We asked for your thoughts on Council’s Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and the TAB Venues Policy.
As a council, we’re required to have policies in place around gambling in Hamilton Kirikiriroa. We need to review the policies every three years. These are:
Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy, which outlines the rules and restrictions for venues with gambling machines in Hamilton Kirikiriroa.
TAB Venues Policy, which outlines the rules for venues in Hamilton Kirikiriroa that provide racing betting or sports betting services.
Read policies here: https://hamilton.govt.nz/policies
We proposed to continue both the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and the TAB Venues Policy without changes to either policy.
We received a total of 55 submissions. This included 28 from individuals and 27 from organisations, community groups or businesses.
Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy
More respondents disagreed with the proposal to continue the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy without any changes (27, 50%), than those who agreed (20, 36%) with Council’s proposal. Of the 27 respondents that were opposed to Council’s proposal on the Class 4 Gambling policy to continue the policy without any changes, 12 felt the policy was not strict enough, and 11 felt the current policy was too strict. Individuals were more likely to support Council’s proposal, compared to groups or organisations.
TAB Venues Policy
Most respondents agreed with the proposal to continue the TAB Venues Policy without any changes (46%), and 30% disagreed with Council’s proposal. There was a large proportion (24%) who did not answer this question.
Your feedback was presented to the Community and Natural Environment Committee on 26 October 2023. The committee resolved to continue both policies without changes.
View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.
Hamilton City Council wants to know your thoughts on the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and the TAB Venues Policy.
As a council, we’re required to have policies in place around gambling in Hamilton Kirikiriroa. We need to review the policies every three years. These are:
This policy outlines the rules and restrictions for venues with gambling machines in Hamilton Kirikiriroa. The current policy was adopted in 2004 and was last reviewed in 2019. It restricts the location of venues, the number of venues in Hamilton, and the number of gambling machines each venue can have.
This policy outlines the rules for venues in Hamilton Kirikiriroa that provide racing betting or sports betting services. The current policy was adopted in 2004 and last reviewed in 2018. Under the current policy, no new TAB venues can be established in Hamilton, and venues are not allowed to move premises.
Read policies here: https://hamilton.govt.nz/policies
This is an opportunity for you to have your say on both policies.
We propose to continue both the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and the TAB Venues Policy without changes to either policy.
Both current policies aim to reduce harm from gambling for our community. They both operate under a ‘sinking lid’ approach, which means that no new venues can be established.
The Class 4 Gambling Venue Policy currently allows for some movement and merging of venues.
Please note that casino gambling and online gambling are not included in these policies and not part of the current review.
The reasons we propose to continue both policies are outlined below.
Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy
TAB Venues Policy
We’re seeking your feedback on our proposal to continue the current Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and TAB Venues Policy.
We can either continue the policies as they are, or make some changes. See below the options for each policy, and some considerations and potential risks for each.
Option 1: Continue the policy without any changes.
Considerations and risks
Option 2: Further restrict the policy by not allowing venues to move or merge.
Considerations and risks
Option 3: Reduce limitations on Class 4 Gambling Venues.
Considerations and risks
We propose Option 1: Continue the policy without any changes for the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy, as we’re seeing a steady reduction in Class 4 Gambling venues with this policy, as intended.
Option 1: Contune the policy without any changes.
Considerations and risks
Option 2: Change to a fixed number of locations.
Considerations and risks
Option 3: Reduce the limitations on TAB venues.
Considerations and risk
We propose Option 1: Continue the policy without any changes for the TAB Venues Policy, as we’re seeing a steady reduction in TAB venues with this policy, as intended.
Staff will collect and analyse all feedback at the close of the submission period. The analysis of this feedback will be presented to the 20 September 2023 meeting of the Regulatory and Hearings Committee. At this meeting, submitters who want to speak to their written submission will be able to do so. Council will then consider all the views and make a decision on the Class 4 Gambling Venues Policy and TAB Venues Policy.
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