THE OPENING of another betting shop along a row of Cardiff shops would send one of the city’s most deprived areas backwards, a local councillor has said.
Cardiff Council’s planning committee approved plans for a new betting shop in Countisbury Avenue, Llanrumney, at a meeting on Thursday, October 2.
When it opens the shop will be the third betting establishment in Countisbury Avenue.
Despite the closure of shops in the high street a number of residents in Llanrumney were not happy to see the plans put forward for 30 Countisbury Avenue and a petition opposed to the opening of a new betting shop there was soon launched.
Labour councillor for Llanrumney, Cllr Lexi Pocknell, said at Thursday’s planning meeting having a new betting shop in Countisbury Avenue would do “nothing to benefit our community” and would “instead risk harm to the most vulnerable”.
She and her fellow ward councillor Lee Bridgeman pointed out that a youth skills centre is due to open nearby and
added Countisbury Avenue is a common route for pupils on their way to and from school.
Cllr Pocknell said having a new betting shop would send “entirely the wrong message” and undermine the work done by youth organisations and parents.
“Another betting shop… it adds nothing to the vibrancy or safety [of the] high street,” she went on to say.
“It would be a step backwards for Llanrumney”.
Council planners said it was their view that having three betting shops in Countisbury Avenue would not constitute a harmful concentration of one type of establishment.
A council report on the plans also states the local authority does not consider the proposal would “result in unacceptable harm to the predominant shopping role and character of the centre… sufficient to sustain a refusal of the application”.
It also goes on to add that the betting shop would create three full-time and three part-time jobs and “provide for economic growth”.
However, councillors argued that having a betting shop on Countisbury Avenue would take wealth away from residents.
Cllr Pocknell said betting shops take money out of “already stretched households”.
Cllr Birdgeman said Countisbury Avenue “serves as a social and commercial heart of our community” and the council should consider other types of businesses for the street that would “uplift” the community.
He claimed betting shops in clusters have been linked to anti-social behaviour and said Countisbury Avenue was already struggling with this issue.
Cardiff Council announced in August that it would revitalise Countisbury Avenue through a number of works like cleaning and repairing the pavement, creating a new parking layout, and upgrading pedestrian crossings.
The local authority also said it would investigate options for enhanced lighting and CCTV coverage.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) spoke with residents in Countisbury Avenue in September about the proposed changes.
Most residents who shared their thoughts on the scheme said they felt the street was badly affected by anti-social behaviour.
One woman working in a shop in Countisbury Avenue said: “It would be lovely [to have the proposed changes] but I just feel like it wouldn’t be given the respect that it deserves because we do have a lot of youth problems.
“There’s been a few [instances] up here.
“I’ve seen that bus stop over there be smashed up about, no word of a lie, maybe 20 times since I moved here.”
A shopper who didn’t want to be named said at the time: “We’ve got a good lot of shops.
“We’re supposed to be having another betting shop which I don’t think we need. There’s two up here already.
“I just think regenerating here, doing the pavements… it’s peoples’ attitudes I think.
“It’s not just the actual buildings.”
