A group by the name of Sky Night Angels has applied for permission to transform a vacant building in one of Griffith's industrial areas into a brothel.

The site, at 8 Hams Street, was formerly occupied by Risque Adult Boutique before its controversial relocation to Railway Street 18 months ago.

Sky Night Angel's development application (DA) was lodged last Thursday and requests consent for $5000 worth of internal renovations and the "use of ground floor as a brothel".

Griffith City Council's planning guidelines were overhauled in 2008 following a public outcry over its decision to allow the Risque sex shop to open within 50 metres of children’s play centre Hunky Dory.

Under the new principles, a brothel – which includes massage services involving sex acts, strip clubs, street-based sex workers and bondage and discipline parlours – cannot open within 200 metres of any school, church, residence, hospital, community facility or “any place likely to be visited by children for recreational or other pursuits”.

While the brothel is proposed for one of Griffith’s industrial precincts it would be surrounded by a number of businesses, including MIA Commercial Refrigeration, David Gras Electrics, Stephen’s Decore Cabinets and PJ’s Priority Air.

Baptist minister Kevin Webb said he had a strong “moral objection” to a brothel opening in Griffith and feared there was nothing residents could do to stop it.

“Of course I have a moral objection to it – but there’s probably not going to be any point in making a fuss like last time because we’ve been told by the planning minister that they’re not going to accept moral objections to DAs,” Reverend Webb said.

“We’ll have a look at it but we kind of saw this coming. When (then mayor) Dino (Zappacosta) said publicly that if somebody brought a brothel application then they would have to accept it he opened the door wide for it.”