La Belle's wants to have 'lap dancing, pole dancing, and stage shows including nudity and burlesque'

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A Birmingham lap dancing club could have its licence renewed for another 12 months. La Belle's strip club, based in the former Cogs Bar opened its doors in 2019 amid much controversy and a £2 million renovation.

The club on the corner of Newhall Street and Great Charles Street Queensway in the city centre is now applying for a new Sexual Entertainment Licence in order to host "lap dancing, pole dancing, and stage shows including nudity and burlesque. " La Belle's has recently been closed due to financial strains resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is now hoping to bring back its nude shows and lap dances that cost clients £20 for a minimum of three minutes. Michelle Monaghan, who also runs the Cyclone gentlemen's club on Broad Street, is behind the La Belle's venue.

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The original opening of the club was met with much fury when the city council received more than 40 objections from restaurant owners, businesses and residents of nearby apartments all arguing that a lap dancing club would be unsuitable for the area. But, Birmingham City Council's Licensing and Public Protection committee approved the application, after a five-hour meeting where tempers occasionally flared.

The strip club lies in close proximity to a number of residential apartments as well as the main shopping areas of Corporation Street and New Street. Snow Hill Train Station and New Street Train station are also close by.

The close proximity of major pedestrian areas prompted one local resident to offer up an objection. The objector said: "Newhall Street is now a major pedestrian thoroughfare for the increasing number of residents and workers coming to or from the jewellery quarter into the city core.

"Having a trading establishment, with its associated marketing, is not the type of venue that enhances neither the Jewellery Quarter nor the City Centre as good mixed commercial and residential locations. "

There are currently 7 Sexual Entertainment Venue licences currently in force. The strip club will now go before a Birmingham City Council Licensing meeting on Tuesday (Sep 27) at 10 am when officers will decide whether to accept or refuse the application.

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