Coventry's only lap-dancing club plans move to new location

A decision on whether Coventry's only lap-dancing club can open in a new site will be made next week. City councillors will decide if Club Heat should be granted a sexual entertainment venue licence for premises at Hertford Place.

The club is having to move because its venue at the City Arcade is under a compulsory purchase order (CPO) by the council for the City Centre South development. It aims to open in its new site from 6pm to 6am, every day of the week including bank holidays, the application said.

The Hertford Place premises are currently used as a retro golf and cocktails bar, it added. Club Heat would operate as it currently does now and provide entertainment including "lap dance, pole dance, striptease and entertainment of a like kind, on stage and in exclusive dance booth areas," it said.

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There have been no objections to the move from any authorities or other people, said a council report. In fact the council's public health team have written in support of the bid, after a meeting with the business, it said.

Their letter said Club Heat were "very responsive to discussions" and "willing to engage with further offers of support to ensure the venue and all attending the venue have access to appropriate training and support where necessary," according to the report. There are no "mandatory grounds" for refusing the licence and the club has been running for 12 years without any significant issues, it added.

Coventry agreed a city-wide ban on so-called sexual entertainment venues back in 2012 - but this did not apply to Club Heat. The report confirms the exception is still in place and said the club's move will be judged on its "own merits" and without reference to the policy.

The report adds that the new site just outside the city's ring-road has been a night-time venue for many years. It is near other licensed premises and there is a place of worship within around 250 metres, it added.

The premises are set back from the road and the area is well lit, it said. Councillors will consider the bid at a hearing next week, 22 May.

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