Police say no more brothels for Seven Hills as council considers development application

BLACKTOWN is already ‘sufficiently serviced’ by brothels and does not need more fuelling the crime rate police have said in response to plans for another in Seven Hills.

Blacktown Council will decide at its meeting on Wednesday whether to approve a 24-hour brothel in Seven Hills industrial estate at Unit 7, 13 Foundry Road, Seven Hills.

BLACKTOWN is already “sufficiently serviced’’ by brothels and does not need more fuelling the crime rate, police say.

Blacktown Council will decide at its meeting tonight whether to approve a 24-hour brothel at 7/13 Foundry Rd in the Seven Hills industrial estate.

Blacktown Detective Inspector Paul Tickner said brothels were seen as soft targets for crime.

“Brothels are seen as a cash industry so they are often victims themselves,” he said. “Occasionally there are assaults on workers and armed robberies.”

Insp Tickner’s comments followed the violent robbery of a brothel at Carnegie Place, Blacktown, on Saturday morning.

Three men and a woman allegedly threatened staff with a gun and an axe. A staff member was allegedly assaulted, suffering head and neck injuries.

In a report submitted with the council, police also raised concerns about security and said the five existing brothels and massage parlours within the Blacktown local area command were “sufficient to service the area”.

Police reported there was “a correlation between criminal and anti-social activities to the presence of these establishments”.

Police say brothels are often seen as ‘soft targets’ for crime.

At last week’s planning committee meeting, the decision was deferred after David Scarfone, who runs his roof-tiling business in one of the estate’s units, highlighted a possible loophole in the zoning laws. Councillors agreed they needed to investigate the matter and opted to defer the vote until tonight’s council meeting.

Mr Scarfone said a body corporate bylaw in place since 2012 did not allow brothels to be built in the complex.

“I’m not sure how you can approve this given it’s well within 300m (of residential properties) and the DA (development application) is missing approval from the strata,” he said.

Mr Scarfone said the brothel could devalue other properties in the estate and cause problems with his insurer. “We could possibly have issues with insurance either being increased or having to change insurers,” he said.

Speaking on behalf of the applicant, architect Erica Marshall said the brothel was permissible under the council’s zoning for the site. “It’s a very small brothel with only six working rooms,” she said.

“One of these working rooms will have disability access. That’s very important because it meets a need in the community.”

Ms Marshall said the owner would install CCTV cameras, duress alarms in every room and have a security guard on site.

A council officer told the meeting that despite the brothel being less than 300m from residential properties this was considered reasonable because Old Windsor Rd and Abbott Rd separated the homes from the building.

Cr Len Robinson said he was concerned about approving a development that may not be permitted by strata bylaws.

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