A proposed club with 160 poker machines near the NSW-ACT border has faced vehement opposition from those fearing the potential of gambling harm in the local community.
ACT-based Vikings Group has filed a development application to build a new licensed club in Jerrabomberra in NSW.
The $36 million Poplars Club, which would be built in two stages, will have a bistro and alfresco dining, a cafe, function rooms, a gaming lounge and outdoor deck.
But the inclusion of 160 poker machines has attracted criticism due to possible gambling harm, which has already had a significant impact on the state.
The club will be located across the road from residential homes and operate until 3am every day. (Supplied)
Margot Sachse, president of the Jerrabomberra Residents Association, is critical of the development.
“It’s well known what the impact poker machines have on communities, those that are most vulnerable,” she said.
“You don’t see it. It all happens behind closed doors when families are at home. It’s multi-generational, the impact that it has, and we just don’t want that.”
The venue will be positioned 50 metres from homes and operate until 3am every day, which have been another two points of contention.
Margot Sachse, president of the Jerrabomberra Residents Association, stands in the location of the proposed club. (Supplied: Margot Sachse)
Ms Sachse said while there was some support for the club in the community, there was also “a lot of pushback”.
“At the last council community meeting, we had a lot of people there from Jerrabomberra concerned about this proposal,” she said.
Difference in gambling restrictions
Vikings Group has four sports clubs in the ACT, with the Poplars Club being the first outside the territory.
It comes as the ACT government introduced more stringent gambling measures, with a commitment to reduce the number of poker machines in the territory to 3,500 by July 1, next year.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury introduced the Gaming Machine (Compulsory Surrender) Amendment Bill in March, which will give clubs $15,000 for every machine they surrender.
If the 3,500 target cannot be reached by next July, the bill will give the government the authority to force clubs to surrender poker machines in their venues.
Under the changes, poker machines will also never be able to be installed in the Molonglo Valley or future suburbs of Canberra.
ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury introduced the Gaming Machine (Compulsory Surrender) Amendment Bill. (ABC News: Simon Beardsell)
However, gambling regulations in NSW are more lenient.
On top of that, there’s a provision in the state’s Gaming Machine Act that allows operators to put up to 150 poker machines in a club without community consultation if the club is in a new development area.
NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann, who is a gambling harm reduction advocate, lambasted the provision, which she believes has been capitalised on by Vikings Group.
“This loophole in the act is acting as a honeypot for developers who are constrained by stricter pokies laws just across the border,” she said.
Ms Faehrmann also criticised the Minns government after the premier made an election commitment to reduce the number of machines in the state.
“A new club with 160 poker machines flies in the face of the Minns government’s commitment to reduce the number of pokies in NSW,” she said.
“Since then NSW has 500 more machines while billions continue to be lost to pokies.”
NSW Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said adding another 160 poker machines “flies in the face Minns government’s commitment to reduce the number of pokies”. (ABC News: Shaun Kingma)
Gambling losses highest in NSW
Australia has the highest gambling losses in the world, with the highest total losses in NSW.
According to government data, people in NSW lose $1 million every hour to poker machines.
Queanbeyan, which is about 6 kilometres from Jerrabomberra, has more than 600 poker machines, with more than $1.2 million in losses every week.
The amount of money lost to machines in Queanbeyan has increased by 46 per cent from 2019 to 2024, and the region has the highest losses per person in the state outside of greater Sydney.
More than $1.2 million is lost to poker machines in Queanbeyan every week. ( Four Corners: Jerry Rickard)
Wesley Mission CEO Reverend Stu Cameron said the addition of more machines will make gambling harm more prevalent in the region.
“Where you have more machines, you have more harm. When you have more machines per capita, you have more harm. It’s just the maths,” he said.
Reverend Cameron said an increase in machines only adds more to club and hotel profits.
“Those profits are actually losses to the community, losses to the punters who are coming in, and particularly where there are no significant harm prevention measures that are built into machines,” he said.
The Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council is working on the assessment report for the proposed club, which will be handed to the Southern Regional Planning Panel. The panel will make the final decision on the development next year.
Wesley Mission CEO Reverend Stu Cameron said adding poker machines to Jerrabomberra will make gambling harm more prevalent in the region. (ABC News)
An assessment status briefing on the development application was held last Tuesday.
A record of the briefing said the panel had concerns including the venue’s size, traffic impacts, acoustic impacts and social impacts.
“Based on its current understanding of the proposal, the panel is generally of the view that the benefits of the proposal at this stage do not the outweigh the disbenefits,” the briefing read.
The council declined to comment on the development application or the assessment report.
Vikings Group also did not respond to questions from the ABC by the time of publication.
The club is ‘butting up against our suburb’
Besides the addition of poker machines, there has been criticism of the club’s trading hours, location and proximity to homes.
In the development application, Vikings Group lists the address of the club as 37 Thomsitt Drive.
However, blueprints of the venue show it will be built on Gwendoline Place, and the club will be positioned directly across from residential homes.
The red arrow is the address of the club, while the large red area is how the club will be positioned. (Supplied)
Ms Sache said “a lot of people didn’t pick up where it actually was going” as the council “did an absolute crap consultation on it”.
“So, people who lived next door to where this place was proposed didn’t get notified. It was a real bungle,” she said.
Ms Sache said the “most distressing part” was the size of the venue.
“This is a development that’s butting up against our suburb,” she said.
“It’s our view it’s in the wrong spot, it’s too big, trades too late, and has too many poker machines.”