24/7 opening hours 'trial' approved for Sunderland adult gaming centre which claims it is 'not a betting shop'

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has approved a planning application for the Merkur Slots premises at 4 Holmeside in the city centre.

The adult gaming centre, which offers low stakes slot machines and bingo machines, was established after winning planning permission back in 2021.

Although the applicant initially applied for a 24-hour opening, a planning condition was imposed by council planning officers to restrict operating hours from 8am to midnight.

This followed police concerns about “the existing proliferation of gambling opportunities and the likely policing, crime and disorder implications” of a late-night adult gaming centre.

In a new application to the local authority in December, 2022, Merkur Slots Ltd (UK) asked for the previous restrictions to be removed and for 24-hour opening hours to be allowed at the Holmeside site.

A supporting statement submitted on behalf of the applicant stated Merkur premises were “well run” with systems in place to ensure the premises “do not attract or take advantage of juveniles or other vulnerable persons”.

A submitted company brochure added adult gaming centres were “not betting shops”, with an average stake from customers being between 30p-40p, and that the centres provided “important natural surveillance on the high street”.

After considering the 24-hour opening hours bid and consulting with council departments, council planners approved it on February 28, 2023.

However this was on a trial basis, allowing the adult gaming centre to operate with unrestricted hours for a 13-month period.

A report prepared by council officers said Northumbria Police had accepted this “compromised proposal” and had provided no objection to the trial period.

However the council report added police were “unconvinced by the desirability, wisdom and need of and for 24-hour low stakes gambling in a recession in an area of deprivation”.

An agent for the applicant originally requested that the 24-hour use could “commence at a time of the applicant’s choosing” to allow time to train staff.

But council planners, in a decision report, said it was “inappropriate to provide an open-ended start date for the temporary period”.

Instead, it was agreed that the trial period would start from February 28, 2023, for a period of 13 months to “build in an additional month for the training of staff.”

The council decision report added: “The proposed variation to condition 3 [operating hours] is acceptable, the operational management plan will limit negative impacts with regard to noise and disturbance and the temporary period will allow an opportunity to monitor the impact of the use upon nearby residents.

“Furthermore, the proposal is not considered to have implications upon highway safety”.

The planning decision follows a similar application for a 24-hour opening trial which was approved by South Tyneside Council at a Merkur Slots venue in South Shields.

For more information on the Holmeside planning application and council decision, visit Sunderland City Council’s online planning portal and search reference: 22/02668/VAR