A HOPPERS Crossing club is hopeful the state’s gambling regulator will approve its bid for more poker machines next month.
Hoppers Crossing Sports Club’s application for 20 extra machines will be heard by the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation on August 6.
The club operates 35 pokies at its Hogans Road venue and says it needs more machines to generate extra revenue to upgrade facilities, including a bistro and change rooms.
As reported by the Weekly, the application for more machines was knocked back by Wyndham Council at its July meeting.
Councillors said a responsible gaming strategy, adopted during the same meeting, prevented applications for pokies on council-owned land.
In a report prepared on behalf of the
club and submitted to the regulator, consultants Harvest Data believed that increasing the number of machines to 55 would not have a detrimental impact on the community.
“The geographical area in which the HCSC is located is comparatively affluent … we do note there are some pockets of disadvantage in the [local government area], however these are typically in other parts of Hoppers Crossing and Wyndham.”
Club president Darren Hellman said it was disappointing the application had to be taken to the VCGLR.
The application is the fifth the council has fought at the regulator in the past two years, costing ratepayers a total of $75,000.
If the club’s bid is successful, the number of pokies in Wyndham will rise to 911 across 10 venues. A state government cap of 10 machines per 1000 adults means there can be a maximum of 952 machines in the municipality.
