What is the point of regional development agencies, if the Government is going to allow ad hoc committees to override their recommendations?
Now that the dust has settled on the decision to award Manchester, rather than Blackpool or Greenwich, the nation's first super casino, it is time to reflect on the many implications of this sorry episode for the north of England.
The North West Development Agency told the Casino Advisory Board unequivocally that the resort was the priority location for such a development. Steven Broomhead, its chief executive, called it ‘a key transformational action in the regional economic strategy... an important part of Blackpool's regeneration master plan'.
It is true that the selection panel has strictly followed its brief in deciding where the best possible ‘social impact' would be. But what about the balanced development of the North West, a matter that the NWDA has been looking at since its inception?
There is a danger that we are creating a mini version of the overheated South East in the North West. Manchester and north Cheshire are booming. It is likely that east Manchester's deprived areas will benefit from this before a roulette wheel even turns.
But along the corridor of the M55 and M65, it's a different story. From Blackpool to East Lancashire, big projects are essential.
The NWDA knows this, takes years to draw up a strategy to balance the needs of all areas, and then sees a vital decision handed over to a panel with other priorities.
On the bright side, at least The Dome didn't get it! Large casinos will also be built in Middlesbrough, Leeds and Hull. Blackpool will soldier on with its remaining regeneration initiatives but as its leader, Roy Fisher, said: ‘For us it was the cake. For Manchester it was the icing on the cake.'