Super casino location
With it being August with little news to report, the last few weeks have been filled with stories about the whole bidding process for a super casino and the location of the casino.
In the original legislation, eight regional casinos were to have been approved before this was reduced to one before the election in order to get the legislation passed. The Tories had at the time gone into puritanical mode before the election on the back of a Daily Mail campaign that in turn has led to this current situation. In order to get the many other important parts in the Gambling Act passed, the Government accepted the amendments as many other important parts were in the act including the issue of Internet gambling.
The whole bidding process is farcical (though we have the Tories to thank for that) why can't we have super casinos located in both Blackpool and Greenwich? They are after all 200 miles apart and clearly could not be in competition. With the geographical spread of the shortlisted super casinos it would have been much more sensible if the figure was at eight. This has now led to a situation whereby if Greenwich is awarded the super casino, you will no doubt be hearing about sleaze allegations from the opposition and the right-wing press. I believe the process is fair but has been undermined by the constant issues surrounding Greenwich’s application. The sooner the Government reviews this legislation the better and I re-iterate my views of an earlier posting that I’ve posted below.
http://whelton.blogspot.com/2006/07/gambling.html
Personally my view is that it should be located in Blackpool, it is a resort that has been in decline for years and it is in desperate need of regeneration. Blackpool relies on tourism more then any other town in the country and I believe this will greatly assist in encouraging more visitors to the resort along with creating more jobs. The Labour party may also be even encouraged to have Conferences again in Blackpool.
In the original legislation, eight regional casinos were to have been approved before this was reduced to one before the election in order to get the legislation passed. The Tories had at the time gone into puritanical mode before the election on the back of a Daily Mail campaign that in turn has led to this current situation. In order to get the many other important parts in the Gambling Act passed, the Government accepted the amendments as many other important parts were in the act including the issue of Internet gambling.
The whole bidding process is farcical (though we have the Tories to thank for that) why can't we have super casinos located in both Blackpool and Greenwich? They are after all 200 miles apart and clearly could not be in competition. With the geographical spread of the shortlisted super casinos it would have been much more sensible if the figure was at eight. This has now led to a situation whereby if Greenwich is awarded the super casino, you will no doubt be hearing about sleaze allegations from the opposition and the right-wing press. I believe the process is fair but has been undermined by the constant issues surrounding Greenwich’s application. The sooner the Government reviews this legislation the better and I re-iterate my views of an earlier posting that I’ve posted below.
http://whelton.blogspot.com/2006/07/gambling.html
Personally my view is that it should be located in Blackpool, it is a resort that has been in decline for years and it is in desperate need of regeneration. Blackpool relies on tourism more then any other town in the country and I believe this will greatly assist in encouraging more visitors to the resort along with creating more jobs. The Labour party may also be even encouraged to have Conferences again in Blackpool.
posted by Martin Whelton at 11:46 pm
1 Comments:
Although the Greenwich location is excellent and from a partisan point of view I would have it in Manchester.
However, it has got to go in Blackpool as it is the only way the area can ever improve. The level of poverty is incredible and it really needs some money pumped in.
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