It's raining shit in Blackpool
What the hell.
How on Earth did Manchester get Britain’s first super-casino? They’d given up and were supporting Blackpool. There’s practically no scope for regeneration. They’ve got a Commonwealth stadium. A massive expansion of the BBC. The Lowry. Imperial War Museum. The world’s greatest football club.
Blackpool has pigeons. And the world’s worst football club. It urgently needs some help.
And yet Manchester got the casino. It’s completely beyond explanation.
The real kick in the teeth comes from the fact that Manchester’s casino will be so close to Blackpool, the seaside resort has almost no chance of ever getting a large casino.
Cardiff put in a crap bid. Bookies had them at 50/1. Which when you read the document from the Casino Advisory Panel looks like shoddy odds. The Cardiff’s raison d’etre was completely rubbished, as was their aspiration to help London host the Olympics. And it gets worse – the government consultation was basically run out of Cardiff University.
It’s been a shocking day for the Council in Cardiff, so it’s no surprise the Leader was nowhere to be seen.
30 Jan 2007 23:57
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Tags: Blackpool Cardiff Casino Gambling Manchester Rodney Berman Supercasino
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Comments (8)
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8 comments by 1 or more people
[Skip to the latest comment]I’m not that surprised it went to Manchester although I am surprised Blackpool didn’t get it. Reaction in the media, however, seems to be implying that Blackpool thought they had a God-given right to it. I like Blackpool and it probably would have fitted in very well there but you can’t compare it to Manchester on the basis that the latter has a few museums and the world’s greatest football club (and United.) Manchester, like Blackpool, has a lot of pigeons. The area of Manchester where the casino is to be rebuilt IS run down and in need of regeneration. Before the City of Manchester Stadium was built there, it was pretty much waste land with dodgy surrounding areas. I think the fact that it’s more accessible to a greater number of people might have played a big hand in the decision.
31 Jan 2007, 00:19
It’s true, if you go to Manchester there is a very obvious line of invested in area/not invested in area where the streets go from shiny and new to rundown within a few metres. I think Ben’s point about transport might be an important factor, like it or not, it’s easier to get to Manchester than Blackpool or Cardiff from most parts of the country. Plus the whole idea is a bit of an experiment, and I’m wondering if they gave it to a city which wasn’t so reliant on getting it in case it turns out to be less than a success. Yes, Manchester has its museums, media and amazing football team (and City), but I don’t think these were seen as factors, as Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach and beach are probably more attractive to tourists than Urbis is.
31 Jan 2007, 12:09
Carey Baird
We could have really done with the casino here in Blackpool. It’s not so much that we are struggling, it is that we are going in the wrong direction. There will always be a market for entertaining stag & hen partys, cheap & dirty weekends, scummy comedians etc. but that isn’t ideal for the ones who live here.
The casino would have brought in some serious money, but more importantly it would have opened the resort to a different type of people and it could have been really good for us.. but it wasn’t to be.
The worlds worst football team? We are flying in League One, look out for us in the Championship next year!
01 Feb 2007, 16:13
carl
I think the reason Manchester has got the casino is that the labour goverment since it came to power has been on a crusade to promote Manchester at the expense of every other town and city in the country. The people of Birmingham have been wise to this favoritism for some time now and labour will surely recive a backlash in the next elections. I hope that the people of Blackpool will also dish out a simular slapping to them!
09 Feb 2007, 20:28
Strange statement. The two events which propelled most Mancunian regeneration (the awarding of the Commonwealth Games and the IRA Arndale bomb) occurred in 1996 under a Tory government and weren’t even the government’s doing. Most investment post-1996 has come from the need to accommodate these events* so to imagine a pro-Mancunian crusade is to push at the limits of credulity, it was all necessary.
Mind you…
*And did anyone else here see the size of that bomb? The crater was enourmous, I was gobsmacked when I saw it.
10 Feb 2007, 12:33
There is footage on the internet of it going off which was uploaded relatively recently. I think it’s on the Greater Manchester Police website, although not sure. But yes I know what you mean, it was enormous. I’m still amazed that nobody was killed. I’d moved away about a year and a half earlier but I still have a lot of family living in Manchester and I’m just thankful none of them were caught up in the chaos.
10 Feb 2007, 16:02
neil pollitt
STOP FEELING SO FUCKIN SORRY FOR YOUR SELFS.THE BETTER PLACE WON.AND AS FOR THAT DICK WHO SAID”THEY MAY AS WELL TAKE OUR BEACH AND SEA” WELL WE DON’T WON’T THEM IT LIKE THE REST OF THE TOWN, SMELLS, AND FULL OF TURDS….................. BOO FUCKIN WHO
14 Feb 2007, 16:45
Hi there, Neil.
Only one person who’s commented is actually from Blackpool. So go away, learn to spell, and don’t come back till you’re finished.
14 Feb 2007, 17:21
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