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UK
Casino Times
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News
06 February
2005
British Councils Stake Their
Claim For Regional Licence
How
the tide has turned. The "not in my back yard" mentality
central to the British media's coverage of proposed UK
casino deregulation has been replaced with story after story
concerning why councils believe that their locality should
benefit from a regional casino.
Whilst there are still
some voicing concerns over problem gambling, other councils
are saying that local life could suffer if gaming isn't
introduced to help the economy.
Birmingham is a classic
case in hand with local councillors claiming The National
Exhibition Centre (NEC) could face an uncertain future if a
regional casino is not built at the complex.
Councillor Robert Sleigh
has backed proposals for an 800,000 sq ft complex which
would include a casino and five potential operators;
Ameristar, Harrahs, MGM Mirage, Stanley Genting and Sun
International have been named.
Sleigh warned: "It is the
issue of the sustainability of the NEC. The market is
changing and the exhibition industry is not what it was ten
years ago. A lot of people get their livelihood from the NEC
so I'm bound to support schemes like this which will bring
the NEC into the future."
Similarly up in Scotland,
exhibition company SECC claimed that to "pass up this
opportunity would be a huge own goal for
Scotland."
SECC chief executive Mike
Closier said Scotland was in danger of losing its national
arena and 1600 jobs if the nation failed to back the 'super'
casino. "Unless Scotland gets behind us, we could be in
danger of losing the arena, jobs and a lot of investment" he
warned. "We're going to have to wait two year for this
decision to decide whether Glasgow is one of the eight
cities to get a regional casino. Then there will have to be
a competition to decide which of the operators gets the
rights to build a casino. This whole thing is a dog's
breakfast."
Lesley Sawers, chief
executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, added: "Not
getting a casino would be a loss to Glasgow, especially if
one went to rival cities like Leeds, Birmingham or
Manchester. It would be worse if it went to Edinburgh
because that's closer to home."
The sentiment was echoed
in the North East, where Sunderland, Newcastle and
Middlesbrough are all going head to head for a licence that
at the end of the day, none of them could eventually end up
with. Sunderland Council leader Bob Symonds warned of
missing the boat "Clearly we recognise the potential of a
regional entertainment complex to attract major private
investment and new jobs into Sunderland and help develop the
city as a vibrant new leisure destination," he said.
Las Vegas Sands has been
in talks with football club Sunderland AFC over the
proposals for the past year, whilst rival operator, MGM, has
been in talks with their local rivals Newcastle United over
the possibility of placing a casino close to the St James
Metro station.
Both MGM and Newcastle
chairman Freddie Shepherd have lobbied Newcastle Council
over the issue, but it is thought councillors there are less
keen on the a super-casino. However, they may consider on if
it helps develop the Tyne Brewery site. Meanwhile, a
development site in Middlesbrough - close to the Riverside
Stadium-has also been earmarked as a possible location for a
casino.
John Holmes, director of
regeneration and tourism at One NorthEast said: "The
potential jobs and economic impact for the region from such
a development could be significant."
Switching coasts, over to
Blackpool and councillors, perhaps more confident of landing
one of the eight regional prizes, welcomed plans for an
independent panel to decide where new casinos would be
built.
Council leader Roy Fisher
said that policy would mean regional casinos will 'go to
areas where they will bring the greatest
benefit.'
Blackpool will face tough
North West competition from nearby Manchester, prompting
Alan Cavill, head of economic development at Blackpool to
comment: "If Manchester makes the case that a casino is
critical to the future of the region that will carry a lot
of weight. Places like Manchester and Salford have other
options to improve their economies. For us this regeneration
is for the whole of Blackpool."
The £260m East
Manchester proposal is much more developed. Kerzner
International has been named the preferred operator for a
casino, sports arena, ice rink and a 150 bed hotel at a site
at Sportcity. The development would create 1500
jobs.
Sir Howard Bernstein,
chief executive of Manchester City Council, said: "The East
Manchester case is very clear. It is a well developed
proposal and fundamental to the regeneration of the area. It
is about changing the lives of people, creating employment
and building sustainable communities."
Quite the opposite stance
has been taken in nearby Liverpool, though, where MGM
Mirage's plans to build a major casino and hotel complex on
the waterfront is facing stiff competition with city
councillors voting to reject it on 'moral
grounds.'
Liverpool Councillor Paul
Clein, said: "This is not the right sort of development for
a city like this. It is more appropriate in a place like
Blackpool, where you would expect the vast majority of
business to come from visitors to the area. In Liverpool, we
have a vast catchment area of around 1.5m people. Most of
the punters would be local and that is a very different sort
of operation completely. We are not saying super casinos are
wrong for everywhere but they are wrong for
Liverpool."
In Yorkshire another
battle looks set to take place between the two major cities
of Sheffield and Leeds.
Sun International is
partnering Sheffield City Trust in a scheme based around Don
Valley Stadium, whilst MGM Mirage and British Land have a
rival based on land next to Meadowhall Shopping Complex, and
Las Vegas Sands has teamed up with Sheffield United FC with
a proposed complex at Bramall Lane. All three face the
squeeze with Stanley Gentings bid to bring regional licence
to Leeds. Only one is being tipped for eventual development
and Sheffield Council leader Jan Wilson wants it to be
Sheffield stating: "Sheffield is a city that offers
something for everyone, whether that's green and tranquil
spaces, great shopping, a buzzing nightlife or some of the
best theatre outside the capital. A regional casino will add
to that eclectic mix, bringing significant investment and
jobs into Sheffield, as well as attracting new visitors and
tourists to the area."
In Wales, Cardiff is the
front running regional location and council chiefs are
focusing their collective efforts on securing a regional
licence for the Bay's Sports Village development. Cardiff
council leader Rodney Berman said: "Progressing the casino
development will unlock significant financial resources
which will pave the way for progress on a new ice rink and
associated facilities. It will also offer an opportunity to
accelerate delivery of the whole project and add
substantially to the facilities being developed."
And so onto London where
property developer Quintain Estates and Development remains
confident of winning government approval to build a new
regional casino to service North London at
Wembley.
Nick Shattock, Quintain's
property director, said he was 'ok' with the government's
latest backtracking on the number of large casinos it would
allow nationwide, saying it just meant there was a bigger
prize to be chased. Quintain unveiled plans in October to
build a £335m casino and leisure resort on land it owns
near the new Wembley stadium in a joint venture with Caesars
Entertainment.
The Greenwich Dome, which
cost £800m to build, remains high up in the
government's pecking order and with the cost of keeping it
dormant until 2007 estimated at £33m, the likelihood of
the preferred operator Kerzner International developing this
'white elephant' into a £210m casino cash cow remains
strong. An agreement to build the 600 bed hotel and casino
at the Dome has been signed with American billionaire Philip
Anschuz, who plans to create a world class sports and music
arena at the Dome site.
There are many other plans
to be considered but with the decision under review for at
least two years the government appointed panel will have
plenty of time to assess the pros and cons of each and every
location.
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