Barnet To Rule On Edgware Adult Gaming Centre Licence
Barnet Council's licensing sub-committee will decide on November 3, 2026 whether to grant a new adult gaming centre in Edgware, two weeks after the council declared a gambling harms emergency. The application is for Palace Amusements at 226 Station Road, HA8, made by East Kent Leasing Limited.
The meeting is listed for 2pm, according to the council meeting record, and the outcome was not known at the time of writing. It comes as the government has confirmed plans to scrap the Gambling Act aim to permit rule.
The Application And The Objections
East Kent Leasing operates more than 20 gambling and bingo venues across the country, as reported by the Barnet Post. The unit would replace a betting shop. Consultation closed with two valid representations, one from the council's Public Health team and one from a local resident. Because of the objection, the case goes to a hearing rather than being decided by officers.
Public Health argues the application does not show that risks have been adequately assessed or that the proposed measures would be enough to prevent gambling-related harm. It says swapping a betting shop for an arcade would be a material increase in exposure to a higher-risk form of gambling, because arcades rely on continuous machine-based play. Its objection estimates about 1,947 Barnet residents may be problem gamblers and that gambling harm costs local public services about £7 million a year.
The resident's letter says there are already three betting shops on that stretch of the high street and that another venue would work against the area's regeneration. The applicant's own risk assessment puts four betting shops and arcades within 180 yards, all on Station Road.
What The Applicant Says
Jordan Godden, a director of East Kent Leasing, set out measures in a letter to the council covering the prevention of underage access, security and CCTV, management of incidents and co-operation with the licensing authority and police.
The company has offered the same conditions Barnet attached to licences it already granted for arcades at 4-6 North End Road, Golders Green and 686 High Road, North Finchley.
Planning is not in question. A planning inspector allowed the arcade on appeal on December 10, 2024. The permitted hours are 7am to 2am Monday to Saturday and 8am to 2am on Sundays and bank holidays.
Casino Games Hub
The Harms Emergency Backdrop
Full Council carried the gambling harms emergency motion on October 20, 2026, with 30 votes in favour, according to Barnet Live. It commits the council to a Gambling Harms Strategy, a review of its advertising and sponsorship policies and a letter to the Gambling Commission, and it urges ministers to set a start date for Gambling Impact Assessments. The same hearing day includes a separate application from Merkur Slots for 867 Finchley Road in Golders Green.
Barnet Live notes that the emergency is a statement of intent rather than a new power, because councils must still apply the Gambling Act's aim to permit duty. The Budget on October 28 also moved on the sector, with Machine Games Duty rising from 20% to 25% on higher-stakes machines. Elsewhere in London, see our report on a council moving to tighten gambling premises licensing rules.
The sub-committee can grant the licence, add conditions or refuse it, within the licensing objectives. Anyone following the case can check the council's licensing register and the outcome of the hearing after November 3.
