It has been reported that the Gala Bingo on Richmond Road in Kingston has been sold. The new owners are reportedly interested in converting the former bingo club into a nightclub. The site had been marketed by a number of agents since late 2009 at around £2,250,000. We could not confirm whether any sale has completed and it was interesting that various agents are still marketing the details. It is likely that any new owners would have been able to negotiate the price down significantly given the current market in terms of both property prices and position of Gala Bingo. Local residents are already opposed to the reported plans and are making their own arrangements.

It seems that residents and businesses in the Canbury Ward area are using the council's online petitions to show opposition to any plans for a nightclub. They are opposed to the plans for reasons such as noise and nuisance caused by clubbers. They are particularly concerned that there will be excessive problems early hours in the morning when the club would likely close.

A local resident in the area commented: I think that everyone should support this as it's not just Canbury residents that will suffer.  Kingston has been lucky so far in that the very large chain pubs haven't yet taken over the town centre, other than the Kings Tunn.  We already have two very large clubs and a third would change the nature of the town centre for the worse.