Fight to stop West London high street becoming ‘mini Las Vegas’ as locals oppose 24-hour casino plan

Agents representing Admiral Casino’s owners said concerns over gambling addictions “are not relevant to planning”

Residents living near a popular West London high street fear it could become a “mini Las Vegas” if a casino is given the go-ahead to extend its opening times to 24 hours a day, as they rally against the plan.

Earl’s Court Road residents say Admiral Casino’s application to run a round-the-clock service will bring more crime and noise to an area they say is already suffering from high levels of antisocial behaviour (ASB). The area is currently subject to a Public Space Protection Order to tackle ASB.

They’re also concerned other venues will follow suit, ultimately changing the identity of this vibrant residential area into a “24-hour destination”.

Earl’s Court Society Chair Francesco Zibellini told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “I frankly think [the application] should be refused, definitely. This is a residential area.

“Look around you. I mean, most of these houses are residential, so of course having another site that is going to be open 24 hours is going to increase the potential for noise and nuisance.”

Francesco said the road is already packed with betting shops and Adult Gaming Centres (AGCs). When the LDRS visited on Friday (October 17), it found two betting shops and two AGCs within a minute’s walk of each other including Admiral Casino.

The other AGC, Silver Time, already has a 24-hour licence while there is a 24-hour Burger King, and McDonald’s recently applied for the same licence.

According to Met Police statistics, ASB made up 30per cent of all reported crimes in Earl’s Court in the last 12 months with 711 incidents. Next was violence and sexual offences with 471 incidents logged, accounting for 20pc of crimes.

Francesco said: “What I see is that when [the council] is evaluating these applications for 24-hour [operations], they just consider the absolute impact, which means they say, oh, there is no substantial increase [in noise or antisocial behaviour], but that is actually wrong.

“You shouldn’t see these things in absolute terms, but in relative terms, so [the impact] doubles it… You’ve got Silver Town up the road and I think there are a few food venues that applied for 24-hour [licences]. This is just offering a different image of this community, you know, less residential, more messy, the probability of having more and more noise and nuisance, more litter on the ground.”

He added: “You put a stone over a stone and another stone and another stone and at the end, in 15 years, this is going to end up being like a mini Las Vegas. That’s what we are very much concerned about as residents here.”

‘I think it’s very sad for the area’

Luxury Leisure, which owns Admiral Casino, said its Earl’s Court Road shop should be able to cater for customers working in the night-time economy or with irregular shift patterns.

It said the shop has operated two-and-a-half years without any complaint from residents and believes a condition imposed on its opening hours “was made without any technical evidence”, according to documents attached to the application to Kensington and Chelsea Council.

At the moment, the venue’s opening times are 8am to 11.30pm Sunday to Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. The application, which seeks to remove the condition to restrict its hours, received 200 objections and zero letters of support.

Kedge Martin, who lived in Earl’s Court until last year, says there’s a reason why residents don’t complain about the venue’s operation. “It comes down to, unfortunately, apathy, because we’ve complained about so many things in the past and the applications get waived through and therefore residents in this area don’t feel they’re being listened to. We slightly give up,” she told the LDRS.

Kedge said her adult daughter was accosted outside a supermarket on Earl’s Court Road a few years ago and felt so unsafe she refused to continue living in the area. Kedge doesn’t blame the betting shops for what happened, but she doesn’t feel they’re helping either.

She said: “I think it’s very sad for the area. We don’t need another all night or indeed any gaming application…gaming only focuses on the undermining of society. It doesn’t add any benefit at all.”

Local ward councillor Linda Wade agrees. She said residents have “complaint fatigue”. She also said Earl’s Court has a high number of vulnerable residents living in hostel accommodation or in council housing. She fears they’re not receiving the right support and are being drawn into betting shops.

As she speaks to our reporter outside Admiral Casino, she notices a man in baggy blue clothes and brownish-black teeth leaving a nearby betting shop. She stops talking, winces her eyes and begins shaking her head.

The man stares back and lets out a contrite laugh before shuffling off. Cllr Ward explains the man is in “thousands of pounds of debt” and she had been helping him with rent arrears. She explains another constituent racked up a £7,000 gambling debt and now faces being homeless because she is months in rental arrears.

She said: “We know the model of these businesses; they place themselves in areas where there is vulnerability, where there is smoke. There’s the potential market for them, because people are on benefits.”

Fellow resident and society member Norman Froment said betting shops are “feeding” off vulnerable people. He said: “They’re trying to feed the addiction of poor people who can’t afford to spend money on gambling and I think it’s just morally absolutely appalling. It’s made worse in this area because we have a lot of hostels here which look after, not only gambling people, but people with schizophrenia and a whole range of other issues.”

‘Altering the identity of our high streets’

In a submission to the council, Lichfields, agents representing Luxury Leisure, said concerns over gambling addictions are not relevant to planning. Kensington and Chelsea Council, in a planning report, said extending the opening hours is not considered to exacerbate the potential harm stated in these objections.

It said the council’s policies and guidance make no mention of these particular types of concerns but noted that gambling facilities can reduce the vitality of a town centre. It said the provision of a number of these uses is allowed.

But Norman, a long-time Earl’s Court resident, said there has been a “great proliferation” of businesses he believes attract people from outside the area. He said: “It’s not bringing in the people who have money to spend. It’s bringing in the people who don’t have much money and degrades the whole area.

“Coupled with the late-night food licences, which brings in a whole load of people on bikes, courier bikes – they make a lot of noise, they clog up the streets. And now it’s got to the point where many of us don’t feel like coming here in the evenings after about 9 o’clock.”

Earl’s Court Society Vice Chair Sandra Yarwood said 24-hour venues are “altering the identity of our high streets”. She said: “If some of the other businesses who are requesting 24-hour openings get it, we will end up with a sort of strip because it’s not one business that makes the difference. It’s the accumulation of all the businesses staying open 24 hours, so it becomes a 24-hour destination.”

She added: “They don’t really bring jobs. There are two people in there and the rest is mostly machines. They’re taking money from the most vulnerable people in society, which is disgusting.”

According to Lichfields, a number of complaints relate to the principle use of the premises and “evidently is not a consideration in the determination of this application for 24-hour use”.

They said the premises “will not give rise to noise or other amenity issues which should restrict the AGC’s all-day use” and will enhance and diversify Earl’s Court Road District Centre’s evening economy. They said a nearby gambling venue has operated on a 24-hour basis since 1992 without compliant from neighbours.

Kensington and Chelsea Council is being advised by its own officers to approve the application with a condition limiting the new opening time to 12 months, after which they revert back, according to the planning application.

The council said if Luxury Leisure applied to remove the restriction again, there would be “a more accurate assessment… on the impact of allowing increased hours at this particular premises”.

Kensington and Chelsea Council was approached for comment but said it does not want to pre-empt the committee or suggest there’s any predetermination. Luxury Leisure has been approached for comment.

The council’s Planning Committee will meet on Tuesday (October 21) to review the application. Members of the public are permitted to attend the meeting at Kensington Town Hall in Hornton Street from 6.30pm.

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