A second application for a judicial review over the decision to award a casino licence in east London to Aspers has been submitted to the High Court.
Apollo Genting, a joint venture between Malaysian operator Genting and Apollo Resorts and Leisure, revealed that it had launched the application after its own bid was rejected.
"I can confirm that Apollo Genting has filed a legal claim against the Council of the London Borough of Newham to challenge their decision to award the licence for a large casino to Aspers inside Westfield shopping centre," a spokesperson told InterGaming.
The company’s legal action follows a similar appeal by another failed bidder, City & Eastern, which had hoped to build a casino as part of a wider development at Gallions Reach. Apollo Genting’s plans included developing a mixed-use complex at Silvertown Quays. Both have argued that the council failed to base its decision to award the licence to Aspers on the level of regeneration it would provide.
Apollo Genting’s spokesperson said: "From the start of the application process, the Act of Parliament and Newham Council required, and placed great emphasis on, new, significant and sustainable regeneration. The winning licence has to be awarded to the party delivering the greatest benefit to the local area.
"Aspers’ plan is to open a casino as purely another tenant in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, a part of the borough that has already received and benefited from huge investment and extensive regeneration."
Over time, it is estimated that the winning bid will create around 440 jobs - Apollo Genting said its plan would have injected millions of pounds of investment in an underdeveloped part of the borough and created around 2,000 jobs.
"The leisure and entertainment complex, would have truly embodied the ‘visitor attraction and destination’ requirement and regeneration outputs as set out in Newham Council’s own brief," the spokesperson said. "The winning bid offers a fraction of the regeneration, job creation and leisure and entertainment attraction opportunities that the Apollo Genting bid offers.
"We are therefore baffled by the decision made by Newham Council and, after taking detailed legal advice, have decided to instigate judicial review proceedings."
Newham Council responded by saying its decision-making process for awarding the casino licence was "robust and fair," adding that it is confident "all aspects of the process will stand up to scrutiny."
