Gold Coast council secretly increases fees on adult shops and brothels in sex crackdown

WORK’S a grind, even in the sex industry and the Gold Coast City Council wants to make it harder to make a buck. Here’s why you’ll be seeing less sex on the Glitter Strip.

DAWN Crichlow has led a crusade to triple the fees for new sex shops in a bid to “clean up the city”.

And she has a warning for the Coast’s fast-growing 140 street-corner massage parlours: “You’re next”.

The veteran Southport councillor successfully pushed for the application fees of new adult shops to increase from as low as $3638 to as much as $9946.

Brothel fees have gone up about $1100.

“This is about getting rid of businesses like this, cleaning up the city and improving our reputation,” Cr Crichlow said.

Ultimately, she said she hoped to remove the industry from the proximity of major shopping precincts to maximise the Coast’s family friendly image.

“We are trying to put the kibosh on them and by increasing the fees, this is one way of doing it.

“There are also massage parlours on every street corner which are not running as genuine operations. They are terrible and give us a bad reputation and I want to see a lot less of them.”

STEP INSIDE FORMER BURLEIGH BROTHEL

Adult shop and brothel developers are being slugged by the council under a new scheme.

The move was quietly pushed through the council’s budget process during confidential talks in May and June.

COAST’S ADULT SHOPS UNDER SCRUTINY

Southport councillor Dawn Crichlow has campaigned against adult shops for years. Picture by Scott Fletcher

Since coming into effect this month, no applications have been made for adult shops or brothels.

SEX TOYS STOLEN FROM GOLD COAST ADULT SHOP

Cr Crichlow has targeted shops and brothels in a bid to clean up the city.

Other fees include up to $182 per sq m in infrastructure charges for adult shops while brothels are hit with $202.20 per sq m.

The Bulletin last year revealed an explosion in the number of massage parlours on the Coast.

There are fears the fee hike could cause adult shops and brothels to relocated over the border to the Tweed

A council spokesman said: “The unscrupulous massage parlours are not a defined land use under our City Plan. However, if they were operated legally, these businesses would be defined as a “brothel” under our City Plan.”

The move has sparked opinion that disgruntled brothel and adult shop operators will instead move across the border into Tweed Heads.

Tweed councillor and former mayor Warren Polglase said he was concerned about a potential spike and said the northern rivers had “sufficient” sex shops and brothels.

Cr Warren Polglase said he was concerned.

However, a leading property expert said it was unlikely the fee increase would deter businessmen from operating brothels.

Ray White Broadbeach commercial sales consultant Adam Grbcic who has consulted on multiple brothel site sales said he doubted the increase in costs would have much impact.

“I don’t really understand what they think that will do. Four thousand dollars for the brothel companies doing well, it’s only one hour extra work for a brothel so it’s not much of a deterrent.”

Ray white real estate agent Adam Grbcic in the former Secret Liaisons brothel in Burleigh. Picture: Jerad Williams

Mr Grbcic last week sold the site of long-running Burleigh industrial estate brothel Secret Liaisons to a company planning to use it as a storage depot.

The brothel owner had blamed unregulated massage shops on the Coast for impacting the business.

Mr Grbcic said Burleigh, now with a vacant licence, was probably one of the few places on the Coast where a new house of sin venue might start.