Planners refused a 24-hour gaming centre in the old Clinton Cards on Silver Street on 7 October, though a council panel licensed it in May. Here is why.
Bedford Borough Council has refused planning permission for a 24-hour adult gaming centre in the former Clinton Cards shop at 19 Silver Street. Officers turned it down on 7 October under delegated powers.
That leaves an odd position. The same council’s licensing sub-committee granted the operator a gambling premises licence for the same unit in May. It said then that planning was a separate matter it could not consider. Without planning permission, the licence alone does not let the gaming centre open.
What was refused
The application, 26/01235/COU, came from Future Leisure Limited. It asked to change the ground floor from a card shop to an adult gaming centre, a use that has no planning class of its own. The officer report describes it as operating “on a 24-hour basis”.
The decision notice gives two reasons:
- Heritage. Gaming centres must stop under-18s seeing inside, so the corner shopfront would likely become “predominantly blank and inactive”. Officers say that would harm the Bedford Conservation Area and the building itself.
- The town centre. It would add to a concentration of gambling premises, and the operator gave “insufficient information” to justify losing a shop unit.
The building dates from 1848, according to the datestones the report cites. It has stepped gables, a balustrade and finials above the modern shopfront. The town’s conservation area appraisal recommends it for local listing.
The gambling venues already nearby
The officer report lists the gambling premises already close to the site:
| Premises | Address | Distance given |
|---|---|---|
| Merkur Slots (gaming centre) | 2 Allhallows | 480ft |
| Merkur Slots (gaming centre) | 65-67 High Street | 0.1 miles |
| Betfred | 16 Allhallows | 0.1 miles |
| Betfred | 95 High Street | 0.1 miles |
| Ladbrokes | 7 Thurlow Street | 0.2 miles |
| Coral | 21 Allhallows | 0.2 miles |
| Paddy Power | 23-27 Allhallows | 0.2 miles |
| Coral | 97 Tavistock Street | 0.4 miles |
| Coral | 105 Castle Road | 0.6 miles |
A third gaming centre would sit between the two existing ones, the report says, “and would create a noticeable concentration of such uses”. It says gaming centres and betting shops already “dominate” a section of pedestrianised Allhallows, a short walk away.
The report also weighs the council’s £22.6m Bedford Town Deal spending on the streets around it. Officers say those improvements were “geared for a greater quality retail and cultural offering”, and “it is not evident the improvements are intended to attract” a gaming centre.
Who objected
The report records nine objections and one letter of support. Objectors raised anti-social behaviour, noise, parking and the conservation area. The supporter said the scheme would fill an empty building and create jobs.
Two council services objected. The conservation officer found harm to the area. The public health team, a service shared with Milton Keynes and Central Bedfordshire, set out its objection in detail. It says:
- the site’s neighbourhood is in the third most deprived tenth of areas in England, and in the top 1% nationally for crime
- it sits immediately next to parts of Greyfriars ward in the most deprived tenth
- the area includes rough sleepers, day centres, colleges and a drug and alcohol recovery service
Environmental health and trading standards did not object.
The operator said the unit had been empty for more than 15 months. Officers said it supplied no evidence of marketing the shop or of interest from other retailers.
Why a licence was granted first
Gambling licences and planning permission are decided under different laws, and this case went through both.
The council’s licensing sub-committee heard the licence application on Thursday 28 May, in a hearing that ran from 11am to 3.28pm. The record of the hearing, which the operator submitted with its planning application, shows Bedfordshire Police, public health, children’s services and community safety all took part. Councillors Lucy Bywater, Paul Edmonds and Andrea Spice spoke as objectors.
The operator told the panel the premises would trade as Royal Casino Slots. The sub-committee granted the licence. Its written reasons say it “cannot take account of any dislike of gambling” or of the demand for more premises. It also says it “cannot consider whether or not the premises would be granted planning permission”.
It added conditions, including:
- an SIA door supervisor on duty from 11pm to 7am
- the front door locked from 10pm to 6am, with customers buzzed in
- at least two staff on duty whenever it is open
- no gaming machines facing the front windows, in view of passers-by
- a Think 25 age policy and CCTV kept for 31 days
What happens next
Future Leisure can appeal to the Planning Inspectorate. For an application of this type the decision notice gives six months from the date of the decision, which runs to early April 2027.
The officer report points to an earlier case. An inspector considered a proposed gaming centre at 73 High Street (appeal APP/K0235/W/23/3314169) and found it would neither preserve nor enhance the conservation area. Bedford’s officers say “similar considerations apply” here.
What it means for you
- Nothing opens at 19 Silver Street as a gaming centre unless the operator wins an appeal or a fresh application succeeds.
- The licence still exists. If planning permission were later granted, the conditions above would apply. The sub-committee noted it has powers to review the licence if crime or harm to vulnerable people were shown to follow.
- If you want to follow an appeal, it would appear on the Planning Inspectorate’s appeals casework portal under the same address.
Other decisions in the borough are on our Bedford planning news page, and the town’s parking guide covers the nearby car parks.
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