Waystone Plans £200M Super Casino Complex

Swanwick property developer Waystone is hoping to become one of the first in the country to build a super casino.

The gambling centre would be part of a hotel complex that would enable Waystone to build a new stadium for the Castleford Tigers rugby team.

Family-run Waystone is expecting to submit a planning application for the project by the summer.

But even if planners at Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council agree the scheme, the final development will need approval from central Government which will license super casinos.

If given the go-ahead, the hotel and casino and the new stadium would be built at Glasshoughton, a 335-acre regeneration site just off junction 32 of the M62.

The site is already designated for leisure development and is home to Xscape, an indoor ski centre.

Up to 1,800 jobs could be created if permission is given for the development, a £200m investment for Waystone, which could attract four million visitors a year.

Waystone, which specialises in former coal site regeneration projects and was behind the £150m Barlborough Links project near Bolsover, close to the M1 near Chesterfield, employs 35 people at Swanwick, Bolsover and Wakefield. The firm's head office is at Swanwick.

Stuart McLoughlin, managing director of Waystone, said: "It is envisaged that the stadium will have a capacity of 13,000, including 5,000 standing, and will play host to a number of community events like concerts, as well as being home for Castleford Tigers. The submission of the outline planning application will be a major step forward and we are confident that the will to secure a new stadium for Tigers is there."

Richard Wright, the chief executive of Castleford Tigers, said: "We've been working on our new stadium project for quite some time and now have the crucial parts to the project in place, which are absolutely essential to our chances of success.

"Waystone have done a fabulous job at Glasshoughton and we feel very good about working with them. We still have a great deal of work to do to turn the dreams into reality but all parties involved are committed to making it happen."

Stuart McLoughlin added: "It is too soon to put a timescale on this development, but we have made excellent progress in recent months, with regard to the ownership of the land and with addressing traffic issues. Clearly the development would be given a huge boost if we were able to build a regional casino at Glasshoughton. It is the perfect location for a casino and ticks all the right boxes. Wakefield council has already registered its interest in securing a regional casino at Glasshoughton."

Waystone development director Helen McLoughlin, his daughter, said: "The hotel and casino would be the enabling development that would allow us to build the stadium."