Hundreds of residents are opposing plans for a new betting shop in Staple Hill set to get the green light this week. The plans would see an old bank on the high street converted into a Boyle Sports betting shop, which residents have said would be a “damaging blight”.
Boyle Sports Ltd is applying for planning permission from South Gloucestershire Council to convert the building on 124–126 High Street, where the Lloyds Bank used to be. The council’s development management committee will vote on the plans on Thursday, January 19.
But the council has received 216 objections from local residents, with many complaining that there are two other betting shops nearby and a third is not needed. Others suggested the building could be put to a better use as a “wine lounge or music shop”.
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One resident said: “We already have two betting shops on the high street and I feel we'd be restricting an exciting new opportunity by settling for a third betting shop. It's a beautiful building and would far better suit a warm vibe for all to enjoy such as a wine lounge or music shop than an addictive hobby that will cause further issues in an already concerning cost of living crisis.”
Another resident added: “Betting shops are a damaging blight on our society, whose simple role is to facilitate an addiction to the detriment of the addicted participants, causing financial and emotional damage. There are already two opportunities to be sucked into the black hole of gambling addiction on our high street.”
Defending the plans, planning consultants told the council that the betting shop would increase footfall in the area, and customers would go on to spend money elsewhere on the high street. They added the shop would create several jobs, and many of the public objections were “repetitive and incorrect”.
