5. Memorandum from Manchester
City Council (GMB 7)
INTRODUCTION
1. Manchester City Council broadly welcomes
the Government's response to the Joint Committee's recommendations
concerning the definition, location and economic and other implications
of the largest casinos, and indeed welcomes the introduction of
the category of Regional casinos.
2. The evidence presented by Manchester
City Council focuses on developing clear policies to maximise
the potential public benefits which could flow from investment
in regional casino developments, drawing on the experience the
City Council has gained through the development of proposals for
a regional entertainment and leisure development to the east of
Manchester City Centre.
DELIVERING REGENERATION
THROUGH REGIONAL
CASINOS
3. Manchester City Council welcomes the
Government and Joint Scrutiny Committees' recognition that the
development of regional casinos in the United Kingdom should afford
an opportunity for the delivery of significant economic and other
regenerative benefits to regions and localities. The delivery
of public benefit from the development of regional casinos should
mean ensuring that:
— Employment opportunities flowing
from such developments are directly linked to those in most need.
— Schemes are fully accessible to local
communities, provide new facilities and services for those communities
and deliver genuine, tangible and lasting benefits to those communities.
— The investment generated drives forward
strategies for economic and social renewal.
— People should have direct and immediate
access to facilities through public transport.
4. In order to achieve these core objectives,
we believe that proposals must be brought forward as an integral
part of a sustainable regeneration framework for an area, which
meets established local and regional economic and regeneration
priorities.
5. Sustainable regeneration also requires
positive private sector investment and participation. The private
sector will be required to invest very significant funding to
make regional casinos a reality, and therefore must be satisfied
that the location of such facilities is appropriate to their product.
We therefore believe that the aspirations of the private sector
must be respected in the way strategies for regional casinos are
developed within the broader regeneration and public benefit context
described above.
THE ROLE
OF REGIONAL
PLANNING BODIES
6. Regional Planning Bodies are expected
to play a key role in defining locational policies in relation
to regional casinos. They should seek to ensure that any such
policies focus on ensuring that the development of regional casinos
support established regional economic development and regeneration
policies and priorities, as set out in existing planning policy
documents and in Regional Economic Strategies.
7. We believe that Regional Planning Bodies
should be encouraged, in the first instance, to assess the robustness
of their existing planning policies to determine whether they
are sufficiently responsive to accommodate these proposed new
leisure developments, before creating entirely new planning frameworks.
In the North West, for example, we already benefit from a strong
and responsive planning and economic development framework. The
North West Development Agency have developed, through the Regional
Economic Strategy, clear and accepted regional priorities for
economic development and regeneration. The current Regional Planning
Guidance for the North West places great emphasis on the achievement
of sustainable economic development. Together these provide a
strong basis against which to assess any proposal for the development
of regional scale casino and leisure developments.
8. Within the overall regional framework,
it should be the responsibility of individual local authorities
to bring forward detailed proposals, demonstrating how these relate
to regional economic priorities and sustainable regeneration plans
for their areas and how they will deliver a range of public benefits.
Such proposals must also be underpinned by a robust and demonstrable
market interest in the form of a development partner who, with
the exception of planning, licensing and the reform the regulatory
framework, has entered into an unconditional commitment to delivery.
The above would represent a true test not only of the public benefits
but also of the deliverability and sustainability of proposals
for regional casinos.
LESSONS FROM
SPORTCITY, EAST
MANCHESTER
9. The approach that Manchester City Council
is taking at Sportcity in East Manchester is wholly consistent
with this regional policy framework, and is underpinned by clear
evidence of market demand. Manchester City Council, in partnership
with New East Manchester (NEM), the Urban Regeneration Company
charged with securing the physical, social and economic renaissance
of East Manchester, are currently seeking to appoint a partner
for the development of what would be termed a regional casino
to the east of the city centre. The proposals focus on the Sportcity
site, the home of the City of Manchester Stadium.
