Will it be the Las Vegas of the North?

For if this famous Lancashire resort does not become the focus of a vastly ambitious casino plan to turn it into an international gambling and leisure resort, a huge question mark about its future will loom over it. Ever since the plans were first unveiled to make Blackpool a kind of "Las Vegas of the North" there has been controversy about the spectre of Pharaoh's Palace type themed casinos.

Worse, fears that the resort would change forever.

"Blackpool will not change too dramatically," said Reg Haslam, head of the New Horizons' team which is masterminding the resort's futuristic plans.

"But it must change - because Blackpool, like many UK coastal resorts, urgently needs regeneration in order to thrive. We must change from being seasonal to a 52 weeks of the year economy."

A glance at the plans details this major move, especially the artistic overviews of that familiar coastline with its historic Tower and Golden Sands to boast casinos and an altered sea frontage.

In fact, it is already changing.

There is a £30 million scheme to expand and remodel Hounds Hill shopping centre, a £14 million project to improve access from the M55 motorway and create a striking arrival point for visitors.

A £4.5 million project will transform the South Promenade, and a £1 million scheme will restore some of the resort's listed buildings. The reasons for change are clear.

"People from places like Bolton and Manchester have been coming to Blackpool for generations," explained Mr Haslam. "You wanted a change from urban life, you came out here for the sea air and a change of atmosphere. It is what shaped the resort.

"But, these are towns and cities which themselves have needed post-industrial urban regeneration, and this has happened. The lights have gone off in the factory, and something else has taken its place. Blackpool is not like that.

"We have no real business centre or industry, apart from the leisure industry. And this is where our regeneration has to take place."

All of which is why in November, 2001 - ahead of Government pledges on a gambling re-think - the council sent a party of officials out to America's own gambling centres in Las Vegas and Atlantic City.

They wanted to see, not just how these huge gambling centres operated, but also the impact on the immediate economic and social climate. In other words, how the casinos created wealth for all and affected the way of life.

"We knew that a casino-related regeneration could work in Blackpool, we just needed to know how," he adds.

The result was that in March, 2003, Blackpool Borough Council unveiled a draft masterplan that made headlines everywhere.

It featured a cluster of five so-called "resort casino hotels", remarkable self-contained developments to operate alongside other attractions including a major new entertainment complex and a new convention centre.

This £1.4 billion masterplan had the potential to bring 30,000 new jobs - not just to Blackpool but to the whole region - and £437 million of new income each year to the resort.

From 11 million visitors a year, Blackpool could expect such a scheme to prompt nearer 15 million as not just the UK's top tourist destination but as an international attraction.

New homes would be needed on the back of this massive boost to the jobs' industry - an additional £120 million from the sale of 942 new homes.

Blackpool's retail life would receive a similar shot in the arm as the potential for shopping rocketed.

Debenhams has already given it a vote of confidence by its decision to build a massive new department store in the town.

Specific skills would be needed. So in the new year, Blackpool and the Fylde college plans to launch the UK's first publicly funded courses in croupier skills and slot machine operations.

Newly qualified croupiers can look at a starting salary of around £18,000.

New engineering courses at the college will also allow students to specialise in the mechanics of slot machines.

Not everyone, naturally, is wholly in favour of Blackpool being seen as the country's gambling capital. Mr Haslam states, however, that the reaction of the majority of local people can be gauged by the fact that when the masterplan is mooted "they just ask 'when?'"

Britain's own gambling industry has dismissed the Government's proposed deregulation as a thinly-disguised attempt to extract foreign investment at the expense of the country's existing gaming companies.

Reg Haslam's fears relate to the little matter of exactly where any new class of "regional casinos" would go, and who has the final say on this now that the matter has been left to regional government to detail.

While the casino operators might well prefer to have them in major cities like Manchester or Liverpool, the real need for "casino regeneration" is elsewhere.

As Reg Haslam asserts: "For somewhere like Manchester such a development would be the cherry on the cherry on the icing because the city has so much spent on regeneration.

"For Blackpool, it would be the self-raising flour that allows us to get back on track.

"Perhaps people don't realise that parts of Blackpool town centre are officially among the most deprived in the country. We need the casinos."

Very soon, this most Northern of resorts will find out whether or not it will become home to the biggest casinos this side of the Nevada Desert.

The decision will, quite simply, be crucial for its future.

Gambling changes

The Gambling Bill could restrict slot machines with unlimited jackpots to a new class of "regional casinos."

Category A fruit machines with jackpots of £1 million or more should be limited to casinos of 5,000 square metres with a cap of 1,250 slots per venue.

At present, casino machines have maximum stakes of just 50p and maximum payouts of £2,000.

David Harding, chief executive of bookmaker William Hill, commented: "This Bill seems to be about American inward investment. It will be interesting to see how it pans out."

Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary, stated: "We have relatively low rates of problem gambling in the UK and reform needs to be taken in steady steps, not giant leaps."