Operator News

France – Neufchâtel-Hardelot to conduct feasibility study into hosting a casino

By Phil - 7 December 2020

Neufchâtel-Hardelot, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in Northern France, is again interested in hosting a casino with a feasibility study set to be launched.

The city council made this decision at its meeting in early November.

Paulette Juilien-Peuvion, the mayor of the town on the Opal Coast, said: “Hardelot became a tourist resort in 2014. This project, Jean-Pierre Pont, my predecessor, already had in mind.”

Hardelot Plage, attached to the neighbouring village of Neufchâtel, is an upscale seaside resort created at the start of the 20th century by an English developer who was already behind the development of Touquet-Paris Plage. From 1954, Hardelot and Neufchâtel therefore became one. Today the town has more than 3,700 inhabitants.

In terms of rival casinos, there is one in Boulogne sur Mer, 14 km to the north and two in Le Touquet, 15 km to the south.

The previous mayor’s project targeted players from two neighbouring golf courses (a rather upscale clientele) as well as the strong Belgian and British clientele (2 hours from London, 2h30 from Brussels) frequenting Hardelot. A rather upscale mid-sized establishment could therefore be, for the mayor, an alternative to the offer in the region.

A year later, the idea of ​​a casino was part of a vast renovation project in the south of the town proposed by a Belgian developer. The economic crisis of 2007 to 2012 put an end to this desire for development. Reelected in 2014 as mayor, Mr. Pont no longer planned to open a casino in his town.

In search of additional resources to undertake important projects for her city, Ms. Juilien-Peuvion noted, during the city council that last year in Boulogne sur Mer, the casino operated by the Belgian group Golden Palace had donated 662,000 euros to the city.

The Hardelot-Plage fraction of Neufchâtel-Hardelot obtained a classification as a health resort on April 9, 1927. It is not the only one in the department, Berk having obtained it in 1912, Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1928, Calais in 1952, Cucq (for the Stella-Plage fraction) in 1925, Le Touquet-Paris Plage and Wimereux in 1913. Of these six seaside resorts, five decided to have a casino, Berck, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais and Le Touquet-Paris Plage which has two establishments. Cucq no longer has a casino.