Race launched to run city's super casino (From Daily Echo)
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Race launched to run city's super casino
10:49am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in News
Firms set to compete to run city casino
GAMBLING firms will soon compete to run a huge, Las Vegas-style casino on Southampton’s waterfront.
The casino is seen as the ‘cornerstone’ of the long-awaited Royal Pier development, which council chiefs hope will reconnect Southampton’s waterfront and city centre and bring thousands of new jobs with it.
After councillors agreed the process by which companies can bid to run the casino applications will be welcomed from April and assessed from August onwards.
However, the process of picking a preferred bidder may take up to 18 months, with an advisory panel of experts set to help the city council’s licensing committee in deciding which firm will run the site.
The council was one of eight authorities given a licence to build a super-size casino by the Labour government in 2008.
The licence allows operators to build casinos housing 150 slot machines with jackpots of up to £4,000 and 30 blackjack and poker tables.
More than a dozen companies have already contacted the council about running it, including Aspers, which opened the country’s first super-casino in Stratford, London, last year.
The preferred location for the casino is the waterfront site at Royal Pier and council chiefs see it as key to the success of the whole £450 million development, which could eventually feature at least two hotels, restaurants, luxury flats and an indoor arena. Kuti’s restaurant would not be affected by any development.
The council’s Cabinet member for resources, Simon Letts, thinks the casino could bring in £1m each year for the authority when it is up and running and provide a huge boost to the local economy.
He said: “The casino is the cornerstone of the development and 3,000 jobs could come with it all.
“For the first time in Southampton’s recent history we are reconnecting the waterfront to the city centre.
“It will become an area that people will come to for the weekend – they will take in a show at The Mayflower Theatre, have a night at the casino, stay in a hotel and shop in the city centre.
“That’s part of the vision we’re talking about.”
Comments(12)
-stiv-
says...
11:20am Tue 5 Mar 13
If you want to bring life into a town, you've got to get the heart beating.
More big, bland corporate developments. luxury flats and a glitzy casino right next to the ancient walls and the Mayflower memorial.
**** the town, we need more grubby easy cash.
-stiv-
says...
11:22am Tue 5 Mar 13
http://www.oldukphot
os.com/graphics/Engl
and%20Photos/Hampshi
re,%20Southampton,%2
0Mayflower%20Memoria
l%20and%20Town%20Qua
y%20c1950's%20-%2012
80pix.jpg
Torchie1
says...
11:36am Tue 5 Mar 13
-stiv- wrote:Arguably there are large areas of Southampton now blighted with housing estates which don't have the visual appeal of the green fields that were built on. It's called progress.
Anyone else thinks this looks better choked with cars?
http://www.oldukphot
os.com/graphics/Engl
and%20Photos/Hampshi
re,%20Southampton,%2
0Mayflower%20Memoria
l%20and%20Town%20Qua
y%20c1950's%20-%2012
80pix.jpg
southy
says...
12:12pm Tue 5 Mar 13
Torchie1 wrote:But they are not choke with cars, like the bottom of town is. Councils have thrown every thing down at the bottom of the town, we had a 10 times better set up in the 60's and 70's than we do now, traffic was able to move all the way around the shopping area and night life area, they are not able to now because you cant get traffic to move behind the area unless ordinary traffic would be allowed to use the dock roads.
-stiv- wrote:Arguably there are large areas of Southampton now blighted with housing estates which don't have the visual appeal of the green fields that were built on. It's called progress.
Anyone else thinks this looks better choked with cars?
http://www.oldukphot
os.com/graphics/Engl
and%20Photos/Hampshi
re,%20Southampton,%2
0Mayflower%20Memoria
l%20and%20Town%20Qua
y%20c1950's%20-%2012
80pix.jpg
kingnotail
says...
2:22pm Tue 5 Mar 13
-stiv- wrote:The town's long since been ****ed mate.
The council keep sticking baubles on a corpse.
If you want to bring life into a town, you've got to get the heart beating.
More big, bland corporate developments. luxury flats and a glitzy casino right next to the ancient walls and the Mayflower memorial.
**** the town, we need more grubby easy cash.
bigal007
says...
5:06pm Tue 5 Mar 13
100%HANTSBOY
says...
5:59pm Tue 5 Mar 13
kingnotail wrote:As a matter of interest,king,where do you live? You've never a good word to say about Southampton
-stiv- wrote:The town's long since been ****ed mate.
The council keep sticking baubles on a corpse.
If you want to bring life into a town, you've got to get the heart beating.
More big, bland corporate developments. luxury flats and a glitzy casino right next to the ancient walls and the Mayflower memorial.
**** the town, we need more grubby easy cash.
But I don't expect you've got the balls to tell us where you live anyway
Torchie1
says...
6:41pm Tue 5 Mar 13
southy wrote:Housing Estates are not choked with cars ? Interesting statement but what are all the cars that line both sides of all the roads of estates at nights and week-ends? Pick an estate at random and it's choked with cars.
Torchie1 wrote:But they are not choke with cars, like the bottom of town is. Councils have thrown every thing down at the bottom of the town, we had a 10 times better set up in the 60's and 70's than we do now, traffic was able to move all the way around the shopping area and night life area, they are not able to now because you cant get traffic to move behind the area unless ordinary traffic would be allowed to use the dock roads.
-stiv- wrote:Arguably there are large areas of Southampton now blighted with housing estates which don't have the visual appeal of the green fields that were built on. It's called progress.
Anyone else thinks this looks better choked with cars?
http://www.oldukphot
os.com/graphics/Engl
and%20Photos/Hampshi
re,%20Southampton,%2
0Mayflower%20Memoria
l%20and%20Town%20Qua
y%20c1950's%20-%2012
80pix.jpg
bazzeroz
says...
8:05pm Tue 5 Mar 13
kingnotail
says...
8:42pm Tue 5 Mar 13
100%HANTSBOY wrote:I live in Southampton, which is why I know how crap it is. Hopefully not for too much longer though however.
kingnotail wrote:As a matter of interest,king,where do you live? You've never a good word to say about Southampton
-stiv- wrote:The town's long since been ****ed mate.
The council keep sticking baubles on a corpse.
If you want to bring life into a town, you've got to get the heart beating.
More big, bland corporate developments. luxury flats and a glitzy casino right next to the ancient walls and the Mayflower memorial.
**** the town, we need more grubby easy cash.
But I don't expect you've got the balls to tell us where you live anyway
Urbane Forager
says...
10:07am Wed 6 Mar 13
kingnotail wrote:I live in Southampton and happen to think it is a great city.
100%HANTSBOY wrote:I live in Southampton, which is why I know how crap it is. Hopefully not for too much longer though however.kingnotail wrote:As a matter of interest,king,where do you live? You've never a good word to say about Southampton But I don't expect you've got the balls to tell us where you live anyway-stiv- wrote: The council keep sticking baubles on a corpse. If you want to bring life into a town, you've got to get the heart beating. More big, bland corporate developments. luxury flats and a glitzy casino right next to the ancient walls and the Mayflower memorial. **** the town, we need more grubby easy cash.The town's long since been ****ed mate.
However, I cannot believe that any sort of casino, let alone a very big one, is going to be a good thing.
As normal, the aim is stated as bringing jobs and business into the city, but commercial gambling (on any scale) rarely causes any good and often creates misery and addiction.
Southampton is not Las Vegas (fortunately).
Gambling is a loosers game, it is not glamourous, the glitter and glitz is a shallow facade. It preys on those who can least afford it and it is not benign.
southy says...
11:00am Tue 5 Mar 13