New adult gaming centre in Green Lanes will bring total number of gambling sites in the town centre to six

Palmers Green town centre and (inset) an existing Palace Amusements site in Enfield Wash (credit Google)

Campaigners in Palmers Green hoping to prevent another gambling venue opening have expressed their disappointment after a planning inspector ruled against them.

At the end of March, Palace Amusements was granted planning permission to open an adult gaming centre at the former Lloyds Bank site, following a planning appeal inquiry held in February, with the inspector stating in a written verdict the new venue would be “acceptable” with “no over-concentration of gambling uses in the area taking place”.

Palmers Green Action Team has long opposed the Palace Amusements proposal, having also tried to stop Merkur Slots from opening in Green Lanes four years ago, with thousands of local people signing petitions against both over fears of rising gambling addiction in the community.

Southgate and Wood Green MP Bambos Charalambous also opposed the new Palace Amusements venue and Enfield Council responded by refusing planning permission last year.

But East Kent Leasing Limited, the holding company for Palace Amusements, lodged an appeal against the council’s decision, with the inspector ruling in its favour. It means the total number of gambling premises in Palmers Green town centre, including betting shops, will now rise to six.

Cara McDonagh from Palmers Green Action Team said: “The recent planning appeal for an adult gaming centre (AGC) at the former Lloyds Bank building has sparked passionate debate in Palmers Green. Despite strong community opposition, the planning inspector overturned Enfield Council’s original decision, granting permission for East Kent Leasing to open another 24/7 AGC.

“The inspector concluded that Palmers Green’s district centre remains ‘healthy’, that the number of gambling venues remains modest overall, and that bringing a long-vacant unit back into use would not undermine the area’s vitality. These points were strongly challenged […] we highlighted that another AGC would bring the total number of gambling establishments on our high street to six—double the number of pharmacies, opticians, gyms, and dry cleaners, and three times the number of newsagents and funeral parlours.

“Retail space here is in high demand, with vacancy rates well below the national average—so the idea that this simply fills a gap doesn’t hold up. While concerns about crime were acknowledged, no direct link was made between the proposed use and increased criminal activity.

“Though this decision is disappointing, it reflects a broader issue: the community’s limited ability to influence the future of its high street.”

In his written verdict, the planning inspector accepted that “a local cluster of gambling uses would be formed within the district centre” with the addition of Palace Amusements, as well as acknowledging the “concerns regarding gambling addiction and the detrimental effects of gambling upon the health and the wellbeing of those affected” with “associations between problem gambling and social and economic costs and harms”.

But the inspector concluded: “However, the evidence before me does not demonstrate to me a causal link between the addition of this AGC at the site and a likelihood for any problematic gambling habits to grow. Nor, ultimately, that the community’s cohesion and overall wellbeing would be undermined.

“I can envisage that there would come a point at which a cluster of gambling uses would undermine, and be detrimental to, the diversity of the district centre. However, I do not find that the cluster of four which would result in this case to be unacceptably high. That there would be an even split of betting shops and AGCs, and thereby some diversity of the type of gambling uses, would aid in this.

“Moreover, I must have regard to the appeal site being vacant […] the proposal would bring the unit back into use so that it would once again make a contribution to the economy of, and activities taking place within, the district centre.”

In its appeal submission East Kent Leasing stated that the opening of Palace Amusements would “create job opportunities” and “bring a vacant unit in the Palmers Green district centre back into use”.

Last week, Enfield Council leader Ergin Erbil joined forces with over 35 other local leaders and campaign groups to call on the government to reform gambling laws “that fail to protect communities from harm”. Among the key asks is more powers for local authorities to reject new gambling venues.

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