The Swansea City Council may extend a previous ban on the opening of new casinos in the city for three more years, the BBC reported earlier today. The prohibition was introduced in 2014, following growing concerns over the way any potential opening of new gambling venues could affect “disadvantaged social groups.”
Located in the southern coast of Wales, Swansea is a city and a county that currently occupies an area of approximately 380 square kilometers. The city of Swansea is currently home to a single casino – Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casino Swansea. The property is located on High Street and features both table games and gaming machines. Previously, there was one more operational casino in the city – Aspers Casino, which, however, closed doors back in 2012 after five years of operation as it failed to turn a profit. Launched in 2007, the property cost £13 million to be developed.
The Looming Ban
As mentioned above, the original casino expansion ban was imposed in 2014 due to concerns about the impact this type of gambling properties had on vulnerable people and on those living in deprived areas. City officials now call for a three-year extension of the ban stating that residents’ welfare should be top priority of those governing the city and the county. This means that if the proposal is approved, no casino will be able to open doors in the city before 2020 when regulations are to be reviewed again.
The city council discussed the matter at a Thursday meeting, during which officials cited the findings of a previously compiled report, according to which social groups living in extreme poverty and areas with high unemployment rates and low household income and levels of education are most susceptible to the negative consequences that might ensue from the opening of more gambling venues.
And said consequences often include debt, mental health issues, divorce, increased crime rates in the area, and even suicide. Occurrences like these impact communities, councilors went on to say, adding that the problems can be particularly devastating to areas where residents are already living on a low income and struggling with the difficulties that arise from this.
In 2005, when the Gambling Act 2005, the UK’s gambling law, was introduced, Swansea was one of the eight cities to be allowed to issue small casino licenses to interested parties. Under the act, which came into force in 2007, small casinos had to feature a customer area of no less than 750 square meters. Properties of this kind were allowed to operate table games, up to 80 gaming machines of different categories, and betting. Casinos had to meet a requirement of 2:1 ratio of gaming machines to gaming tables, or in other words a facility with 40 gaming tables was allowed to feature up to 80 gaming machines of different categories.
