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Permalink Reply by Kari Koonin on January 28, 2011 at 9:03

This is totally absurd. There are four within 2 minutes' walk of Belsize Road. So they even outnumber foodshops. I want to write to Enfield and find out what on earth they are thinking. Anyone else who lives in Enfield please register your protest too!

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Permalink Reply by Kari Koonin on January 28, 2011 at 15:45

I wrote to Enfield to ask about this this morning and thought you'd like to see the reply I got, which is quite astonishing: 

"When determining licence applications, the Council, as Licensing Authority, must always conduct itself in accordance with the legislation agreed by Parliament.  Section 153(2) of the Gambling Act 2005 stipulates that, In determining whether to grant a premises licence for a betting shop, the Council may not have regard to the  expected demand for the facilities which it is proposed to provide. (my bold) Therefore the fact that 3 betting shops already operate within 2 minutes walk of your road is, unfortunately not a legitimate ground for refusing to grant a licence to a 4th betting shop.  
I appreciate that this is not the response you would have wished to receive and apologise for any distress that this letter may cause you.  However the Licensing Team must comply with the Law.  
If you are concerned about the Law as it stands you should address those concerns to your Member of Parliament.  "

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on January 31, 2011 at 21:49

Thanks for sharing your research here Kari - I had a look at the Association of British Bookmakers website where they feel the need to publicly address some of these issues. 

They also specifically mention the concerns recently raised by Haringey borough (and Hackney) which strengthens my feeling that the location of all these shops - a few streets over the Enfield border - may not be just a coincidence.

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Permalink Reply by Kari Koonin on February 4, 2011 at 13:37

You could be right, Enfield Council don't seem at all bothered. Looking at their general improvement plans (place shaping, as they call it), I do get the feeling that our little corner of the borough south of the North Circular tends to be overlooked - or am I mistaken?

 

Richard McKeever said:

Thanks for sharing your research here Kari - I had a look at the Association of British Bookmakers website where they feel the need to publicly address some of these issues. 

They also specifically mention the concerns recently raised by Haringey borough (and Hackney) which strengthens my feeling that the location of all these shops - a few streets over the Enfield border - may not be just a coincidence.

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Permalink Reply by Richard McKeever on November 10, 2011 at 10:39

The issue of betting shop proliferation is back in the news again.

Our neighbours down in Hornsey Park from the Parkside Malvern Residents association have published an article on their website expressing concern at he opening of a new betting shop near Turnpike Lane Station and a licencing application for yet another in Wood Green High Road.

In a very strongly worded article in the Evening Standard this week Shadow Culture Secretary, Harriet Harman speaks of the "predatory profiteering" of gambling business opening shops in areas with high levels of poverty and unemployment. She points out that the growth is not only threough over the counter betting - chains are opening multiple branches in the same street so they can get around the rules which limit them to a small number of gambling machines in each branch.

 

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Permalink Reply by Adrian Essex on November 10, 2011 at 19:48

Haringey has published a news item about its problems with Fixed Od....

It is astonishing that Haringey or Enfield with control over both planning and licensing are hamstrung by central government legislation (see Kari's quote above) which appears to have been drafted directly by the Association of British Bookmakers . I wonder if localism or a local area plan can be of any help.

Was Harriet Harman not part of a government that once proposed 'regenerating' inner cities by building super casinos?

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