The first step toward slowly eliminating pokies in Tauranga has been proposed by Tauranga City Council.
No new gambling venues can set up, no new pokies could be brought in and any that close could not be replaced under the draft Gambling Venues Policy, which Tauranga City Council put out for public consultation today.
The council has proposed the introduction of a "sinking lid" policy to limit the harm caused by problem gambling, especially in low socio-economic areas.
The council's current policy restricted the number of gaming machines that can operate in Tauranga to one machine per 220 residents.
This means that as the population increases, so too could the number of places to gamble.