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Printable
Version

Stopping sex shops

Be alert!

STOPPING SEX SHOPS
The Christian Institute. £6.99
202 pages, including 67 pages of text, the rest being case studies, detailed appendices and references
ISBN 1 901986 25 9

The book has one purpose which is stated on its cover. I’m not sure when I first stumbled across the title, but as we have a shop next door to the church, it immediately grabbed my interest!

It is clearly written and helpfully guides a non-expert through the minefield of legislation and its application by local authorities.

There is a useful diagram outlining the objection process as a whole (p.16) and a plethora of resources and references to boost the case that one is trying to make.
The limitations of the book are really the limitations of the appeal process within local authorities. The legislation only allows objections for specific reasons, clearly explained in the book, but these reasons are limited.

The single most important thing you can do, the book states (p.17), is to be alert. I know it is not everyone’s idea of fun, but to have one person in the church reading the planning applications published in the local paper each week would provide an early warning system. Once an application is made, this is exactly the book you want to help deal with it, in a wide range of ways.

In our dealings, currently unsuccessful, the Christian Institute itself has provided further background and support.

My prayer is that this book will do exactly what its title says!

Jem Sewell,
Slough