City Council delays push for casino

Press, 12 July 1988, Page 6

City Council delays push for casino

By

KAY FORRESTER

Christchurch City’s casino sub-committee is in recess and its chairman believes its mothballing puts the city at a disadvantage in the campaign for a casino

Cr Ron Wright says Christchurch has taken a back seat to other centres gearing up to put their cases for a casino if the Government-ap-pointed Committee of Inquiry recommends the introduction of casinos in New Zealand.

The council’s policy and finance committee yesterday decided to put the sub-committee, charged with investigating the concept of a casino for Christchurch, into temporary recess. The committee would be re-formed when the Government committee had completed its inquiry. Cr John Burn, who led the bid to mothball the sub-committee, said its role would be duplicated by the Government committee. The Government committee had better resources and adviser capabilities to investigate casinos.

A member of the council’s sub-committee, Cr Linda Constable, has been appointed to the national committee and has resigned from the sub-com-mittee.

The remaining members are Cr Wright and Crs Vicki Buck and Carole Evans.

Cr Buck warned yesterday that Christchurch has competition from other centres for a casino should the law be changed to allow casinos. She queried the wisdom of halting the collection of information about casinos to enable the council to decide its stance.

Dunedin was mounting a strong campaign to secure a casino for that city, she said. Cr Wright said the subcommittee had done a lot of work and had. a lot more to do. If the council was to decide whether it

supported a casino it had to have the facts on which to decide. He believed the sub-committee should continue its work and file the report it was charged with preparing to the council.

Cr Burn argued the subcommittee could be reactivated after the committee of inquiry’s report to Government to do that.

He believed it could quickly gather the information for the council to decide its stance and that the council could quickly prepare and present its case if it decided to support a casino for the city.

Cr Wright said Cr Burn and the Mayor, Sir Hamish Hay, had together come up with the recommendation for disbanding the committee.

Not true, said Cr Burn. He said the case for a casino for Christchurch would be based on population and tourist numbers and the council already had those.

Cr Wright said later he believed commercial interests would put Christchurch’s case for a casino

even if the council wou! not.