How many poker machine venues should Auckland have? That’s the question the New Zealand city’s council is putting to residents.
Aucklanders are being invited to have their say on two draft policies that propose reducing gambling-related harm by limiting the spread of venues that house electronic gaming machines, known locally as pokies, and TAB betting outlets.
The law requires that all of New Zealand’s councils have policies on whether to allow new TAB or Class 4 venues that house pokies in their area. Auckland Council has put forward draft policies to replace previous ones.
The city currently has 43 standalone TAB venues and 305 pokie machine venues housing more than 4,000 gaming machines.
“The Auckland Plan identifies the need to minimise gambling-related harm and these policies are a tangible way to achieve that,” said Councillor Cathy Casey, chair of the council’s social and community development forum.
Proposals for the TAB venue policy include one set of rules for Auckland, a cap on the number of venues at 43. The proposals for the pokie venue policy, meanwhile, includes a region-wide ‘sinking lid’ policy stipulating that when a venue closes another cannot open – reducing the number of venues over time.
The consultation will run until February 28.
