Decision
Following a unanimous decision, Council agreed to introduce a cap of 16 gaming machines and TAB venues within the Waimate District - including the adoption of a sinking lid approach. This means the new policy will not allow for any new class 4 or TAB venues to be established within the district.
For the full media release, click here.
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About the proposal
The Waimate District Council is undertaking consultation on its proposed policy to regulate and minimise relevant types of gambling in the district, titled ‘Gambling & TAB Venues Policy’. This policy has been prepared under the Gambling Act 2003, Local Government Act 2002 and the Racing Industry Act 2020.
Once adopted, this policy will replace Council’s existing Gambling Venue Policy 2018 and TAB Board Venue Policy 2018. The Consultation Document, including the existing and draft policies, are available at Council’s main office (125 Queen Street, Waimate) and/or above.
Reasons for this proposal
Council’s draft Gambling & TAB Venues Policy sets out if and where non-casino gaming machines or TAB machines can be located within the Waimate District and also provides restrictions on the number of machines at the venues.
In addition, the policy is required to specify whether or not new TAB venues may be established and, if so, where they may be located. The Council’s existing policy has a cap of 20 gaming machines and does not allow new class 4 (non-casino) or TAB venues within the district.
Further to this, there are limited ways a council can influence the harm caused by gambling. One way is to prevent new venues opening, and therefore decreasing the opportunity for gambling to occur. This can be done by lowering the total number of machines that are allowed to operate in the district.
The approved number of machines for the district currently sits at 20. The current policy also allows for a venue to relocate to another part of the district, so that a venue can take the same number of machines to a new venue as it had at the original venue.
As at November 2022, there are two class 4 gambling venues and 16 gaming machines in the Waimate District.
