It’s been 3 months since my last report on the two new betting shop applications in Tooting, and a lot has happened in that time, so below is an update on the situation. If you haven’t read my original article, please visit the following link for the background information:
http://www.danwatkins.org.uk/news/betting-and-localism-tooting
Update on the numbers
The total number of betting shops has remained flat across Wandsworth as a whole over the past 4 years: 54 in 2010 and 54 in 2013. However, the Tooting postcode area (SW17), has seen an increase from 14 to 16 over this time, with two more applications received from Coral early this year. It’s also worth noting that one betting shop closed down very recently, on Franciscan Rd, so we are back down to 15 bookies for now.
Most of the betting shops are clustered around Tooting High Street and Mitcham Road, and quite rightly, residents feel we have enough without the two new ones proposed by Coral.
Mitcham Road application
Following our campaign earlier this year, the Council rejected this application, using the planning powers it has where Change of Use is required. Coral has chosen to appeal this decision, and it will likely be several months for the legal process to be exhausted and a final decision to be reached. Residents should be in no doubt however that both Conservative and Labour councillors are in agreement with us and doing all they can to prevent planning permission being given.
Tooting High Street application
Under national legislation from 2005, this unit already had permitted development rights to be converted into a betting shop, so the Council was powerless to block the planning application on those grounds. It did however reject the application on grounds of shopfront being of an ‘unsympathetic design’. While this action did delay Coral, it has now submitted a new ‘sympathetic’ design and the application went through last week. We can only assume that the new Coral shop will be opened very soon and we’ll be back to 16 betting shops in SW17.
Council response
The Council recognises that it does not always have enough powers to block future betting shop applications (where appropriate), and following our campaign is now developing a change to local planning policies. More specifically it is drafting a Supplemental Planning Document (SPD), which will go to consultation this autumn. If approved, it will allow the Council to use an Article 4 Direction to remove permitted development rights in the case of betting shop applications. Or in layman’s terms, the council will always have the power to reject planning applications for new betting shops. So for instance, this would have allowed them to reject Coral’s application at Tooting High Street.
For those of you who are also involved with my campaigns to retain the Wheatsheaf pub and Trafalgar Arms, it’s worth noting that the SPD will also make Article 4 Directions on Change of Use possible for public houses, thus providing our pubs with more planning protection too. This is very much to be welcomed.
National response
The Government has also responded to the proliferation of betting shops in some town centres with two announcements during the Spring:
- The Chancellor raised the tax on Fixed Odd Betting Terminals (the root cause of the growth in betting shops) from 20% to 25%, to try to dampen demand for this form of gambling
- Following a study into the impact of FOBTs on vulnerable gamblers, the Prime Minister has announced that a new class in planning law will be created for betting shops, giving councils the opportunity to vet these applications separately and allowing them to ultimately reject an application if they felt they were seeing too many betting shops in one area.
The latter legislation overlaps with the Council’s response, and the quicker that one or both of these measures can be implemented, the sooner that local communities in Tooting and across the UK will have the power to decide on new betting shop applications for themselves. As such, we can feel pleased that the campaigns being fought in Tooting and across Britain have yielded some excellent policy responses.