Game on for new £7m casino after deal to axe other venue

The Stanley Circus Casino plan was rejected by the city's licensing board in March when licensing convener Phil Attridge said there was "ample provision" for casino members in Edinburgh.

However, the company submitted a fresh application yesterday agreeing to surrender the licence for one of its three other sites in Edinburgh - the Stanley Berkeley on Rutland Place - as soon as the new casino on the site of the former Eros/Elite nightclub at Fountainpark opens for business.

But there was further disappointment for Grosvenor Casinos, whose bid to turn the former Palais de Danse in Fountainbridge into a casino was turned down by the board for a second time in three months, less than a week after the scheme was given planning permission.

One councillor described the decision as "a bad piece of business".

Presenting Stanley's case yesterday, Kevin de Haan QC said it was not possible to provide a "21st-century casino" in the Stanley Berkeley because of constraints posed by the design of the building.

The Fountainpark development, which would be the largest casino in the city, would boast a full range of gaming and state-of-the-art facilities in comfortable surroundings, including a proper lounge bar and dedicated car parking.

The new casino would feature 16 tables for games, five more than the Stanley Berkeley, as well as eight American roulette tables - an increase of four. "The way forward is to transfer the existing business to those premises, which does not add an additional facility," added Mr de Haan.

Grosvenor Casinos had appealed the board's decision to reject its application for the Palais site to a sheriff, who referred the application back to the board for consideration yesterday.

Gerald Durier, representing Grosvenor, said the firm planned "better facilities" than anything else in the city centre.

Councillor Jim Lowrie said: "I think there is demand but we really should be encouraging competition to raise the quality and raise the profile of the city centre."

But councillors voted by seven votes to five to reject Grosvenor Casinos' application.

And after members had approved the Stanley Circus Casino bid, Councillor Gordon Mackenzie said: "We are seeing an increase in capacity here and we have just turned down an application for an additional licence because there was not perceived to be demand.

"I feel we are caught in a very difficult position here.

"Stanley already had three licences and we have turned down somebody new. I think it is a bad piece of business."

Steve Myers, Stanley Casinos' director of development, said he was pleased with the decision, particularly with the fact that there would be "no further provision" coming into the Capital.

"We are obviously delighted with the decision and we will maintain first-class facilities in the city," he said.

Asked if he was disappointed that the company would have to close one existing casino to see the new facility get the go-ahead, he added: "We took the advice of the board here on board, hence the reason for our amended application."

There are currently four casinos in Edinburgh, three of them owned by Stanley Casinos.

As well as the Stanley Berkeley, the company also runs the Stanley Cascades in Leith and Stanley Edinburgh on York Place. The only other casino in the city is Gala Maybury, five miles outside the centre at South Maybury Road.

Pat Mitchinson, of Rank, which owns Grosvenor Casinos, said they intended to appeal. She said: "We were deeply disappointed. We thought that bringing our new casino concept to Edinburgh would have added a new dimension to the Edinburgh leisure market.

"We will, of course, be appealing the decision. That's the site we are targeting and we would have opened a great bar and restaurant there as well as a card room.

"We were surprised and disappointed as we thought the planners had accepted our recommendations and were happy."