A casino that councillors reluctantly allowed to open in High Wycombe High Street’s “grandest building” as long as it didn’t have any external advertisements has applied to put up signs.

Councillors did not want to allow Royal Casino Slots to move into the “magnificent” Grade II* listed Old Bank House when Future Leisure Ltd put forward plans in 2019 – but they had to give the green light in February 2020 because they technically did not contravene any planning rules.

They argued that the striking three-storey building, which used to be a bank but had laid empty since 2012, was not the right place for a casino, adding that it was “sacrilege” to use it for such use.

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But as councillors made it clear they did not want to allow the plans to go ahead, planning officers reminded them there were no legal reasons to say no – meaning the applicant could appeal the decision, costing the council money.

They reluctantly allowed the casino to open on the ground floor of the building, but in allowing it to go ahead, Future Leisure Ltd had to agree to strict rules that would protect the conservation area – they were not allowed to put up any internal or external advertisements or window displays or flashing lights without express permission from the council, and the machines inside had to be screened from view from the outside.

Despite this, the casino has faced threats of enforcement action because it has previously displayed “unauthorised” signs.  

Now, two years after they were given permission to open without any signage, Future Leisure Ltd have applied to the council – for signage.

Bucks Free Press: This is what their proposed signage would look likeThis is what their proposed signage would look like

In planning documents, they claim that they will simply be “reinstating signage virtually identical” to that the council allowed Santander to display when they used to inhabit the building.

It would be two signs on the front with the name ‘Royal Casino Slots’ on it over the ground floor windows and two hanging signs either side of the front.

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Agents for Future Leisure Ltd argue that “the proposals effectively copy what was permitted and installed in 2010, simply adopting the new occupier’s trading name”.

They say the signage they are proposing would “preserve the character and appearance of the conservation area” and “would not harm the listed building nor its setting”, adding: “The proposal is virtually identical (if anything less prominent) to one previously approved.”

When planning permission was granted in February 2020, planning officers put together a condition that said the casino was not allowed “external advertisements, internal advertisements, window displays containing any lettering, branding or graphics, including window vinyls or flashing lights which can be viewed from outside the building… without the prior express planning consent of the local planning authority”.