A plan for a gambling establishment close to a Bangor primary school has been rejected after being described as “strange.”
Elected representatives this week at an Ards and North Down Council committee rejected a request for the granting of an amusement permit by Mr Francis Brady, of Ballycastle, for a new business, Jewel Casino Ltd, at 105 Bloomfield Road South, Bangor.
The premises are currently a garage car wash, part of a complex which also has a public house and a fast food outlet. The site is close to Bloomfield Primary School, and the Bloomfield housing estate.
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The application for an amusement licence was made to provide gaming machines with a maximum cash prize payout of £25. Access to the premises was to be restricted to over 18 year olds only.
The application was publicly advertised as required by law and there were no objections. The PSNI also confirmed they had no objections to the granting of a permit.
When the application was called at the Ards and North Down Environment Committee meeting this week, at first SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle proposed the chamber grant the permit, but he could not find a seconder and his proposal fell.
DUP Councillor Nigel Edmund gave a further proposal, which was seconded, that the application be refused. He said: “I don’t think I can vote for this on this occasion. The simple reason is that it is a strange place to have an amusement arcade. It is on the cusp of an area of semi-deprivation, and across the road from a huge retail park.
“I know it probably meets the criteria required, but it wouldn’t enhance the area, and it wouldn’t bring anything to the area. Usually these types of arcades are in the middle of a city, a town or at a seaside resort - not on the edge of a dual carriageway, near people’s homes.”
DUP Alderman Naomi Armstrong-Cotter said: “A recent study by the University of Birmingham found it was ten times more likely to find a gambling establishment in areas of social deprivation throughout the UK. And this is one such example.
“The Bloomfield Estate is an area that we work very hard in, and I’m not sure, like my colleague, that this would add anything to the area. And Bloomfield Primary School is across the road. This is not the kind of thing we should be encouraging.”
UUP Councillor Pete Wray said: “I would share these concerns, especially with the location right beside the Primary School. It is very unorthodox.
“I note the cash limit is only £25, so it would not be like having a bookmakers there. But in terms of what it could potentially attract.. and there is some antisocial behaviour in the area as well. I am not comfortable with this.”
The proposal to reject the request for an amusement permit was unanimously agreed by the chamber, without a vote. The decision may be appealed by the applicant.
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