Chongie Entertainment, the operator of Little Vegas in Peterborough, has promised to sign a legal agreement as part of its relocation within the city. 

An application to move its Little Vegas AGC across town includes an offer to sign a subletting agreement that would restrict its current location to retail use only. In theory, this should allay concerns that the relocation would cause there to be more gambling venues in Peterborough.

“Chongie Entertainment Ltd has an existing long lease at 16 Broadway which runs until January 2037,” said a representative for the operator in a statement with the planning application. “The applicant will provide a signed legal agreement confirming sub-letting only to a retail use.”

However, the constituency’s MP, Andrew Pakes, has recently urged Prime Minister Keir Starmer to help residents take back control of the high street from gambling venues, whipping up the anti-gambling campaigners in the city. Peterborough Civic Society have objected to the application on the grounds that it prevents retail business setting up shop, despite Chongie’s promise to only sublet to retail businesses. 

The irony of this anti-gambling campaign spurred on by a headline hunting MP is that his actions are serving to destroy the high street rather than develop it, with shuttered shops lying dormant and the local economy impacted by the continued loss of footfall and employment.

And where is the campaign’s support tools coming from? Look no further than the Gambling Commission’s highly criticised Gambling Survey for Great Britain, slammed recently by the OSR which says it risks inflating gambling harm figures, and was described by its own independent assessor as unreliable. And the fact too, also from the regulator’s evidential stats arsenal, is that AGC numbers have been falling for years – not increasing.

Take a look at the actual evidence Mr Pakes – it’s simply not viable to drive your local economy forward when you’re jumping on a bandwagon.