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Manchester casino plans officially scrapped by govt

26/02/2008

The government has confirmed plans to build a supercasino in Manchester have been scrapped.

In its place a regeneration scheme has been announced for the areas which competed to host the abandoned plans for Britain's first supercasino.

The Review of Alternatives to Casino-Led Regeneration report published today claimed that the benefits of a large "regional casino" could be reaped through "alternative, but equally effective projects".

Andy Burnham, the culture secretary, told MPs that there had been concerns over the negative impact of the supercasinos.

It was declared that while 16 large regional casinos would be built, the proposals for a supercasino had been effectively scrapped.

Mr Burnham claimed that the UK would have the "toughest regulatory regime for gambling in the world" with the casinos being forced to close their doors for six hours a day, ban credit card use and forbid drink promotions involving free drinks.

Last January, Manchester fought off competition from London's O2 Arena and Blackpool to host the UK's first Las Vegas-style supercasino.

The plans had been predicted to bring in around £265 million of investment to a deprived part of Manchester as well as creating 2,700 direct and indirect jobs.

However, once Gordon Brown became prime minister last year he declared his opposition to the plans and announced a review of the decision claiming it was not the best way to regenerate areas.

A spokesman for the prime minister said on Monday he "did not want to pre-empt the announcement that will be made" by Mr Burnham.

But he added: "As we said in July, there was a huge difference in scale in terms of gambling opportunities in a supercasino compared to one of the smaller casinos."

"We had said we would work up an alternative way of providing equivalent regeneration benefits which did not necessarily rely on a supercasino."

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt said the announcement illustrated the "mess of the government's gambling policy".

"The original decision on the supercasino now appears to be about nothing more than headlines as the government has pretty much nothing in the cupboard to tackle the growing social evil of problem gambling," he added.

"When will the government understand this is not about the size of the casino but the underlying protections put in place to prevent and treat a social disorder that breaks up families?"

Mr Burnham today approved casinos with up to 150 slot machines holding jackpots of up to £4,000 in Leeds; Southampton; Great Yarmouth; Middlesbrough; Solihull; Hull; Milton Keynes; and Newham in London.

Smaller casinos were also announced for the Bath area; Stranraer; Scarborough; Wolverhampton; Swansea; Luton; Torbay; and East Lindsey, Lincolnshire.