Lewisham asks residents to shape rules for its 47 gambling venues
Lewisham Council has opened a five-week public consultation on the rules that will govern betting shops, adult gaming centres and bingo halls across the borough for the next three years.
Residents, business owners and people with lived experience of gambling harm are being invited to have their say on the draft Gambling Licensing Policy for 2027 to 2030, the document that sets out how the council will decide licence applications and police existing venues.
The borough is home to 47 licensed gambling premises, and the stakes are high. Lewisham sits among the 20 per cent most deprived local authorities in England, and an estimated 38,000 residents are thought to be affected by problem gambling, with the risks running highest among young adults, men and people living with mental health conditions.
What the council wants to change
Under the Gambling Act 2005, every licensing authority must review and publish its statement of licensing principles at least once every three years. The Act sets three objectives that underpin every decision: keeping gambling free from crime and disorder, making sure it is conducted fairly and openly, and protecting children and other vulnerable people from harm.
Lewisham’s draft policy for 2027–2030 would put greater weight on protecting young people and those most at risk of gambling-related harm. It sets clearer expectations for how operators should identify and respond to risks connected to their premises, and tightens the link between local evidence, the risk assessments operators must carry out, and the licensing decisions the council makes.
In practice, that means gambling firms operating in the borough would face a stronger onus to assess the risks around each of their venues — the footfall, the neighbourhood, who lives nearby — and to show what they are actively doing to prevent harm, rather than treating the paperwork as a box-ticking exercise.
Why it matters now
The consultation lands after a bruising episode for the council’s efforts to control the spread of gambling outlets. When an application was submitted for an adult gaming centre on Rushey Green in Catford, Lewisham refused it in an attempt to cap the density of gambling venues in the town centre.
The operator appealed, and the national Planning Inspectorate overturned the refusal. Under the Gambling Act’s statutory “aim to permit” principle, inspectors found the application complied with national legislation — legally compelling the permit to be issued and overriding the council’s local judgment. Local representatives described the outcome as a missed opportunity for the high street.
The episode illustrated the narrow room councils have to manoeuvre: licensing decisions cannot be based on a dislike of gambling or a general sense that an area already has enough venues. They must be grounded in evidence against the three licensing objectives — which is precisely what the new policy is trying to strengthen.
How to have your say
The council is inviting all residents, businesses and community organisations to respond to the consultation, which runs for five weeks. Responses will feed into the final policy that licensing officers and councillors will use when weighing up new applications, renewals and compliance checks across the borough through to 2030.
Gambling policy is only one front on which Lewisham is reshaping its town centres — the Catford regeneration plan has been reset, with the council scrapping the Milford Towers demolition and a South Circular diversion. Elsewhere in south London, licensing decisions continue to divide opinion: Croydon Council granted a 24/7 gambling licence in Crystal Palace, while Croydon has separately launched a consultation on council tax support running until 10 November.
