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Casino Times
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News
30 January 2007
Super Casino Site To Be
Named
The location of Britain's
first "super casino" is to be announced later, with
Blackpool
and Greenwich the favourites.
Seven cities have been
vying for the right to build a venue with a licence for up
to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot gaming machines.
Glasgow,
Newcastle,
Cardiff,
Sheffield
and Manchester
are also shortlisted, with the decision due at
11:00am.
Ministers say the
Casino
will boost regeneration, but opponents argue it will lead to
more problem gambling.
The Greenwich bid, based
on the former Millennium Dome, attracted criticism last
year, after it emerged Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott
and some of his civil servants had stayed at owner Philip
Anschutz's US ranch, and not declared the visit until 11
months later.
With a customer area of
5,000 square metres, the winning venue will include a hotel,
conference facilities, restaurants, bars and live
entertainment venue.
The independent Casino
Advisory Panel, appointed by the government, was told to
look at the possible effect on employment and social
deprivation.
On Monday the Centre for
Cities - part of the Institute for Public Policy Research
think tank - said it backed Blackpool, rather than
Greenwich's Millennium Dome.
But it said a casino could
drain money away from local non-gambling businesses and lead
to an increase in problem gambling.
Greenwich already stood to
gain almost 8,000 jobs as a result of the 2012 Olympics and
had a variety of other regeneration options, the report
added.
Critics said there was a
potential conflict of interest as Mr Prescott may have used
his influence to try to get the Dome a casino licence, but
the DPM insisted he had no say on the issue.
The government had
originally planned for between 20 and 40 regional - or
'super' casinos, with the aim of encouraging regeneration in
run-down seaside resorts.
But, in the face of
Conservative and Liberal Democrat opposition, the number was
reduced to eight and then one, which will act as a "test"
site.
The advisory panel will
also announce the venues for eight 'large' and eight 'small'
casinos elsewhere in Britain.
The large casinos will be
a maximum 1,500 square metres and have up to 150 gaming
machines with a jackpot of up to £4,000, with
Bingo
and betting permitted.
The small ones will half
that size, with as many as 80 machines with a £4,000
jackpot and betting - but there will be no bingo.
The shortlist for the
large and small casino locations is: Bath and North East
Somerset, Bournemouth, Brighton, Canterbury, Chelmsford,
Dartford, Dudley, Dumfries and Galloway, East Lindsey, Great
Yarmouth, Hastings, Hull, Leeds, Leicester, Luton,
Mansfield, Middlesbrough, Milton Keynes, Newham, North East
Lincolnshire, Peterborough, Restormel, Scarborough, Sefton,
Solihull, Southampton, South Tyneside, Swansea, Thurrock,
Torbay and Wolverhampton.
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