It’s party time for gamblers in Christchurch, New Zealand. The local Christchurch casino was badly damaged during the earth quake that shook New Zealand in February. The casino has been closed since the deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake and many of the employees had to be made redundant.

Great news for gamblers in New Zealand – the casino in Christchurch is trying to reopen. It would be great news for the regular gamblers who probably miss the casino tables. It would also be great news for staff as they have had to face unforeseen leave since the disaster happened. The casino has been closed since the deadly 6.3 magnitude earthquake which struck in February.

More than 500 staff have received full pay since the earthquake damaged the casino (equivalent to a weekly bill of $410,000/week for the casino owners). Hundreds of them have been told today that they might have to take unpaid leave, or choose to take redundancy. Whether the casino would reopen was always uncertain and Brett Anderson, the Christchurch Casino chief executive, has had to break the bad news to his team.

They are now waiting to hear if the casino could reopen and are waiting for the green light from Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee. The new plan for the casino might be to reopen somewhere else. The government would be willing to grant them a new licence for another location if they were in a position to reopen somewhere else and keep the staff. The casino will have to find a suitable venue for large casino games tables, slot machines, roulette tables and all the expected amenities of a large public building.

In normal circumstances, casino licences specify a geographic area and boundaries where gambling can take place. Because of the nature of the natural disaster which has hit New Zealand, Mr Brownlee would be willing to involve the Earthquake Recovery Bill and give flexibility for a new casino in a safe structure outside of the designated area.

All staff have been guaranteed payment up to April 5. Each member of staff will now have to take the difficult step of deciding between taking redundancy and moving on to another job or taking unpaid leave until the matter of finding a new venue for the casino is resolved.

The 600 staff members will have to let management know about their decision by Tuesday so it will be a difficult weekend of soul searching and planning for a new start.

The management of the casino is determined to rebuild the business and open a new casino as soon as possible. Regular gamblers in Christchurch are certainly looking forward to going back to the casino.