Thank you for your interest, consultation for the Gambling Venues Policy review has now closed.
The Council's Strategy and Policy Committee have heard submissions and adopted the new policy, you can view the Gambling Class 4 Venue and Board Venue Policy on our policies page.
The policy focuses on gaming machines (pokies) and TABs. Among other things, the policy states how many TABs and gaming machines there can be in our district, and where they can be located.
Council is required to have a gambling policy and to review it every three years. Our policy was last reviewed in 2019. For several years, we have taken 'sinking lid' approach to the number of pokie machines in the district by not granting consent for any new pokie machine licences.
Supporting documents
Proposed Gambling Venues Policy - (PDF, 456 KB)
2022 Gambling Policy Review Information Sheet - (PDF, 720 KB)
Draft Social Impact Assessment of Gambling in the Whakatāne District - (PDF, 1.35 MB)
Social impact - Te whakaaweawenga pāpori
Risk factors for problem gambling and gambling harm are over-represented for whānau, hapū and iwi, Pacific people, and people living in low socio-economic communities.
Last year, we undertook a social impact assessment that looked at the impact of gambling machines on our communities.
This assessment found that people in the district were generally at greater risk of gambling harm than people in other parts of New Zealand.
It also found that the existing gambling policy had not reduced the harm of gambling in the district as much as anticipated. For example, the number of gaming machines has increased by 9 since 2019.
Key numbers:
- In the district, 11 of the 12 gaming machine venues are in the most deprived areas.
- There are 193 licenced gaming machines in the district, of which 188 are in operation - an increase of 9 in the machines operating in the past 3 years.
- In 2019, people spent $11 million on gaming machines in the district. Of this, $2.2 million, about 20%, was returned to the community (e.g., through grants)
Consequently, the policy proposals aim to strengthen the rules around the number and location of gaming machines and TABs.
