Green Party candidates Anna Bragga, Sarah Cope and Pete McAskie will join members of the Lap Off! campaign at Haringey’s Civic Centre on Thursday September 10 when a final decision on the planning application to transform the Music Palace into a gentlemen’s club will take place.
With Rokesley School just a few yards down the road, Hornsey Girls School nearby, and charities Action for Kids and the YMCA all within a short distance, the three are adamant that this application must be challenged.
Research shows lap-dancing has links to prostitution, human trafficking and an increase in sex crimes against women. A 2003 report by the Lilith Project found that the rate of sexual assault increased by 50 per cent in Camden following the opening of lap-dancing clubs in the area.
Anna Bragga, Green Party candidate for Stroud Green ward, says: "We will do everything we can to support the Lap Off! campaign and stop this planning application. It would create a no-go area for residents and alter the character of Crouch End which is already struggling with closed shops."
"It’s fairly obvious that the people behind this idea are trying to push the application through before the laws are tightened up by the Policing Bill – currently going through Parliament. We are here to help make sure that doesn’t happen."
Sarah Cope, also standing in Stroud Green, says: "Local residents must be listened to when they say they do not want this venue to become a lap dancing venue. Haringey council constantly claim that they take on board residents’ views – let’s see some evidence of that."
Fellow Stroud Green candidate Pete McAskie adds: "This is a ridiculous place to have a business like this. Crouch End needs businesses with some sense of social responsibility not unbridled opportunism. I look forward to government legislation reclassifying lap dancing clubs as part of the sex industry, making it easier for residents to scotch plans like these."