Bowes and Bounds Connected
A Community Network for Bowes Park and Bounds Green
Do we really need another Betting Shop on Green Lanes?
Today I noticed that the former solicitors office on the corner of Belsize Avenue and Green Lanes is being re-developed to be opened as a betting shop.
Whilst I am not opposed to gambling for those who want to do so I really cannot understand why there is a need for so many. With the imminent opening of this new one there will be six betting shops in the short section of Green Lanes between Myddleton Road and the North Circular Road, and three of these are Labrookes branches - it must be a profitable business for the bookies!
Last year a community campaign in Tottenham mobilised support against the expansion of Betting Shop numbers and the attempt by Paddy Power to turn the long standing independent record shop Every Bodies Music into a new branch. Local newspaper reports at the time suggested the campaign, was in tune with the London Borough of Haringey's attempt to limit the growing numbers - Is the new shop opening a suggestion that the bookies are moving into Enfield instead?
It's no coincidence that betting shop numbers are increasing in economically deprived areas a quick bit of Googling reveals that the east end London Borough of Newham has 90 betting shops whilst leafy Richmond-upon-Thames has only 29.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kari Koonin on
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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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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
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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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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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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
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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?
Connecting the communities of Bowes Park and Bounds Green in north London.
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