Yarmouth casino plan is back on track

12 June 2007 05:50

Yarmouth's £40m casino dream moved closer to reality last night after the High Court threw out the latest legal challenge to the government's gambling laws.

The British Casino Association had asked the court to rule that plans to bring in 17 new casinos would discriminate against existing gambling houses.

But the judge, Mr Justice Langstaff, upheld the government's plans - taking Yarmouth a step closer to securing 1,500 new jobs and a £40m economic boost by drawing punters and holidaymakers to the resort's Golden Mile in their thousands.

The High Court ruling is the second key decision for Yarmouth in as many weeks after the outer harbour project won approval eight days ago.

Last night borough council leader Barry Coleman welcomed the news and said the regeneration of the town had been at stake.

“It was not just the casino that was at stake but the whole project to turn Yarmouth into a tourist destination for the 21st century,” Mr Coleman said.

“Having worked so hard to get the outer harbour going, to have had this plank removed would have been very disheartening indeed because it would have undermined an awful lot of work that had been done.

“We know what we want but we are not masters of our own destiny. These things are out of our control. But the outer harbour project and the casino really go together. From that point of view this result is very good news. We are really very pleased.

“The important thing to get across is that it is not just about the casino, it is all the auxiliary investment that it brings that is exciting for the town. It will bring first class hotels and restaurants,” he added.

Mr Coleman urged ministers to respond to the High Court ruling urgently - and resubmit its plans to Parliament after the defeat of the original bill in the House of Lords.

“I hope that the government can now make some substantive statement. The feeling is that something needs to be announced before the summer recess of parliament because at the moment all our plans are stuck in a state of limbo,” he said.

MP for Yarmouth Tony Wright added: “This takes away the air of uncertainty. It means the government can progress along the same lines as before without fear of a challenge at a later date. It is just a matter now of getting the timing right and hopefully it can come back sooner rather then later.”

The British Casino Association (BCA) had accused culture secretary Tessa Jowell of treating their interests with “blatant unfairness” and claimed the plans for new casinos cost them £120m-a-year in lost profits.

They wanted court orders to compel the culture secretary to reconsider her casino plans.

Michael Beloff QC, for the BCA, said the 2005 Gambling Act, which paved the way for the controversial new wave of casinos, failed to provide “a level playing field”, as it forced existing casinos to reduce the number of lucrative electronic gaming machines in their premises by September to a maximum of 20 with a limited stake and prize.

By contrast, the new small, large and regional casinos will be able to offer 80, 150 and 1,250 machines respectively.

But Mr Justice Langstaff ruled that the legal challenge failed on all counts as the order had been “properly made” by the government.

The BCA, which represents more than 90pc of current gaming businesses, urged the government to “look again” at its policy in order to secure fair competition between old and new casinos.

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