By ALESHA CAPONE
BRIMBANK City Council wants new poker machines to be banned in the area’s activity centres and within 400 metres of train stations.
The council is presently exhibiting a proposed amendment to the Brimbank Planning Scheme which includes the condition.
The gambling amendment is open for public comment until 14 October.
Although the council does not usually ultimately decide whether pokies are installed in the municipality or not – this power rests with the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR) and VCAT – they can make recommendations either way.
An explanation of the council’s new planning scheme amendment, on the Brimbank website, said gambling was “a legitimate form of entertainment”.
“However, the amended local policy planning framework plan seeks to discourage the location of venues and additional electronic gambling machines in proximity to vulnerable communities,” the document said.
“The new provisions base decision-making on the basis that there are links between vulnerable communities, problem gambling and proximity to gaming venues.”
The council report said Brimbank had the second-highest expenditure on gaming per household in metropolitan Melbourne.
The latest VCGLR statistics show Brimbank’s pokies earned a profit of more than $12.76 million during August this year – an increase of more than $1.8 million since January’s total.
There are more than 975 electronic gaming machines located within the municipality.
The council’s new amendment asks for new pokies applications to be submitted with an assessment of the potential social and economic impacts of their proposal.
Venues will also have to prove their gaming premises provides a “full range of hotel facilities or services to patrons or a full range of club facilities or services to members and patrons” in addition to pokies.
The amendment calls for the density of electronic gaming machines in Brimbank to not exceed the Melbourne metropolitan average.
See www.brimbank.vic.gov.au to view the full amendment. Inquiries: Lorraine Harrison at strategicplanning@brimbank.vic.gov.au or 9249 4766.
