Manchester faith groups welcome Government U-turn on super-casino

Manchester-based charity Church Action on Poverty has expressed its delight at the Government's decision to scrap plans for a Las Vegas-style super-casino in Manchester.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated the Government U-turn on the super-casino in a letter to the Scottish and Welsh Executives last week.

The group said it was a "victory for common sense" that would be welcomed by many people living in the city.

Niall Cooper, national co-ordinator of Church Action on Poverty, said: "Many Mancunians today will be breathing a huge sigh of relief at the scrapping of the plans for the super-casino."

He said that Manchester City Council had "massively over-hyped" the economic benefits that could be achieved through the building of the super-casino, as well as the level of public support for the plan to locate the casino in east Manchester - one of the UK's poorest neighbourhoods.

"Many families across the city are already struggling to make ends meet, and the super-casino would have tipped significant numbers over the edge into crippling and unsustainable debt," he warned.

"There must be better ways of bringing jobs and regeneration to Manchester than this."

Faith groups across Manchester had previously expressed strong opposition to the super-casino plan. In March 2007, Church Action on Poverty and Faith Network for Manchester attacked the Casino Advisory Panel's decision to locate the UK's first super-casino in Manchester as "a threat to worsen the city's already poor record on debt and child poverty".

Rev Daniel Burton, chair of Faith Network, said at the time: "We are concerned that the people of Manchester are to be used in a huge social experiment to test the effect of a super-casino on a community.

"Locating the super-casino in East Manchester in particular will draw in local people already living in debt and compound their problems."

According to the BBC, Manchester City Council is considering a legal challenge if the Government confirms its decision to axe the super-casino in their city. It says it was unaware of any U-turn by government ministers.

The decision is expected to be confirmed in a statement to the Commons after the half-term recess.

Plans for 16 smaller regional casinos are believed to still be going ahead.