City Plans to Exclude Home Based Sex Businesses

At last night’s (17 June) Ordinary Meeting of Council, the Council agreed to initiate an amendment to its Town Planning Scheme to exclude sexual service businesses as part of home occupations, and also adopt an interim policy to prohibit this business use while the amendment is being considered.

Both the proposed amendment and policy will be advertised for public comment to gauge community opinion on the issue.

Mayor Russell Aubrey said the move would send a message to potential operators that the City has taken measures to ensure that residential areas meet community expectations and do not support undesirable business uses. “The City of Melville is doing what it can, within the parameters of the law, to stop what could be a proliferation of undesirable business uses in the City and maintain the amenity of our residential areas,” he said. “As a local government, we have to look at it from a land-use planning perspective – not from a moral or ethical standpoint.”

The move follows community concern about a number of alleged home-based sex businesses currently operating illegally in residential areas and the possibility that the number will grow when the new State Government prostitution legislation is proclaimed. The legislation allows for sexual service businesses to operate legally through the State and for up to two sex workers to operate from a residential dwelling as a home occupation.

Chief Executive Officer Dr Shayne Silcox said the new legislation would allow local governments to assess applications for sexual service businesses under discretion, taking into account the likelihood of nuisance to ordinary members of the public. The legislation also allowed the City to amend is Town Planning Scheme as it deemed appropriate.

 “As a result, we plan to amend our Town Planning Scheme to exclude sexual service businesses as an acceptable home occupation,” Dr Silcox said. “However, in case the amendment is not supported by the Planning and Infrastructure Minister on the basis that it is contra to the aims of the State legislation, we are also tightening up the conditions of home occupations in general to make it more difficult for a sexual service business to operate legitimately. This includes limiting operating hours to between 8.00am and 6.00pm on weekdays and 9.00 and noon on Saturdays, and also to include a legal definition of the term ‘nuisance’.”

As the Town Planning Scheme amendment may take up to 12 months or more to be finally approved and gazetted, the Council has also resolved to introduce a policy to prevent sexual service businesses from operating through home occupation provisions of the scheme in the interim.

Mayor Aubrey said the steps the City of Melville was taken were necessary to protect residents as the State Government cost shifts the responsibility onto local government.

The City of Melville is currently investigating three alleged home-based sex businesses in the municipality, including collecting evidence as advised by the City’s solicitors. It plans to commence legal proceedings against the tenants of a property in Kardinya for an alleged breach of the Town Planning Scheme.