Dispute on Oldbury casino cost taxpayer £5k
Thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money was spent on a legal dispute between two casino operators for a scheme that never got off the ground, it emerged today.
Sandwell Council had to instruct legal advisors for the row which went all the way to the High Court and centred around whether the Rank Group, the parent company of Grosvenor Casinos, had a valid licence to open a new casino on Birchley Island, Oldbury.
The £6 million scheme, which it was claimed could have created 120 jobs, has now been put on hold after the authority itself decided to put a congestion-busting road there instead.
The authority's deputy leader Councillor Steve Eling now hopes it can recoup its costs so the taxpayer does not lose out in the long run.
He said: "We had to pay a total of £5,800 in employing a counsel and a solicitor to deal with this matter In the High Court and we were able to get a contribution from one of the companies involved towards the costs."
Rank Group planned the casino on land next to the Birchley Island and slip-road for the M5 junction 2, as part of a £15m development.
But it led to a long battle in the courts because Clockfair Ltd, owners of the rival Shaftesbury Casino in West Bromwich, objected to a licence being transferred from nearby Mecca Bingo site in Oldbury.
Both operators eventually reached an agreement, bringing the long-running dispute to an end, but both companies were later told the grassland was needed for the planned extension of the A4123, which is to cut through the roundabout.
The council is behind the plans to ease jams around the island, which is used by 92,000 drivers a day.
The authority needed to be involved in the legal wrangle because it granted Rank Group the original licence for the Mecca Bingo site.
Councillor Eling confirmed: "Our role in this case was limited to being the licensing authority.
"We should be able to recover our full costs rather than them being paid for by the council taxpayer."
Amy Culora from Rank Group, has previously said the company hopes to 'regroup and focus on where it can go for the future' after that move by the council.
