WHITTLESEA council will not follow the lead of other municipalities and charge higher rates for gaming venues.
Councillor Sam Alessi, chairman of the council’s Responsible Gaming Forum, said special rates for pokies venues had not and would not be considered, despite Whittlesea’s soaring gaming losses.
Wyndham council, in Melbourne’s west, this month endorsed a draft two-year responsible gambling strategy that included higher rates for pokies venues.
It followed a similar move in Melbourne’s east, where Manningham council recently voted to double rates for gaming venues.
Moreland council introduced higher rates in 2010.
Cr Alessi said he was aware of the strategy, but was not pursuing it.
“We’ve always concentrated on working with the venues through the responsible gaming forum and we encourage them to contribute to the community through the forum or elsewhere,” he said.
“While we want to reduce gaming, these places are legitimate centres of business.”
Recent Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation figures show losses at gaming venues across the north are rising, and in Whittlesea were expected to top $100 million this year.
The average loss per adult in Whittlesea is $822 a year, well above the state average of $613, and above Wyndham’s losses of $730 per resident.
Wyndham council said the money raised from higher rates would be funnelled into education programs and schemes to help problem gamblers.
The VCGR is considering an application from the Whittlesea Bowls Club for 10 more gaming machines.
