Gambling News by Gambling Headquarters

MANCHESTER has beaten off the more fancied Blackpool and Greenwich in the race to host the UK's first Las Vegas-style super casino. Scarborough and Leeds are to get smaller casinos too. Altogether, there will be 17 new gambling houses built across the country. But where does yesterday's announcement leave York's chances of one day having its own casino? And will the new wave of casinos lead to a surge in gambling addiction and associated problems? A casino for York? YORK could still be in the running for a new casino in a few years time - and the city would be an obvious place to have one, a local businessman insisted today. York did not apply to be among the 17 cities whose new casinos were announced yesterday. If it had, believes Scarborough businessman Don Robinson, who is behind plans to turn the derelict ikon & Diva nightclub at Clifton Moor into a casino, it would have been a shoe-in. "York used to be all chocolate factories. Now it is Britain's third biggest tourist destination after London and Edinburgh," Mr Robinson said. "It will boom over the next ten to 20 years with ever more tourists coming. It has the racecourse, the shopping malls on the outskirts, the latest leisure facilities and hotels being built. It is an obvious place for a casino." The next wave of casino licences is likely to be announced within two or three years, Mr Robinson said. "And I think York will be in the forefront then. If the city council had applied for a casino licence this time, I'm sure they would have got one." The ruling Liberal Democrats in York are famously ambivalent about whether a casino would be good for the city. They stopped short of passing a "no casino" resolution which would have slammed the door for good on the idea, but applying for a casino licence in this first wave of new casinos was never on the cards. So might the council reconsider in future? The council's deputy leader Andrew Waller is, personally, opposed to a casino, but left the door on a future bid cautiously open today. "I'm sure there will be some members who are hoping for it and there will be others like myself who don't see that," he said. The next round of applications would not be due for about three years, he said. "We will have the debate again then." Labour appears more keen on a casino for York. Scarborough's recently-opened Opera House Casino had definitely been good news for the town, said York Labour councillor Paul Blanchard.

"We would need to take all the facts into full consideration and York residents must have a say in any application," he said.

"But if the local community supports the idea, I think York could benefit greatly from having a casino.

"York is a historic city that relies on tourism. A casino would create jobs and draw in a new kind of visitor, one who likes to gamble and be entertained.

"Gambling already exists in the city - betting offices, amusement arcades and even in internet cafes. A casino provides facilities to gamble in a strictly controlled and regulated environment. It could be a great source of revenue and additional visitors.

"But there has to be a full debate as to whether the residents of York want it. The main concern really is the necessary steps to ensure that any gambling in the city would not be a source of crime, disorder or antisocial behaviour. Children and other vulnerable people should also be protected from being harmed or exploited by gambling."

The city may have already missed the boat, warns Neil Horwell, one of the businessmen behind proposals for an £8 million casino and leisure complex off Foss Islands road.

Mr Horwell said he and his associates would push ahead with their plans. "But realistically, I think City of York Council has been so slow in recognising the need for a casino they have let the ship leave the harbour," he said.

That was a wasted opportunity, he said. York without a casino was "like not having a racecourse".