Originally Posted on Monday Dec 14 2:57:00 GMT 2009
There is mystery surrounding a proposed new luxury casino in Wellington New Zealand. Whoever has bought the site in Shelley Bay wishes to remain anonymous.
If permission for the casino were to be given, then it would be built on the site of the decommissioned Wellington Prison. It is thought that the current building would be converted rather than rebuilt. As the building stands on top of a hill, customers would have to leave their cars at the bottom and ride up to the top in a gondola.
Currently Wellington is the only large city in New Zealand not to have a casino. Efforts in the past to open a casino here have met with local opposition.
This latest proposal will also meet with many challenges. In 2003 the Gambling Act banned the licensing of any more casino gambling in New Zealand.
It may be that the developer who is pouring time and money into the proposed plans, knows something that everyone else doesn’t.
Since the 2003 moratorium on gambling in New Zealand the commercial gambling industry has not had much opportunity to grow.
At the same time the growth of internet gambling in New Zealand as been steady. The average New Zealander spends around $41 a week on gambling.
