Councillors set to decide on new gambling venue in Edgware

It comes shortly after the Labour-led council declared a ‘gambling harms emergency’ in a bid to try to restrict the spread of casino-style sites, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter

Barnet Council will decide on an application for a new gambling venue in Edgware less than a fortnight after declaring a ‘gambling harms emergency’.

The local authority’s licensing sub-committee is set to review an application for an adult gaming centre at 226 Station Road in Edgware at its meeting on Tuesday (3rd November).

The date will mark exactly two weeks since the council officially declared a ‘gambling harms emergency’ and pledged to draw up a cross-council strategy to tackle the issue.

The licensing application is from Palace Amusements, owned by East Kent Leasing Limited, which operates more than 20 gambling and bingo venues around the country.

The council’s public health team has objected to the Edgware application, saying it would go against licensing objectives of protecting children and other vulnerable people and of “preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder”.

It said application “identifies relevant risks but does not demonstrate that they have been adequately assessed or that the proposed mitigations would be sufficient to prevent or reduce the complexities of gambling-related harms in Edgware”.

They argued that although the venue would be replacing a betting shop, this would still represent “a material increase in exposure to a higher-risk form of gambling”.

But in a letter to the council, Jordan Godden, a director of East Kent Leasing Limited, outlined a number of measures that would be taken to “provide a comprehensive framework for the responsible management of the premises”.

These include information on “the prevention of underage access, effective security and CCTV arrangements, appropriate management of incidents and co-operation with the licensing authority and police”.

A planning application for an adult gaming centre on the same Station Road site was submitted in February 2024 by gambling firm Luxury Leisure.

After being initially refused by the council, the application was eventually granted on appeal in December 2024, with reduced operating hours. Nevertheless, these conditions only impose a maximum closing time of six hours for Sundays and bank holidays.

Existing conditions for the rest of the week allow for operation between 7am and 2am. Further operating conditions could be imposed by the council’s licensing committee on Tuesday, should it agree to approve the licence.

The gambling harms emergency declaration followed by the passing of a motion presented to full council on 20th October by Alison Moore, cabinet member for adult social care and health.

Barnet Labour said the council’s new strategy would “provide a joined-up approach across licensing, planning, public health, community safety, schools, debt advice and resident support”.

The group also called on the Labour government to “activate local authority’s ability to make gambling impact assessments as quickly as possible” to help “strengthen the ability for councils to block new unwanted gambling facilities”.

In a statement following the declaration, Cllr Moore said: “Problem gambling is a health issue, as a serious addiction. It is a poverty issue, given how those struggling to make ends meet can be sucked in. And it is a wellbeing issue, given how it can tear families apart.”

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