Despite a number of objections from the community council and local residents, a Penally nightclub has been given the go-ahead to stage pole-dancing nights on a more frequent basis Back in May 2004, the club Jammo's was granted a licence to stage the pole-dancing events one Friday a month. At the time, proprietor Mr. Mike Haines stated his intention to apply for a variation on the licence in the future to hold the evenings more often, possibly fortnightly, if they proved successful. However, at Tuesday's meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council's licensing sub-committee at County Hall, Haverfordwest, Mr. Haines admitted that the pole-dancing evenings had proved less profitable than rave nights held at the club - but, at the same time, they had proved less trouble. "Although the pole-dancing events have brought the club less revenue than a normal rave night, when a lot more people would be attending, there have been no recorded incidents of trouble during any of the pole-dancing evenings," he told the committee, adding that the club had adhered to all the rules and conditions applied to the licence when it was granted eight months ago. Indeed, police licensing officer, Mr. Tony Davies, was full of praise for the way the door staff at the club conducted themselves, and how Mr. Haines had liaised with the local police force in seeing that every rule and condition required was complied with. "Since the application was approved last May, licensing officers and local police have made various checks at the premises on the nights that the pole-dancing events have been staged, and are more than satisfied that everything is run in a correct manner and above board. "In fact, Inspector Les Clark, of Tenby police station, recently released police figures to me to show that there has not been one example of any alcohol related arrests recorded in Penally on any of the nights that pole-dancing has been staged at the Jammo's club," added Mr. Davies. Mr. Haines had also withdrawn an application to extend the opening hours at the club on Saturday nights from 2 am until 3 am, at the request of the local police force. A number of Penally residents, though, remain unconvinced that the pole-dancing evenings held at the club don't encourage anti-social behaviour in the village. Speaking at the meeting on behalf of several people who were concerned about the kind of image Jammo's was giving the village, was county councillor Mrs. Carol Cavill. She said: "It is the general view of our community that it is essential that we preserve an image that families and retired people can continue to reside and visit knowing full well that their lives or holiday will be restful in an atmosphere that is deemed to be safe and secure, free of problems that sadly, what some term as evolutionary progress, bring, as is evident by disturbing and regular reports we all read in our local press. "The publicity that these kind of pole-dancing events brings both locally, in the press and the media, does nothing for the image of Penally, both as a quiet residential village and a peaceful holiday resort," she added. "This kind of entertainment adds nothing to the village economy and some say detracts from it." Mr. Haines stressed, however, that he had always been willing to work alongside the community council in ensuring that no anti-social behaviour or noise disturbances took place inside or outside the club premises and indeed throughout the village. "If an incident does occur outside the club that could cause a disturbance to locals, it is always me personally who contacts the local police immediately to ensure that the offenders are dealt with in the correct manner," he said. "I know the club had a bad reputation before I took over 18 months ago, but I've made sure in my time here that anything I could have done to stop anti-social behaviour occurring in the area has been done," added Mr. Haines. After considering the application, the sub-committee approved the variation to allow pole-dancing evenings fortnightly instead of monthly. "We've taken on board the objections from the Penally community, but following the support shown by licensing officers and local police in the good manner the club has run these events, we agree to grant this application to stage pole-dancing fortnightly, as long as the club does not breach any rules or conditions that have been set," said chairman, Clr. Don Evans.
