The casino group looking to transform the Millennium Dome into the country’s first supercasino has had to apologise to local faith leaders after it alleged their support for the development.
Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) has been forced to retract inaccurate claims it made in documents posted on a government website that the Greenwich Peninsula Chaplaincy welcomed “the creation of 4,600 jobs” by the proposed casino.
The claims were resolutely refuted by the chaplaincy which represents different faiths in the area and holds strong reservations about gambling and the kind of jobs that may be generated by the development, The Times reported.
The chaplaincy’s Rev Malcolm Torry said he had protested after AEG had “imperfectly summarised” the views of the chaplaincy. He followed up his complaints with emails to AEG and Greenwich Council as well as “a rather intemperate email” to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which posted the inaccurate summary on its website.
The chief executive of AEG Europe, David Campbell, was quick to offer an unreserved apology in which he wrote: “I sincerely hope this genuine mistake does not stop us all moving forward . . .”
Rev Torry accepted the apology on behalf of the chaplaincy, saying yesterday: “These are very sensitive times for relationships between the faiths, particularly after recent events, and it is important that we should be careful about how the views of a body like ours are represented.”
“I am not attributing any malicious motives to this . . . We are perfectly happy with the apology and consider the issue to be closed. They’ve admitted their mistake.”
AEG has already raised eyebrows after it emerged that John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, had met seven times with the owner of AEG and American tycoon Philip Anschutz and also stayed for two nights at his ranch in Colorado.
The latest embarrassment for the casino group comes as public hearings take place this week to discuss proposals from six areas.