Our developers, casinos, East Devon District Council and our MP

One of the few things that we know about Liatris Holdings Ltd is that one of its associated companies (R J Bown) has had (or still has) casino interests. R J Bown sold some or all of its casino interests (including the second largest in the country at Westcliff on Sea – a small seaside town - and one in Bristol) for £30 million in January 2006.

We also know that, until recently, it seemed that East Devon District Council was minded NOT to allow super casinos in the district. However, we gather that at a council meeting last year at least one of the district’s councillors said that he had been very impressed by a visit he had made to see a casino in Bristol and the council decided to think about the matter a bit longer before making a decision. Unfortunately, we can’t at the moment give exact information on this nor whether the Council actually has made a decision on this because East Devon District Council’s website has been out of operation since at least last Friday, but details will follow.

UPDATE: taking a morning constitutional and passing the Town Hall we found a public notice which says (in part): From April 2007 current licensing arrangements for gambling activities will be replaced by a new system .... responsibility will be shared between the Gambling Commission and Local Authorities ..... East Devon's gambling policy will be published on 19 January 2007 and will come into effect on 31 January 2007. It can be seen on the EDDC website: http://www.eastdevon.gov.uk/index/council_services/licensing.htm or at the Knowle.

Today, in the Observer newspaper, there is an article about how there has been a report by a senior police officer (dated March 2006 but not made public until today) which says that super-casinos would risk:

- increasing antisocial behaviour and diverting police resources

- increasing organised crime and money laundering and

- increasing access to gambling for children and vulnerable groups

The report’s author is particularly concerned that gambling and drinking will be taking place at the same venues for extremely long periods [typically a casino operates from 1 pm in the afternoon to 6 am the following morning] and offering cheap drinks as incentives to stay and gamble.

The author goes on to say that " “destination casinos” are offering other family oriented activities and children will be taken to a gambling resort even if they are kept 50 yards away in another type of play room until they graduate at 18”. He also goes on to say that he is worried that “sex-based activities will be used to lure gamblers in". He continues, “When market forces are placed on an industry there are real concerns that the industry will not maintain its undertakings”. He criticises the current industry for using employees from eastern Europe:
“ ….. a body of employees whose history cannot be checked further back than the day they entered the UK”.

To be fair, the author gives super casinos a “cautious welcome” And the government says “Keeping out crime and protecting children and vulnerable people are central principles of the Gambling Act … All casinos will be subject to strict controls and their impact will be closely monitored”.

Fortunately, we have a saviour: none other than our own MP Hugo Swire who, in his position as Shadow Culture Secretary says: “It seems extraordinary that such dire warnings from police experts should have seemingly been swept under the carpet”.

So, we’ve no need to worry then – we can trust East Devon District Council to make sensible decisions on our behalf and we will see that on 19 January 2007 when their policy is published, we can trust the Government to monitor the situation and we know that Hugo Swire is on the case. Ah, that’s better – we can rest easy in our beds.

We know Mr Dinham says that Seaton has to reinvent itself to keep up with the times, but we do hope we don’t have to go too far …..