WERRIBEE Football Club has applied to increase its poker machines from 35 to 53.
The machines would come from elsewhere in the city, so the move would not breach the Wyndham City Council’s policy on capping poker machine numbers.
Tabcorp spokeswoman Elise Sullivan said the club used a significant portion of its gaming proceeds to support other community organisations.
But she said she did not know where the other machines would be taken from if the club’s application to the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation was successful.
Wyndham Council agreed to support the application at its meeting last week.
However, a report to the council from social development coordinator Rebecca Roebuck noted that venues from which the pokies were drawn could try to replace their lost machines.
The council has a policy to cap the number of machines in Wyndham at its current level of 568, but only the State Government has the authority to reject applications for further licences.
The machines are spread across the city at 10 hotels and sports clubs.
Earlier last month, the council voted to request the State Government to rule that it had enough poker machines within its city boundaries.
