So you think you can dance
November 11th 2010 11:42
:
Vyoos news
No, you can't dance. Not if you are in the Lounge Bar in Stockport, England. It's not that the bar's owners, Lucy O'Brien and Rick Clements, disapprove of dancing, it's that the local council disapproves of dancing.
Lucy and Rick would like patrons to be allowed to dance. When they set up the Lounge Bar in 2008, they planned to have music and dancing in an upstairs room. When the room was ready, they did the right thing and applied for council approval. They submitted all sorts of documentation to support their application, including an engineer's report saying that the floor of the upstairs room was structurally safe for dancing.
The council granted a permit allowing music to be played in the room. The council granted a permit for DJs to operate in the room. The council refused a permit for dancing in the room. We disagree, the council said, with the engineer who said the floor was fine.
Since then Lucy and Rick have tried to run their business, offering food, drink and music, but not dancing. On that front, they put up No Dancing posters. They instructed staff to discourage any movement which looked like dancing. "We have done all we can to discourage people, but you can't tie people's legs together,'' Lucy O'Brien said.
No, we don't suppose you can. Which is unfortunate because a passing policeman recently saw three girls dancing in The Lounge's upstairs room and reported the matter. The council has decided to prosecute. The Lounge faces a fine of up to 1,600 pounds (about US$2,500).
After two years of living with bureaucratic quibbling that she wasn't happy with in the first place, Lucy O'Brien opened fire. "Dancing is not a crime," she said. "The council has been completely over-zealous. People being paid to find things like this is a waste of taxpayers' money."
A council spokesman responded: "The company was fully aware of the restrictions and the risk to customers but chose to continue to operate regardless of this. We believe that the appropriate action was to prosecute on the grounds of public safety."
Council, your partner in fine dancing.
There are no winners here.
news.com.au
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