o Local residents are vociferously opposing a plan by Genting Casinos to install a 30,000 square foot, 24-hour casino, restaurant and bar on the ground and first floor of the Holiday Inn on London’s Cromwell Road.
It is estimated the casino will attract 1,500 gamblers a day and residents are concerned about the quality of the people who will be using it and the impact on the neighbourhood. One told the London Evening Standard “We already have a problem with gangs, pimps and brothels, which will increase with a casino”. Another, a psychotherapist commented that Kensington and Chelsea council “should take a stand against gambling” the addiction to which was worse than that to drugs or alcohol.
o Meanwhile the nearby Millennium and Gloucester Hotel has cancelled a booking originally accepted for a meeting of investors and fans of Rangers Football Club.
The hotel’s management say that they have been advised that the event, where feelings were anticipated to run high, could not take place without “significant disruption to hotel guests and neighbours”.