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Casino bid can double up
Leeds is ready to put its regional rivals in the shade by creating a huge entertainment complex boasting a supercasino AND a concert arena.
The city is currently bidding to become the home of what will be Britain's biggest casino.
Separate plans for a 13,000-seater music venue are already well advanced.
Now, for the first time, council chiefs have revealed that if both schemes see the light of day, then they could be built alongside each other.
Possible locations for the combined development are thought to include Sweet Street in Holbeck, a site near the M621 at Stourton and land next to Leeds United's Elland Road ground.
The local authority is stressing that bringing the two attractions together is just one of a number of options under consideration.
A complex of this size would create around 4,000 new jobs and generate more than 100m worth of private sector investment.
It could also give Leeds the edge over Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham as they compete for ever-bigger shares of the UK's tourist trade.
A council source said today: "The two schemes don't necessarily have to go hand-in-hand - but if that's what happens then it will be a pretty impressive statement of our ambitions for the city."
Earlier this year Leeds was left off an eight-strong shortlist of potential sites for Britain's first supercasino.
The list comprised Sheffield, Manchester, Newcastle, Blackpool, Cardiff, Glasgow, the Millennium Dome and Wembley Stadium, which has since dropped out of the race.
Unsuccessful applicants were told, however, that they could still make "further representations" and now Leeds has submitted a revised bid.
The city council's deputy leader and executive member for development, Coun Andrew Carter, said: "We believe that a major new casino complex, with all the extra investment it could bring, would be a massive regeneration boost."
The Millennium Dome remains favourite to scoop the supercasino licence, despite the controversy over the relationship between its owner, US tycoon Philip Anschutz, and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott.
The East London bid is the subject of a public inquiry today. It is the first in a series of public hearings into the merits of seven shortlisted venues.
Meanwhile, Leeds councillors are due to take delivery in the next few months of a consultants' report on how an arena could be funded.
Businessman Patrick Nally is also waiting in the wings with a plan for a privately-financed indoor bowl at Clarence Dock, near the Royal Armouries museum.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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