Waitakere puts sinking lid on gaming

Pleas have been heeded. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

Waitakere City Council has heeded more than 4000 pleas to stop granting consents for more gambling venues and gaming machines.

Anti-gambling groups yesterday said the council's decision was courageous in view of a warning from operators that their charitable grants to the community would shrink with the number of pokies.

The new sinking lid policy from October 9 replaces the present cap on venue and gaming machine numbers.

Announcing the result of the four-yearly policy review, councillor Vanessa Neeson said that the number of gaming machines would reduce gradually as venues closed and machines were not issued with new licences.

Mrs Neeson said councillors believed a gradual drop in the number of gambling machines would not significantly hurt community groups which benefit from gaming machine charitable grants.

Waitakere is unusual in Auckland in that 17 venues are run by trusts.

The Trusts Charitable Foundation (Portage and Waitakere Licensing Trusts) have given a total of $79 million from profits to community causes over seven years.

The trusts lobbied hard for the council to keep the status quo of a cap of 38 gambling venues and 501 machines.

They said support for community activities could only be kept up by a "balanced and responsible" policy towards gaming machines.