Bianca Jagger has reiterated her opposition to plans for a 24/7 gambling shop to move directly opposite Earl’s Court Tube Station. The human rights advocate and former wife of Mick Jagger said that children in the local area should be 'protected from harm' rather than being 'exposed to it'.
Application Details
Silvertime Amusements, which already operates a venue on Earl's Court Road, is seeking permission to move their shop to a larger premises on the same street. If approved, the current site would move to the former Lloyd's Bank building opposite the Tube station. Silvertime's existing site at 169 Earl’s Court Road would also close if the new licence was granted.
Community Opposition
The application has been unpopular with the local community, receiving 346 objections. A planning application for the new site was also refused in April this year. On Wednesday (July 15), Councillor Linda Wade, who represents Earl’s Court, told Kensington and Chelsea's Licensing Sub-Committee that the application should be refused in order to protect children and the vulnerable.
'It is the wrong location for this business and would be detrimental and fail to safeguard children and the vulnerable from being harmed and exploited and inhibit prevention of gambling from being a source of crime or disorder,' she said.
Political and Resident Objections
All three Earl’s Court ward councillors, local MP Joe Powell and eight residents' associations objected to the licensing application. Dr Kleinman, who has been a local resident for many years, told the sub-committee that there was no support for the application in the local community.
'I think this application is a threat to Earl's Court residents and I would not be here if I didn't think this was a very critical matter for the community,' he said.
Applicant's Defense
Legal Counsel Andrew Woods, who represented Silvertime at the hearing, said that his client has operated at its current site for 10 years with no issues. He said that the relocation to 177-179 of the busy London road would provide better and more comfortable facilities with additional gambling machines.
'This applicant had traded a few doors down for 10 years. The applicant has protected the licensing objectives. There’s been no complaints in 10 years connected to the Gambling Act,' he said. Mr Woods also said that the applicant would be appealing the council’s planning refusal.
Proposed New Site
If approved, gambling machines would be located solely on the ground floor of the proposed premises. The new site would have around 40 machines compared to the 26 in place at the applicant’s current site. Silvertime, which has shops around the city, said that the average number of machines in their venues was 45. The applicant said that there would be one SIA trained security guard on the door at all times, as well as CCTV.
A decision on the licensing application has not yet been publicly announced by the committee, but is expected in the coming week.
