Second bidder to place bet on casino

THE future owner of a new small casino in North Yorkshire’s premier seaside resort still hangs in the balance after a district judge dismissed an appeal by a Scarborough businessman to put a halt to a rival operator’s bid.

Nikolas Shaw, boss of Scarborough’s existing Opera House Casino, had lodged an appeal after Scarborough Council decided to allow his sole competitor – Apollo Resorts and Leisure Ltd – through to the second and final stage of the bidding process.

Mr Shaw had wanted leisure giant Apollo, which runs Scarborough’s Open Air Theatre, excluded from the bid on procedural grounds.

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However, a district judge has upheld a decision by the council’s licensing sub-committee to allow Apollo through to stage two of the process.

Over the weekend, the council announced it is now pushing ahead with the process and will be asking the two rival bidders to demonstrate the benefits they can bring to the residents of the area before a decision is taken on which operator will get the licence.

The council’s licensing manager, Una Faithfull, said: “It is in the interests of the residents of Scarborough to begin stage two of the competition process where both applicants will be expected to demonstrate how they will contribute to the wellbeing of the area.”

Scarborough Council is one of only 16 local authorities in the UK to have been given the power to award a new casino premises licence under the Gambling Act 2005.

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The council invited applications from casino operators in April last year.

Nikolas Shaw Ltd’s bid is for an extension to the Opera House Casino in the town centre, while Apollo’s is for a new development at the North Bay,

Whoever is successful in the licensing stage of the application will then have to go through a separate planning process before any building work starts.