Not only are cities around Britain competing against one another in bidding for selection to host the nation’s first super casino, rival projects within cities are stirring heated emotions. One such incident involves an accusation that Birmingham City Council is not maintaining its obligation to be independent when it makes recommendations to the Gaming Commission. The Council will have a say in choosing a site and operator for a new casino, and it has been revealed that financial and property advice has been given to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).

Birmingham City Council has a major shareholding in the NEC and Birmingham City Football Club, with a rival project for a casino, is angry that the same advice has not been offered to them. A bill for legal advice for the NEC has already reached £100,000 (US$180,000), money that will come from the public purse. Birmingham City Football Club and its partner Las Vegas Sands had no access to free advice from local government experts. It appears that the NEC bid has had assistance over the last ten months, even though the Council only made a decision this week to support in principle a bid to host a super casino for the city.

A call has been made for the advice given to the NEC casino project to be made available to all. According to the Birmingham Post, an NEC strategy sub-committee met last month to select a preferred casino operator. The Government has warned local authorities against doing anything that could compromise a fair and competitive allocation process for casino licences. More that 20,000 Birmingham City football supporters have signed a petition urging the Council to back the £217 million (US$ million) scheme for a world-class all-purpose stadium development that would include a mega casino run by Las Vegas Sands.

Birmingham City Council recently remortgaged £40 million (US$ million) of NEC debt and has to cover NEC losses. The temptation to support its bid for the casino licence may be understandable but the row over its involvement will continue. In the end, it ought to be the project that offers most to the local economy in regeneration that should be recommended to the Gaming Commission. (E-09.16.05)

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