BRADFORD – Plans for a new bingo hall in Bradford city centre’s main shopping street have sparked angry reactions from local people and Bradford Council.
Bradford City Centre Management, part of Bradford Council’s Department of Regeneration and Culture, has opposed the plans which would see the former Woolwich bank in Kirkgate turned into a bingo hall.
London Investments, which owns the building, has applied to the council for a change of use to allow the building, which is currently a clothing store, to be turned into a licensed bingo hall. London Investments said that the bingo hall would be run by one of “the UK’s leading bingo hall operators.”
Councillor David Green, Bradford Council’s executive member for regeneration and economy, told the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, “Kirkgate is one of the main shopping thoroughfares in the city centre and I believe the shops there should be used for retail. There are more than sufficient bingo and amusement centres in the city centre and if we are to continue working to revive the retail offer in Bradford it is important that we try and bring as many of the empty units back into use as shops rather than amusement arcades or bingo halls, because I think it would be a lost opportunity for the city centre.”
source: Telegraph and Argus