David Lammy Objects To Blackstock Road Casino Plan
Tottenham MP David Lammy has written to Hackney Council's licensing service to object to a planned 24-hour adult gaming centre on Blackstock Road, adding his voice to a resident campaign that has run since the site's planning appeal was overturned earlier this year.
Unlike the licensed online casino operators gambling.com covers, the venue at the centre of this dispute is a physical, land-based site awaiting a local licensing decision.
The venue would replace Fish and Cook, a family-run stationers on the Hackney side of Blackstock Road in Finsbury Park that has traded for more than six decades. The applicant is Luxury Leisure, the UK arm of Novomatic-owned Admiral Casino, which wants to convert the shop into an adult gaming centre (AGC) operating around the clock.
Hackney Council refused the change of use twice, citing the risk of "unacceptable levels of noise, disturbance and potential anti-social behaviour" and an overconcentration of gambling premises in the area. The Planning Inspectorate overturned that refusal on appeal in April 2026, finding no substantive evidence that the venue would increase gambling-related harm.
Lammy's Letter
Planning permission is no longer in dispute, but the site still needs a gambling premises licence before it can open, and that decision is what residents and Lammy are now trying to block.
In his letter to the licensing service, Lammy said he had "grave concerns" about the application, arguing the area is already "inundated with anti-social behaviour" and that a further venue would make the problem worse. "There is already a 24-hour casino just off the station, sat between four betting shops within a stone's throw of each other," he said.
"I strongly believe that another all-night gambling venue will increase noise, disruption and anti-social behaviour across the board and it will exacerbate existing issues in the area," he added, in a letter first reported by The Islington Tribune.
Lammy has represented the local Woodberry Down and Brownswood wards since a 2024 boundary change folded them into his Tottenham constituency, and has backed the campaign publicly since the summer, when he held the post of deputy prime minister. Lammy has since moved to the backbenches.
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A Long-Running Resident Campaign
The resident group Bets Off Blackstock has lobbied councillors and MPs against the licence since the appeal decision, warning of the impact on crime, addiction and anti-social behaviour in an area campaigners describe as already deprived.
Campaign spokesperson Angela Brady told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the plan had "got through on appeal despite huge local opposition" and that the site sits "on the cusp of three London boroughs", meaning Hackney, Islington and Haringey all have residents affected by a decision only Hackney Council will make, as reported by The Hackney Citizen.
More than 400 residents and around 60 local businesses objected to the original planning appeal. Campaigners have also pointed to the venue's proximity to Ambler Primary School, a short walk away, and to the number of other gambling premises already on the same stretch of road.
What Happens Next?
With planning permission settled, Hackney Council's licensing committee now has to decide whether to grant the gambling premises licence itself, a separate legal test under the Gambling Act 2005 that looks at crime, protection of children and vulnerable people, and local amenity rather than land use.
The Gambling Commission sets the national rules operators must meet, but the licensing decision for this specific address rests with the council. Residents and Lammy are pushing for that hearing to go against Luxury Leisure. A date for the licensing decision has not yet been set.
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