A BRIMBANK sporting club has lost its battle to install an extra 22 pokie machines, following a decision handed down by the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation last week.
Sunshine’s Club Italia had applied to the VGGR for permission to amend its licence to allow it install the additional machines, after Brimbank Council refused to grant a planning permit earlier this year.
Despite the council knock back, the club bid for the machine entitlements and won, during a statewide auction in May this year.
Former club manager Charles D’Abico previously told Star the Furlong Rd club bid for the machines in the hope that the VCGR would overturn the council ruling.
But the gamble did not pay off; the Commission last week rejectes the club’s application amid fears the extra machines would fan the flames of Brimbank’s gambling woes.
The municipality has one of the highest pokies losses in the state, with punters forking out more than $130 million on the machines between 2009-2010.
In a decision handed down on Wednesday, the Commission found that increasing the number of pokie machines at the club would be detrimental to the Brimbank community because it would lead to increased expenditure.
But the ruling generated uncertainty about the future of the 22 entitlements, which will now be available for purchase by other clubs and hotels, which could lead to either an increase or decrease in gambling losses.
“Only the future will tell at which venue or venues the egms will end up,” the Commission found.
“Only the future will tell whether placing the egms at that venue or venues will have a worse economic and social impact than giving the egms to the club.”
Brimbank Council administrator Peter Lewinsky welcomed the decision.
“We have only just been informed of the decision and we are thrilled with the outcome,” Mr Lewinsky said last week.
“This decision is in line with our efforts to stem the negative impact of problem gambling in Brimbank, a municipality that can least afford it.
“We were very thorough and deliberate in our consideration of this matter and we are pleased that our very genuine concerns have been reinforced by this decision” he said. Club Italia’s manager was not available for comment last week.