10. Sportcity is already one of the largest
and most significant new developments in the region and has been
as a catalyst for the regeneration of East Manchester, itself
a regional regeneration priority given the incidence in the area
of some of the most deprived communities in the country. The development
of Sportcity as a high quality leisure and entertainment destination
is at the heart of the regeneration framework for East Manchester.
NEM has sought to capitalise on the impetus provided by the 2002
Commonwealth Games and the associated sporting infrastructure,
through the provision of community, leisure and residential proposals
which consolidate Sportcity's destination role.
11. The provision of a large scale leisure
and entertainment complex at Sportcity would help deliver these
established regeneration objectives in a number of ways, including
providing local residents and visitors alike with new leisure
and community facilities, as well as bringing in large numbers
of sustainable employment opportunities to East Manchester. In
recognition of this the City Council's Executive has endorsed
the Sportcity site as the most appropriate location for such a
facility within the Manchester conurbation. This position is consistent
with the New East Manchester Regeneration Framework and the current
planning policies for the site, as set out in Manchester's Unitary
Development Plan.
12. During the latter half of 2003 Manchester
City Council and NEM received various unsolicited proposals from
large international gamming operators who clearly saw the potential
of Manchester to accommodate a major new entertainment and leisure
destination. It was quickly determined by the City Council and
NEM that the most appropriate way to structure a response to this
interest and secure the maximum possible regeneration outputs
from it was to approach the market in a structured manner.
13. Manchester City Council and NEM issued
a Stage 1 Development Prospectus for the Sportcity site earlier
this year. This Prospectus outlined the opportunities presented
by Sportcity to accommodate a significant new mixed use development,
anchored by a major leisure and entertainment operator and which
contributed towards the regeneration objectives set out for East
Manchester. The Prospectus was clearly aimed at testing the market
for introducing an entirely new leisure concept to the Manchester,
thus driving the destination offer of the City forward, and bringing
forward development proposals which will form a key component
in the wider regeneration framework for East Manchester.
14. The City Council and NEM received site
specific proposals from a wide range of appropriately qualified
operators, who clearly saw the Sportcity development becoming
a major leisure destination, anchored by an international quality
and scale casino operation, which would complement existing facilities
both on the wider site and within Manchester city centre.
15. A shortlist of five international operators
was selected from these initial submissions, and they were issued
with a more detailed Stage 2 Prospectus. This set out in considerable
detail the information requirements expected of each operator,
including the core requirement for operators to develop clear
and robust proposals to drive forward the regeneration objectives
for East Manchester.
16. This process has succeeded in producing
five high quality proposals for Sportcity from major international
operators, all of whom have expressed serious intent and commitment
to developing a regional casino facility in East Manchester, as
part of a wider mixed use leisure environment. These proposals
are currently being evaluated against a robust framework designed
to test them in terms of best value, delivery of public benefits
and level of contribution towards achieving NEM's wider regeneration
objectives.
17. It is clear from the ongoing evaluation
that very significant opportunities exist to harness substantial
regeneration outputs and benefits through the delivery of robust
proposals such as those emerging at Sportcity, which would make
a significant contribution to the achievement of local and regional
economic development and regeneration objectives. As well as significant
employment generation these benefits include the provision of
new training and enterprise facilities/opportunities, high quality
social, educational and community facilities, and state of the
art sporting and recreational facilities.
CONCLUSION
18. Regional casinos ought to be considered
as major contributors to sustainable regeneration with significant
public benefits being generated and captured by local communities.
The involvement of the private sector in this process is crucial,
as they need to have the confidence that the location of such
facilities is appropriate to the product they are promoting, and
that a strategic regeneration framework is in place to underpin
and maximise the benefits flowing from their investment.
19. Manchester, and East Manchester in particular,
clearly fulfils these requirements. Transforming East Manchester's
social and economic fortunes is an established regional priority,
with robust regional and local planning and regeneration frameworks
already in place, which are designed to respond effectively to
some of the most deprived communities in the country.
20. The City Council invites the Joint Committee
to recognise and support this perspective.
June 2004
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