Source: Sexwork.com
15.03.06 The New Zealand Herald
The High Court has quashed Auckland City Council's brothels bylaw, saying it was too restrictive. A challenge from the owners of a brothel known as Club 574, which operated from an address in the leafy suburb of Epsom, brought about the decision, released today by Justice Paul Heath.

Parliament legalised prostitution in June 2003, but it was left to local authorities to makes decisions about the locations at which brothels could operate and the signage they could use. Auckland's bylaw lists many restrictions on the siting of a brothel, including that they not set up business in a residential area, close to a place of worship, school, or community facility. Justice Heath found that the bylaw was invalid partly because it prohibited sex workers from plying their lawful trade from small owner-operated brothels, most of which would be likely operate to from residential properties. "It is scarcely conceivable that Parliament intended virtually no brothels, whether small or large, to operate on the Auckland isthmus," Justice Heath said in his finding. "To that extent, the bylaw conflicts with and undermines the purposes of the (Prostitution Law Reform) Act."

It was understandable that many ratepayers did not want to live close to a brothel, he said, but the council's bylaws must be made on legal rather than moral grounds. Justice Heath said the same sort of business had been carried out at the Epsom address for many years, without any real evidence of public nuisance or safety concerns. Club 574 had applied for a dispensation from the bylaw in February last year, but was turned down by commissioners. Lawyers for Club 574 maintained that the commissioners did not give enough consideration to the fact that the club was carrying out a lawful activity, that it had been doing so for some time, and that its business was carried out behind high walls and trees and without signage identifying the nature of the business. Club 574 was awarded costs by Justice Heath.