2013.08.14 The Guardian
A naturist hotel and spa is to be allowed to serve its guests alcohol despite worries from some local residents and politicians that such a move would lead to inappropriate behaviour and unfortunate public displays of nudity.
Some people who live near the Clover Spa and Hotel – which challenges would-be visitors with the slogan "Dare to Bare" – complained that it was wrong to serve drinks to unclothed people close to family homes, a children's nursery and soon-to-be-completed retirement complex.
But councillors in Birmingham disagreed and gave the go-ahead for the hotel to serve drinks.
Tim Higgs, the owner of the Clover Spa in Erdington, told the licensing sub-committee that he was not seeking to open a strip club.
Higgs said: "The only issue has been that on two occasions, my neighbour has asked for clarification on nude sunbathing in the back garden but the police told them it was entirely lawful."
He added: "There is no public access to the hotel or spa, other than to reception, because all the naturist areas are behind key-locked doors. So anyone can't just wander in – we know who is coming in."
Higgs told the committee there was nothing "sexual" about naturism. "It is sometimes misunderstood, much to the annoyance of genuine naturists, that there is some form of sexual connotation to what they do," he said.
"It is not sexually charged and I would submit that if we were all naked now it would not be a sexually charged atmosphere. It would be more horror and shock."
According to the hotel's blurb, it is a "perfect location for business or leisure, exhibitions, sightseeing, shopping or enjoying Birmingham's vibrant nightlife."
But it makes it clear that the Clover Spa is not quite the norm. The advertising suggests the hotel is "different, exciting and a little daring" and offers "safe mixed-gender nudity", adding: "Taking a short clothes-free break refreshes and invigorates like nothing else and has huge health benefits for the skin, but even more for the mind."
Being unclothed is not obligatory. Staff wear clothes and in the lounge and bar areas around a third of guests wear a robe or towel. But when the sun is out almost everyone lies or sits naked in the garden and most of the visitors choose to be naked when they are in the spa area.
The hotel claims it is all about allowing people freedom but its website insists: "Inappropriate behaviour will result in offender being asked to leave."
Some local councillors expressed worries about hotel being given a licence, arguing that it could become a magnet for youths and troublemakers. Councillor Bob Beauchamp said the licence risked "the insidious creep towards something making things worse for local residents".
Another councillor, Gareth Moore, expressed concern that the licence would also allow live music and dancing. This would mark a substantial change, he said.
The three members of the subcommittee took 10 minutes to grant the licence allowing live music, the sale of alcohol and dancing, and said objectors had not demonstrated "evidential or causal links" for their concerns. The committee attached conditions making the sale of alcohol and the music and entertainment to be for the hotel's patrons and spa visitors only.
The Clover Spa and Hotel, which caters for up to 50 people, has been run as a naturist establishment for two and a half years.
Speaking after the hearing, Higgs said the attitude of most people was "live and let live" but he added that his application had brought "a few dinosaurs out".
Asked what his neighbours thought, he said: "The neighbours tolerate it. I won't pretend they're happy, but they do have to go out of their way to see naked people.
"They would have to either have a stepladder and look out over the fence, or look out of the back bedroom over the fence."
