All Bets off as Council Votes on Casino

November 2005: Bath and North East Somerset Council votes to apply to the Government to be considered as a potential site for a new casino.

May 2006: Bath is named as one of 31 towns and cities shortlisted to bid for a new casino.

September 2006: the council votes that it is, in principle, in favour of licensing a small casino for Bath if the Government names it as one of the final 17 approved locations.

January 2007: Bath is named one of the 17 favoured casino locations by an independent national advisory panel. Parliament has to ratify the recommendation before it can be confirmed.

March 2007: the casino plans are put in jeopardy when the House of Lords rejects the panel’s recommendations because of a row about the location of a „super casino“ in Manchester.

July 2007: newly appointed Prime Minister Gordon Brown kills off plans for the „super casino“ but says that the 16 smaller casinos, including the one planned for Bath, can still go ahead, subject to Parliamentary approval. Culture Secretary James Purnell writes to the 16 councils and asks them to confirm that they are still interested. B & NES leaders announce they will consult the public again before confirming.

This Thursday: the council will vote on whether to confirm its wish to licence a casino. If it votes no, then the casino plan will be dropped. If it votes yes, the recommendation will have to be put to Parliament again before a casino can actually be licensed in Bath.