Lyn Brown – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Communities and Local Government

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lyn Brown on 2014-04-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many planning applications made by betting shops have been rejected by local authorities and subsequently overturned by the Planning Ispectorate in (a) Newham and (b) the UK in each year since 2008.

Nick Boles

We hold information for England; information for other parts of the UK is a matter for the devolved Administrations.

The table below sets out the number of planning appeals on betting shops decided by the Planning Inspectorate in England in each year since 2008.

There is no clear trend, other than fewer appeals being allowed in the last two years, and I would note that the numbers involved are small. Any planning application or appeal needs to be considered on its individual merits in light of the prevailing local circumstances and planning policies.

During this period, three appeals relating to the London Borough of Newham in 2011 were allowed involving changes to A2 use.

The detailed reasoning for the approvals were outlined in the three decision letters, but it may assist the hon. Member to note that (a) one case involved an application which had been rejected on grounds it was a move to a non-retail use, yet the inspector noted that the premises had been operating as a non-retail use for over 40 years, (b) another had been rejected on similar grounds, yet there was already an extant planning permission for the premises to change to a non-retail use, and (c) the other was since the premises was changing from an amusement arcade and was already in use for a form of gambling.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is undertaking a broader review of gambling policy. This Government is taking action to support healthy and vibrant local high streets. This is part of a wider set of measures designed to get empty and redundant buildings back into productive use and make it easier for valued town centre businesses like shops, banks and cafés to open new premises, while giving councils greater powers to tackle the harm to local amenity caused by a concentration of particular uses.