A LEGAL loophole allowing supermarkets to be built next to gaming venues could cause damage to the community, Kingston Council says.
Council has called for the law to be amended to prevent supermarkets from being built near venues with pokies. Kingston mayor Steve Staikos said “it’s nonsensical that you can’t build a gaming venue next to a supermarket, but you can build a supermarket next to an existing gaming venue.”
“This gap in logic leaves our communities open to the very real trauma of gambling harm,” he said.
VCAT recently approved the construction of a Woolworths on a site roughly 675 metres from the Chelsea Heights Hotel, prompting council to call for action.
In the 2020/2021 financial year gamblers in the Kingston area lost upwards of $44 million playing electronic gaming machines. That astronomical figure was recorded in a year where venues were closed for five months because of the pandemic. Between July 2021 and May 2022 gamblers lost more than $55.5 million on EGMs in the Kingston area.
Kingston gamblers routinely rank among the biggest losers in comparison with other local government areas (“Punters pour money into pokies” The News 7/8/19).
Kingston Council put forward a motion at a recent Municipal Association of Victoria meeting calling for the law to be changed. “Kingston City Council is concerned about the harm caused by electronic gaming machines in Kingston. Of great concern is a current loophole in the Victorian Planning Provisions that allow supermarkets to be built in close proximity to gaming venues,” the motion read.
“It is widely acknowledged that convenient access to gaming venues creates an increased risk of gambling harm. This concept was the foundation for the introduction of clause 52.28 into Victorian planning schemes which prohibits installation of gaming machines in nominated shopping complexes or shopping strips. The Victorian Planning Provisions must be amended to protect our community from further gambling harm especially those who are most vulnerable including people facing social isolation, people experiencing disadvantage and people from non-English speaking backgrounds.”
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 6 July 2022