An Bord Pleanála, an independent statutory body which is entitled to make decisions on appeals from planning decisions made by Irish local authorities, has been urged to give its permission for certain betting shops planning on the territory of the country. The bookmaker’s premises are located in a building that has once used to be a retail shop in Tralee town centre.
However, a number of appellants have claimed that there already are enough betting outlets in the county town of Kerry. The formal complaint could result in the Irish Kerry County to start denying more gaming licenses to be issued in order for the local gaming expansion to be stopped. The complaint seeking to prevent the County from granting more gaming licenses comes at a time when the gaming operator Bar One Racing of Co Louth has obtained an approval for planning from Kerry County Council that would allow it to transform the ground floor of a local light fixtures shops to a betting outlet.
According to the third-party appellants, town centre’s highly valuable retail space should not be transformed into a betting shop area, despite the fact that the building is close to licensed betting premises. This is exactly the reason why they have raised a red flag about the appropriateness of the further development of the betting industry in the region.
Reportedly, the building’s owner has already given their consent for the reconstruction that would turn the ground floor into a betting shop operated by One Bar Racing. Currently, there are six betting outlets in Tralee, with most of them being situated in the area of the town centre. The third-party appellants described the addition of another betting outlet in the town centre as inappropriate, as in their opinion outlets that provided fast food and betting shops were dangerous to the town centre. The fact that there are three other retail betting shops situated in a close proximity to the newly-proposed one came as another argument of the proponents of the transformation plans.
Also, according to appellants, the local authorities need to take into account the increasing gambling addictions in the country’s society and the rest of the negative social impacts of gaming operations in the country.
Only a few days ago the Irish Bookmakers Association (IBA) issued a warning that the increase of betting taxes could lead to betting shops closures and job losses in the region. As reported by Casino Guardian at the time, the Association Called the Irish Government to review the local betting tax system. According to the Irish Bookmakers Association, the Government should create a fair and transparent betting duty regime that would also allow the country’s retail betting industry to remain competitive on a global scale.
The Irish Government has been reviewing the tax system of the country as part of the Tax Strategy Group process. It has made the first steps towards implementation of some changes in the country’s betting duty regime in 2015, but some analysts expressed their concerns that it could lead to negative consequences for Ireland’s retail bookmaking industry, especially considering the fact that the latter has experienced a massive decline over the past decade.
- Author
Daniel Williams
