Adult gaming centre set for move to former Sunderland AFC store in The Galleries in Washington under new plans

The Galleries, Washington. Picture c/o Google Streetview.

Plans for an adult gaming centre to relocate to larger premises in The Galleries shopping centre have been submitted to city development chiefs.

Sunderland City Council’s planning department has received an application for ground floor units in the Washington shopping hub.

The space was previously occupied by a Sunderland AFC retail store and according to planning documents, is now part vacant and part trading as a charity shop.

New plans from Luxury Leisure aim to transform the unit into an adult gaming centre (AGC), allowing AGC business Admiral Casino to relocate from its existing unit in The Galleries.

A supporting statement submitted to local authority officials, on behalf of the applicant, adds the AGC is long-established and has traded from the shopping centre since the late 1990s.

Adult gaming centres offer gaming machines aimed at adults which typically offer higher payouts than family entertainment centres.

If plans are approved, applicants said the new location at The Galleries would allow Admiral Casino to provide a “much improved service to a loyal customer base”.

Applicants also stressed there would be no increase in the number of “licensed gaming premises” in the shopping centre and that the proposed use would be “strictly governed and regulated under the council’s licensing regime”.

The supporting statement added: “Internally, there will be no noisy amusement arcade equipment which attracts under 18s and has an impact on amenity.

“Unlike an ‘arcade’ which is noisy to attract passing custom of all ages, there is a statutory obligation to exclude under 18s from AGCs.

“Such AGC establishments are commonly found at the heart of hundreds of shopping centres throughout the UK and are not uncommon even in previously defined primary shopping frontages.

“Indeed, many shopping centres have more than one AGC in the town centre”.

Applicants also claimed the plans would cause “no harm to retail vitality, viability or diversity” and would create jobs “at a time when town centres are in decline”.

According to a submitted planning application, the development has proposed 12 full-time equivalent employees.

A decision on the planning application will be made once a period of council consultation has concluded.

For more information on the planning application or to track its progress, visit Sunderland City Council’s online planning portal and search reference: 22/02780/FUL