn in New Cross. The landlord has come in for a lot of local criticism after his ill-judged attempt to turn the place into a lap dancing club, but as we've said before it would be a great loss if there was no longer a pub in this key location on the junction of Queens Road and New Cross Road. Still with the Hatcham Liberal Club still unsold and falling into disrepair just round the corner, you wonder who's going to buy it. If I won the lottery I'd probably take them both and turn them into utopian palaces of drink, food, dancing and sociability, but that doesn't seem too likely.

Meanwhile there is a lot of building work going on at the former Earl of Derby in Dennetts Road, with an extension downstairs and a function room upstairs. The whole exterior of the building has been painted so somebody's making a real effort, which is great as I feared this was going to be another vanishing pub replaced with housing. Not sure exactly what's planned, but the owners are Remarkable Restaurants Ltd who refurbished the George and Dragon in Acton, which has had good reviews - so expect food as well as drink.

Local movements

A few things to keep you busy, if you are so inclined:

Defend Education in Lewisham is supporting the occupation by parents protesting against the planned demolition of Lewisham Bridge Primary School.

At the New Den last weekend, supporters of the United Campaign Against Police Violence leafleted fans about the death of Ian Tomlinson -the Millwall fan killed by police during the G20 protests on April 1st. The family of Sean Rigg - who died in police custody in Brixton last year - also took part.



Bob from Brockley has the full details of next week's Strangers into Citizens rally for migrant rights in London, including the South London contingent from the Elephant.

Stop the Strip is a campaign against the lap dancing club at the White Hart in New Cross. They say 'This is not an anti-sex campaign but rather a campaign by a range of local people who are concerned about the establishment of these clubs in residential areas. We believe our area, New Cross, deserves better. Women working in modelling and sex industries are often treated poorly and their rights often breached. As a group we believe all workers have the right to Unionise and seek support when they are being exploited. We would extend support to any and all women working in the venue'.