More slots approved by Langley Township

Kent Spencer, The Province: Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Langley Township has approved the installation of up to 150 slot machines in the Langley Bingo Palace."Councillors could not bring themselves to jeopardize charities' $1.5-million funding," said Coun. Jordan Bateman, the only dissenter in an 8-1 vote late Monday.All but seven of the 48 speakers at a township hearing supported the plan to save a bingo hall and 45 charities by installing slots.Playtime Community Gaming, which has owned the hall for 15 years, said slots are needed to compete with other gaming venues.

Once the B.C. Lottery Corp. grants final approval, the surrounding area of Langley and Surrey will have the highest concentration of slots in B.C.In addition to Playtime's one-armed bandits, Fraser Downs racetrack, a few kilometres to the west in Surrey, has 397 and Cascades Casino in Langley City 600, for a total of 1,147. Bateman said B.C. Lottery Corp. figures show six per cent of Langley gamblers have problems, up from four per cent."It's an alarming trend because the number continues to increase. Problem gamblers have addictions they can't control. They will divert money away from food, shelter or clothing for their kids," he said.Al Peterson, who lives in the Langley Meadows neighbourhood near the site, said councillors were reluctant to approve, but did it anyway.

The township could receive up to $1 million annually."They're looking at the almighty dollar," he said. "I'm disappointed, but it's not unexpected."Peterson will follow traffic patterns in the neighbourhood closely. An elementary school is nearby."I will let council know if they are putting our kids' lives in jeopardy," he said.