Supporters and opponents of Greenwich's bid for the UK's first supercasino have been putting forward their cases. SAMANTHA PAYNE reports.

GREENWICH Council's deputy leader Councillor Peter Brooks said the chances were "looking good" for the Millennium Dome to be the site of a Las Vegas-style casino.

He was one of the council's representatives answering questions from the Casino Advisory Panel on the merits of having a casino in the borough.

Panel chairman Stephen Crow and his members chose matters such as the social and economic impact of a casino and the regeneration and community benefits for the debate.

Other bodies represented at the public hearing in central London included the Government Office for London, the Greenwich, Bexley and Lewisham Chamber of Commerce and the London Development Agency.

As well as London, panels in Cardiff, Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester, Blackpool and Glasgow also heard presentations.

Speaking after the morning's session, Cllr Brooks said: "It's looking good and we stand a good chance of winning.

"Hopefully it will get better and better. This is a good opportunity for London and for Greenwich."

In his opening statement to the panel last Wednesday, Cllr Brooks highlighted key points of the bid.

He said: "The O2 (the new name of the Dome) is on a part of the peninsula which will be developed as an entertainment district and the casino will be located in the O2, bringing investment of £600m to Greenwich.

"The casino will add to the regeneration of this part of London and the Thames Gateway.

"With a casino the O2 will accelerate the pace of regeneration and will transform our tourism and entertainment offer from event-based to a leisure destination.

"It will bring a 320-bed world-class hotel and a second 400 to 500-bed hotel, exhibition space, a theatre and a wider range of outlets in the entertainment district."

He added: "It will complement our existing World Heritage Site in Greenwich which includes the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Park, National Maritime Museum, Cutty Sark, Painted Hall and Old Royal Naval College as well as Eltham Palace and the Royal Arsenal.

"Without the casino the hotels, exhibition space, theatre and the further development of the entertainment district will not proceed."

Cllr Brooks said the casino and other developments are expected to create 4,600 jobs.

Greenwich police borough commander Chief Superintentent Peter Lowton also attended the hearing and was asked by Mr Crow what the adverse effects could be on having a supercasino in the borough.

He said: "It's not possible to quantify the likely impact of anti-social behaviour but we are fortunate enough to draw on the experience of Scotland Yard, which works with the 25 existing regional casinos.

"To date anti-social behaviour has not happened outside these casinos.

"We will work with well-established networks which exist within the police force to prevent events coming to fruition."

The Rev Malcolm Torry, representing the Greenwich Peninsula Chaplaincy, voiced his concerns about problem gambling.

But the council's chief executive, Mary Ney, suggested setting up a multi-agency panel to deal with this.

She said: "We would want the chaplaincy to name a representative on the panel to address the issues of having a casino, such as being able to offer support to people who have vulnerabilities."

David Campbell, spokesman for site owner Anschutz's Entertainment Group, was positive a casino and a hotel would bring in jobs for people in the community.

By mid-December the panels' recommendations will be given to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who is expected to announce a winner in the new year.