Outcry over venue's 'exploitative' bingo licence bid on Walsgrave Road

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Opponents to the proposal say the road is littered with places to gamble



People who live in one of Coventry's most deprived areas are fighting plans for a third gambling venue on a small stretch of their high street. Merkur Slots are applying for a bingo licence for their new gaming centre on Walsgrave Road in Stoke.

The venue is set to open opposite a William Hill and just metres down the road from a Shipleys Slots. But four residents in neighbouring roads have written to Coventry City Council to object.

Locals say the road is already a hotbed for begging and anti-social behaviour, and a 2019 ONS study showed the area ranks highly for deprivation. Their letters express concern that the new centre will exploit vulnerable people and increase anti-social behaviour on the street - a problem previously covered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

"A Gambling Establishment is [sic] such a socially deprived area is likely to draw customers that may ill afford to lose monies which may otherwise go to feed their children/families or pay such things as energy bills," said one resident of Hastings Road.

Another wrote that while gambling can be fun, "opening such an establishment in an area with mixed fortunes is exploitative. "It would have a negative impact on the area," they said.

"There is already a Shipleys down the road - is this what we want in our already deprived communities?" A third said the number of gaming facilities would be "excessive" if it opened and warned that bingo and slots can be addictive.

"Why does the council feel that this is a desirable business to encourage? Have there been no other proposals for the use of the old bank?" they said.

A total of 21 residents objected to a planning application which was voted through at a council meeting in July. Merkur's bid for a bingo licence will be decided at a council hearing on October 11.

Licensing Officer Rekha Masih recommends that the company's application is granted. She points out in her report that none of the other council teams which have seen the application, such as safeguarding and police, are objecting to it.

An Operational Standards document submitted by Merkur is "robust" and its Local Area Risk Assessment "outlines in detail how the Licensing Objectives will be upheld," she added. Councillors could vote against the recommendation but would need to provide reasoning for this.

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Deprived Coventry road to get fourth gambling venue despite outcry



A gambling business can now open a branch in one of Coventry's most deprived areas despite an outcry against the "exploitative" scheme. Merkur Group will turn the old Barclays on Walsgrave Road in Stoke into an adult gaming centre after their bid for a bingo licence was granted today.

Residents had opposed the application because they didn't want a fourth gambling venue on their street and feared it would add to locals' crime and money woes. But members of Coventry City Council's Licensing Sub-Committee could not find a reason to turn down the bid and gave the company approval at a hearing yesterday.

Barrister Philip Kolvin KC, representing Merkur, delivered a lengthy argument with seven reasons why the application should be granted. He described Merkur as "a good operator" with a "first class" record on crime and pointed out that local organisations such as the police hadn't objected to the application.

Booze and children are banned from the gaming centres and late opening hours don't lead to disorder, according to night-time observations the company has commissioned. Merkur have 220 premises across the UK but they've never had a regulatory intervention or hearing to review their licence, he added.

"All that happens is people wander in, usually in ones and twos, and then they wander out again causing no harm to anyone." Mr Kolvin dismissed some local objections, including those relating to the venue's location, as not admissible in Gambling Commission guidance.

On how vulnerable people would be protected, he cited staff training at the centres and controls on machine stakes and prizes. Chair of the Sub-Committee Cllr Robert Thay pressed Mr Kolvin and four senior staff at Merkur on the numbers, such as the average stake on machines.

The meeting then heard from Mark Heffernan, one of the objectors who lives five minutes from the road. The 60-year-old acknowledged that Mr Kolvin had answered many of his questions, but was still unhappy about the plans.

He fears that people "may use the establishment in a way that may cause them financial hardship further down the road," - for example, not being able to pay their energy bills or feed their families.

"All I can say is I don't think it is the right thing for the area, especially in these economic times," he said. "I'd rather have a foodbank than a gambling establishment in the area."

But the sub-committee decided to grant the licence based on the evidence heard at the meeting, including the objections. They considered that the applicant demonstrated a willingness to prevent as far as possible any problems and didn't feel that the objections were under the remit of the law.