Betfred Wins Planning Appeal for New Betting Shop in Swansea City Centre

A BOOKMAKERS has won a planning appeal to open a betting shop in Swansea city centre.
Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd, which trades as Betfred, wants to relocate its Oxford Street betting shop to an empty unit on nearby Union Street, where retailer Shoe Zone used to trade.
Swansea Council turned the application down, saying it would unacceptably “dilute” the retail offer on a key stretch of Union Street shops near the Quadrant Shopping Centre and the western entrance to Swansea Market. The planning department also said insufficient evidence had been provided about the marketing of the empty unit and whether it could attract different uses to boost footfall.
Union Street already has three betting shops nearer the junction with The Kingsway – and separate plans for an adult gaming centre near the Swansea Market entrance have been turned down by the council.
Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Ltd argued that its Union Street proposal would not create an additional betting shop or result in a loss of a retail unit because it was relocating, and that it would give an empty unit a new lease of life.
“Betting shops are an entertainment and leisure use which are effective at sustaining a good level of footfall, including during the evening,” planning agents on its behalf said. They also contended that the former Shoe Zone unit had been marketed for 18 months to a wide range of potential occupiers and that the only firm interest had been from their client. Shoe Zone, meanwhile, operates from a larger unit on Whitewalls.
A Welsh Government-appointed planning inspector has now ruled in the appellant’s favour, saying: “Whilst a betting shop is not the council’s desired use, there is no convincing evidence that the footfall along Union Street has been affected by the existing betting shops or that they are otherwise having an adverse impact on the vitality and viability of the city centre.
“Although the council’s preference would be a food and drink, recreation or arts and cultural related use, I am not aware of any policy provision requiring these over other complementary uses.”
The inspector added: “I am satisfied on the evidence before me that the marketing has been appropriate and demonstrates that establishing a retail occupier has not been possible.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​