Proposed Class 4 Gambling Venue Policy 2019

Closed 17 Jun 2019

Opened 17 May 2019

Contact

Strategy & Planning Unit

08 838 6699

Published responses

View submitted responses where consent has been given to publish the response.

Overview

Hamilton City Council is seeking feedback on its proposed Class 4 Gambling Venue Policy. This Policy regulates the location and number of venues and clubs which have gambling machines in Hamilton.

A Class 4 venue is somewhere with non-casino gambling machines (pokies), including clubs and pubs.

You can give feedback from Friday 17 May to Monday 17 June 2019.
 

Please note:
Please be aware when providing a submission/giving feedback/responding to a survey that all responses are part of the consultation process. This means that your name but not contact details may be reproduced and included in the Council's public documents such as the Council agendas and minutes. These documents are available on the Council's website at www.hamilton.govt.nz

Why your views matter

Before making any final decisions, we want to hear what our community think.

Specifically, we would like to know if you think we should keep the existing policy (Option A) which allows a venue to relocate (into/within a permitted gambling area with some restrictions) and two clubs to merge. For example, a venue outside the permitted gambling area can relocate to a site within the area, or two clubs with nine gambling machines each may merge and have a maximum of 18 machines.

OR

Whether you think there should be no relocations or club mergers (Option B). For example, a venue/club destroyed by a fire will not be permitted to relocate with its gambling machines to another site or merge with another club.

Both versions of the policy do not allow any new gambling machines at a Class 4 venue, meaning the number of gambling machines in Hamilton can only go down – known as a sinking lid policy.

BACKGROUND
Class 4 gambling activity in New Zealand is regulated by the Gambling Act 2003. The legislation is primarily enforced at a national level by the Department of Internal Affairs, though councils play a small regulatory role in relation to Class 4 venues.

Under the Gambling Act 2003, councils must have in place a policy that specifies:

  • whether or not Class 4 venues may be established in Hamilton, and if so
  • where they can be located and;
  • may include a relocation policy.

The policy may also specify restrictions on the maximum number of gaming machines that can be operated at a Class 4 venue in Hamilton.

The Council last reviewed this policy in 2018.

MORE INFORMATION
For more information about what is being proposed including the proposed policy, scroll down to the “Related” heading below and click on the link to view the statement of proposal.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Staff will collect and analyse all feedback at the close of the submission period.

The feedback analysis will be presented to the 20 August 2019 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.

The Council will then consider all the views and make a decision on the Class 4 Gambling Venue Policy in September 2019.