Hardcore DVDs will not be going on sale in Swindon, following a meeting of the town's licensing committee.
A published story reported that members decided recently not to adopt a sex shop licensing regime that would allow premises to sell hardcore material, including adult videos and DVDs.
The decision comes after months of discussions over whether sex shops would swamp the town if the council adopted such a licensing regime.
Among opponents to the ordinance was a coalition of local churches. An article in the Wiltshire News said that in its submission to the council's licensing committee, the conservative group Swindon Churches Together said such a move would attract an undesirable element and give the town a seedy reputation.
Peter Wannell, the owner of Exchange Bookshop, an adult shop in nearby Gorse Hill, rejected the group’s criticism. He told the Wilshire News that there had been no rise in sex crime in other towns that had adopted sex shop licensing. Wannell said he had lost 70 percent of his customers to Oxford and Reading where hardcore videos could be sold.
Before the decision, the council surveyed 33 communities, cultural and religious organizations and parish councils. Of those, 23 were opposed to the scheme, seven supported it and three took no position.
After the meeting, Conservative Councillor Colin Lovell, chairman of the licensing committee, said, “We are now looking into writing to our local MPs with a view of changing the law so that we can control where such shops can or cannot be located.”
But committee member Councillor Dave Wood told the Wiltshire News that he refrained from voting on the issue. “The sex shop consultation was poor…no individuals were consulted which is why I abstained from voting.”
“However, suggesting the issue be shelved for up to three years would be dreadful. Evidence was given that hardcore pornography was being sold illegally in areas children frequent, such as shopping center parking lots. Resolving this issue quickly could stop such illegal trade and protect the town's children.”
