Strip clubs, sex shops banned from Rundle Mall and North Adelaide

New strip clubs and sex shops will be banned from “important areas” of the Adelaide CBD under new planning rules approved by the state government.

The Adult Entertainment Premises Code Amendment will prevent premises from operating in exclusion areas across prominent and highly visible parts of the Adelaide CBD.

The exclusion areas include Rundle Mall and Rundle St, King William St, North, South, East and West Tce, Victoria, Hurtle, Light, Whitmore and Hindmarsh Squares and residential areas in the south CBD.

There will also be a total ban on adult venues in North Adelaide.

Massage parlours are not impacted by the changes, as they are classified as “personal services” and are subject to separate code guidelines.

The amendments to the code will also impact adult products and services stores, which will face closer scrutiny from the Adelaide City Council in terms of advertising and shopfront presentation to minimise their impact on the streetscape.

Planning Minister Nick Champion said the government wanted important areas of the city to have a “particular civic character”.

“It’s a really important thing if we want people to live in the city, if we want people to frequent the city, if we want it to be a lively, vibrant, sophisticated and cultural place, we need to protect these boulevards from inappropriate developments,” he said.

“(The planning rules) helps the City Council manage these facilities where they might be proposed and might be appropriate, a place like Hindley St, helps the put through the planning system appropriate lighting signage and public interface and it bans them from the places where they shouldn’t be.”

Existing venues within the exclusion areas, such as The Firm on North Tce, will be allowed to remain in their current locations.

East End Association president Frank Hannon-Tan supported the changes to the planning code.

“As more people choose to live in the CBD, we need to think carefully about the mix of businesses and activities we encourage in our major streets and neighbourhoods,” he said.

Mr Champion downplayed concerns the change would lead to a red light district in Adelaide, saying the code amendment gave the council an ability to “better manage that interface with the street”.

He also said it gave “sensible rules” around the advertising of adult products for prospective stores that would sell them.

“We live in a free society and people are free to make their own choices, but what it does do is manage the public interface of those businesses with the streetscape,” he said.

West End Association president Amanda Pepe said some of the city’s major cultural institutions were in the west of the CBD, which was not part of the exclusion zone, and banning them in other areas could see more demand created in the West End.

“If they’re not considered culturally acceptable to have to walk past in the East End, why would it be okay for them to do that in the West End?” she said.