WHITTLESEA Bowls Club has won its application for 10 more gaming machines, in a victory over Whittlesea council.
The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation approved the club’s application to increase its machines from 40 to 50 after hearing submissions against the increase from the council and community groups.
While the commission publishes reasons for its decisions, they were not available at the time of going to press.
Councillor Sam Alessi, who chairs the Whittlesea Responsible Gaming Forum, had earlier said the council would consider taking its fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal if the machines were approved.
He declined to comment on the commission’s decision last week, saying he would wait to hear its reasons and any attached conditions.
Whittlesea Bowls Club manager Bernie Walker said he was “quite happy” with the result.
“We see a need for them [extra machines] here,” he said. He disagreed with earlier comments by the council that the club’s financial contributions to the community, relative to its earnings, were quite low, and said the club hoped to contribute more soon.
He expected that the new machines would not be in place until early next year.
When the application was first put to the council, the club claimed the extra machines would add $83,378 to its coffers for the 2012–2013 financial year, while the council said an independent gaming analyst had put the figure at up to $284,879.
In 2010, the City of Whittlesea successfully fought to keep pokies out of the proposed Laurimar Tavern, spending $224,956 on a fight that was decided by VCAT.
