Facing local opposition UK bookmaker Coral has withdrawn its application to open a bookmaker in Hayes Town (London Borough of Hillingdon).
Coral had applied to open a retail betting shop in an empty Horizon Electronics store on Station Road. However the bookmaker met the opposition of various community groups as the retail betting shop would be situated nearby the local YMCA.
Coral had submitted its application in September 2014, however the plans were met quickly by local opposition supported by Hayes YMCA, church/faith groups and local businesses.
On Monday 5 January Coral management stated that it would review its Hayes Town application, the operator did not rule out resubmitting its plans.
Corals withdrawl was welcomed by David Brough, Chairman of Hayes Town Partnership
“It is great that Coral’s seem to have realised that they were facing a fight in trying to get a licence for yet another betting shop in Hayes, especially at such a sensitive location.”
A Hillingdon spokesman commented on the situation “The council received objections to the proposed application, and being a responsible operator, we took the decision to withdraw the application for now, and instead we will be looking to engage with those parties behind the objections, to establish what exactly their concerns are and how we can address them, after which we will make a decision on whether or not to proceed as originally planned.”