Gaming giant Rank Group has pitched plans for a new mixed-use leisure development – including a casino – to Belfast City Council, but will require a reversal in Northern Ireland’s strict gaming laws if the scheme is to succeed.

Proposals for an £18m leisure and entertainment complex featuring a casino, bars, restaurants, cinema screens, bingo and bowling in Northern Ireland’s capital were recently presented to Belfast City Council. The authority has so far maintained a poker face on its views of the project, although the country’s social development minister Nelson McCausland has laid his cards on the table, saying he has no plans to legalise casinos in Northern Ireland.

Dan Waugh, Rank Group‘s strategic development adviser says any such proposals would rely on Belfast City Council’s agreement to seek a special dispensation from the Northern Ireland Assembly and additional planning laws allowing it to create its own gambling licence for a casino.

“We want to determine whether or not there is an appetite for a change in the Northern Ireland legislation which would eventually allow for a strictly regulated and monitored gaming operation to anchor a broader entertainment centre, the likes of which are prevalent in most major cities in Europe,” said Waugh.

The current law which deems casinos illegal in Northern Ireland came into effect in 1985. Although plans are in the pipeline to overhaul gaming laws next year, it is believed that this legislation is to focus on minimising the harmful effects of gaming.

Northern Ireland is the only area of the UK where casinos are not allowed, although betting shops and slot machines are permitted. Customers can currently stake up to £100 per spin on these games, while Waugh has moved to alleviate the societal concerns surrounding the casino by reportedly indicating that there would be a maximum stake of £5 on the casino games, including poker, roulette and gaming machines.

Rank Group also says that plans for the creation of 40 new casino licences in the Republic of Ireland could lead to “significant leakage of customers and spending” to the south, with a corresponding loss of revenue in the north.