Manchester city council launched a fight back this week in defence of the city’s right to develop a £250m supercasino.
In an interview with EG, Manchester chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein said there was “no alternative strategy” for the supercasino site in east Manchester.
Bernstein’s conclusion follows a government interdepartmental review of the proposed scheme and alternatives, which is due to report its findings to prime minister Gordon Brown by the end of this month.
The review was launched by the prime minister in July, when he said that the project would be “subject to reflection over the next few months” – despite an independent Casino Advisory Panel recommending Manchester to host the supercasino in January.
Brown said: “I hope that during these summer months we can look at whether regeneration in the areas that wanted supercasinos may be a better way of meeting their economic and social needs.”
This was widely interpreted as the death knell for the project.
But in evidence to the committee, compiled by accountant KPMG, the council said “no alternative use has been identified which creates a similar scale of local employment or overall regenerative impact within such a short timescale”.
Bernstein said: “Manchester remains committed to supporting this and we’ll work hard with the government to make sure it’s delivered.”
The council hopes that Brown will be unable to ignore the economic evidence. However, it does not expect a decision to be made this side of an election for fear of the political fallout.
