Policy caps city’s pokie machine numbers
Palmerston North has missed the chance to speed up the decline of pokie machines in the city.
Three newly-elected city councillors wanted to introduce a sinking lid policy, so no-one could take over the rights to operate surrendered machines. But they have been voted down as the majority of councillors didn’t want to put their gambling policies out for another round of public consultation.
Cr Lorna Johnson, who was elected in October, made a bid to have the city’s cap-on-numbers approach replaced with a sinking lid policy. She said the council heard significant submissions in December, not least from the Problem Gambling Foundation, in favour of a sinking lid.
And in January, Department of Internal Affairs figures showed the amount of money spent on pokies in the city hit a nine-year high in the three months to June 2016, even though the number of machines was dropping. More than $4.8m was sunk into pokie machines in the city in that period.
Johnson was supported by firstterm councillors Karen Naylor, who said the council could do more to minimise the harm caused by problem gambling, and Brent Barrett, who said the issue was ‘‘finely balanced’’.
Council policy analyst Peter Ridge said the proposal the council put out when calling for submissions was for dropping the cap on machine numbers from 400 to 347. That meant the council could not change to a sinking lid policy without further consultation. ‘‘It would be a change of direction and we could have got a different number of submissions and type of submissions on that different proposal.’’
Ridge said the relationship between the number of machines operating, the amount of money spent and problem gambling was not simple. He said the total amount being gambled nationally was increasing, although the number of machines operating around the country was going down. The link with problem gambling was ‘‘complex’’.
Ridge said capping numbers, at
New councillors want change in policy.
a level slightly below the number of machines currently allowed to operate in the city, would have much the same practical effect as a sinking lid over time. The main advantage of a sinking lid was simplicity, as numbers would go down automatically. Naylor said she was disappointed the council’s proposed policies were framed in such a way that it could not respond effectively to the feedback received.
Cr Jim Jefferies said he was not convinced another round of consultation would make any practical difference, especially as there would be another opportunity to review numbers in three years’ time. ‘‘And on the issue of problem gambling, it’s clear the association between numbers and harm is rather indistinct.’’ Cr Leonie Hapeta said she was satisfied there was a good level of engagement with the industry and others throughout the policy review.
The gambling policy has also been altered to prevent any new venues setting up in the industrial zone, to limit their presence in some of the city’s poorer neighbourhoods. The policy also prevents operators from shifting locations more than once every three years. Jefferies convinced the council to soften that rule with an exception for operators forced to move by events beyond their control, such as earthquake damage or fires.