In brief:

An application has been made for for a gambling licence on the high street, at 176-177 Forest Lane, E7 9BB . The Licensing function of the Council has to consider the licence application and residents have the opportunity to write in and object if they want to.

How to share your views

Objections need to be sent to licensing@newham.gov.uk by the deadline of the 6th August (although, if you are reading this on or just after the 6th and want to object, I would say do send something in any case).

If you want to object to this application, in order to be most useful, your objection should focus on the Licensing Objectives, which are:

·        Preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime.

·        Ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open way.

·        Protecting children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.

If you are objecting, you might want to include things like:
·        the proximity of this site to Forest Gate Community School (and the fact that large numbers of school children congregate in this area before and after school)
·        the fact that the premises is right in-between two pubs
·        the possible impact on crime and anti-social behaviour (including litter and street drinking)

Some background

Forest Gaters will probably be aware that there is a shop at 176-177 Forest Land that has sat empty for some time, just opposite the station in between the Forest Tavern and the Fox & Hounds. This used to be ‘Your Move’ estate agents, but has been boarded up for some time. I’ve had a couple of conversations with residents interested in trying to use the space, and at one point an officer from Regeneration at Newham was trying to find out who the landlord was, to see if there would be any interest in a ‘meanwhile’ use whilst the shop was empty.

Liz and I recently received an email which made my heart sink somewhat, saying that there was an application for a betting shop there. I know that people in Forest Gate North feel passionately about the high street, and about supporting local businesses, and we’re really concerned that having another betting shop on Woodgrange Road will have a negative impact on our local area.

I have read that betting companies tend to target low income areas where they can grow their customer base, encouraging people who are already struggling to make ends meet to lose more money on betting. I know that some people are concerned about the impact betting shops can have on anti-social behaviour, on litter and street drinking too.

(I do have to hold my hands up here and say I’m not a natural gambler: I don’t tend to make bets with friends, and I *think* my only real gambling experience was a one-off bet on a horse on a day out to the races where I basically bet because I liked the horse’s name. I don’t want to judge people’s hobbies, and I can see that for some people, placing bets on sporting events with friends could be a social activity and one that offers connection and intensifies their enjoyment of sport. So I can see the argument that my approach and my objections could seem judgemental, or patronising. But honestly, on the other hand, there is a Ladbrokes just over the road already, so I also think objecting to this application doesn’t prevent anyone from gambling with friends responsibly, if that’s what they want.)

Can the Council just say no?

The short answer is, not really. Licensing decisions are made using specific legal powers that are given to the Local Authority by particular legislation, which sets out how decisions are made and on what basis. The decision will be made by a panel of councillors, who will have a recommendation from officers, and will consider information from the applicant, as well as any other information (like objections from councillors, residents and / or the police).

That legislation says that local authorities should ‘aim to permit‘, so you start from the point of view of seeing how the application does meet the criteria, or what conditions could be put in place so that it does meet the criteria.

So the panel could of course say ‘no’, but the chances are that if they did so without really strong legal reasoning, that decision would be appealed, that appeal would cost LBN a considerable amount of money, and at that point the application would be granted.

This is why we are encouraging residents who feel strongly about this to write in and object, to make sure that officers and councillors have all the available information, to give them the strongest possible opportunity.

Can Newham just require a different kind of shop to be opened in this site?

Again, the short answer is no. The shop is privately owned, and the landlord will presumably have advertised to see who is interested in fitting out and renting the site. The local authority has the power to grant any licences required (for selling alcohol, for example, or as here, for gambling premises) but doesn’t have the power to require that a certain shop or type of shop has to exist.

What about planning permission?

I have asked officers to get back to me on this. It seems that changing the use from an Estate Agents to a betting shop would require a ‘change of use’ application that would be made via the planning permission process. I have had a look, and there was an application for this change of use last year, which was refused (ref: 24/02658/FUL, information online here.)

It’s possible that the applicant is appealing against this refusal and aiming to get a licence in the meantime, but it’s not clear.

If I object, will the licence be refused?

I’m going to hold my hands up here: honestly, I don’t know. I genuinely don’t know what chance there is of preventing the application, and this is the first gambling licence application in the ward that I’ve been aware of. so I don’t have any prior experience to draw on.

But I do know that the more information that the Licensing team have about local views, and local concerns, the better equipped they will be. And I also know that if no one objects, the licence is much more likely to be granted. So if you have an opinion about this application, I would strongly urge you to send your views in, and to send them in before August the 6th so that they can be taken into account.

What happens next?

Officers will put together papers for the licensing panel to meet. They will also liaise with local police to see if they have a view on the application. Liz and I will both write in to object, as local councillors. A date for a licensing panel to consider the application will then be set, and on that date a decision will be made. I will give an update after that.