Despite criticism over commissioning a £50,000 (US$88,170) feasibility study into a super casino for east Manchester, the city council has claimed that the prospect of around 1,500 new jobs for the area made it money well spent. Kerzner International would develop a range of leisure facilities and housing if such a casino were part of the £265 million (US$467 million) scheme. Without the casino the development could not go ahead.

The Manchester project received a significant set back when the North West Regional Assembly (NWRA) came down in favour of Blackpool as its choice for the location of Britain’s first and, up to now, only super casino. The study, commissioned by the council from consultants Europe Economics, claims that the NWRA failed to take into account the fact that Manchester would compete more favourably than Blackpool with other sites around Britain.

The independent panel appointed to take the decision on the best place to site the Las Vegas style casino will not make its recommendation until the end of the year. In the meantime, councils across Britain are attempting to present their best case for the economic regeneration a regional casino would bring. The media may say loudly that Britain does not want super casinos, but it seems that councils and local populations in areas in need of regeneration would not agree. (E-01.06.05)

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