Council to maintain no casino policy

Bruce Sinclair, local democracy reporter

A council is expected to maintain its ban on casinos after a report was backed by senior councillors.

At the March 11 meeting of Ceredigion County Council’s Cabinet, members were asked to consider the Draft Statement of the council’s Gambling Policy 2025, and to consider whether its “No Casino Resolution” with regard to premises applications should be retained.

This follows a consultation which ran from mid-October to mid-December of last year.

Gambling policy

A report for members, presented by Cllr Mathew Vaux, said: “One of the key functions of each Licensing Authority is to prepare and publish a Statement of Gambling Policy which sets out the basis upon which the Authority will make its licence application decisions.

“Since its publication in March 2022, the current gambling policy has proved effective in guiding officers, members, the holders of licences and other authorisations granted under the Gambling Act 2005, plus members of the public, in understanding how the Authority will apply its’ discretion and use its powers under the Act. It is therefore not considered necessary to greatly change the information contained in the current gambling policy.”

One issue raised in the report was the seemingly unlikely situation of whether the county would play host to a casino.

Resolution

“The council will need to consider firstly if they wish to continue with the resolution not to have a casino within the county. The decision on this will then be inserted into the revised Gambling Policy.

“Central Government upon the advice of the Casino Advisory Panel permitted eight large and eight small casinos along with those who had grandfather rights when the Act came into force, which have all been duly issued. There is currently no further provision for more casinos to be allocated.

“However, the council still need to consider the course of action they wish to take with casinos and place this within the Gambling Policy should the availability of casinos change. Before any licence for a casino is granted, the Casino Advisory Panel will advise Central Government that the area is in need of regeneration and Cyngor Sir Ceredigion would have to satisfy them that this is the case along with the type of area, social impact, community benefits and unique characteristics.”

Members unanimously backed Cabinet recommending to full council that the “No Casino Resolution” should be retained and to approve a revised Statement of Gambling Policy.