Councillor backs $40 million club and shopping centre plans
Construction is set to start on a major club and shopping centre development in a suburb north of Brisbane that could be home to 150 poker machines.
Moreton
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RESIDENTS have raised concerns over the impacts of gaming on the community after a councillor north of Brisbane threw his support behind a new $40 million development.
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Comiskey Group applied to redevelop an existing shopping centre opposite the Burpengary Station from 1200 to 2000sq m and build a separate 2000sq m club on the lot behind it, with access to side street, Henderson Rd.
Moreton Bay Regional Council approved the plans in 2016 but construction has been flagged to begin next month and be complete around late 2020.
Developer and owner Rob Comiskey has reached a lease agreement with Hervey Bay RSL for the operation of the club, which will be branded Burpengary Community Club.
It has applied to the Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation (OLGR) for a liquor licence and 150 gaming machine licences (pokies), which are currently in the ‘decision-making process’.
An OLGR spokeswoman said the decision could take up to six months and the club may be granted a smaller number of gaming licences than applied for, given the statewide cap of 24,705 machines.
“A sign to notify the public of the details of the application was required to be in place on
the main street frontage of the premises from May 29, 2019 to June 26, 2019,” she said.
Concerned residents have created a Facebook page, Burpengarians against Pokies, in opposition to the club.
Founder Nate, who wished to keep his last name anonymous, said the impact of pokies would devastate the working class community.
“A casino, that’s what I call it,” he said. “150 pokies next to a kindergarten in a small side street is an outrage.
“They target the most vulnerable people and there are already more sensible precincts in the area for those sorts of things.”
Eight submissions have been made to the OLGR so far.
The spokeswoman said it would consider an impact statement provided by the applicant, which includes the location of nearby sensitive sites such as schools and churches.
C&K Kindergarten shares a boundary with the approved lot and Burpengary State School is about 500m away.
“When reviewing the application, the Commissioner will consider any social and community issues that may be identified in the assessment of the community impact statement,” she said.
Mr Comiskey and Councillor Peter Flannery (Div 2) met with Hervey Bay RSL CEO Jason Lynch, who door knocked residents and shop owners in the vicinity about the project.
Cr Flannery said: “Burpengary faces some social challenges with unemployment rates and disadvantage.
“Which is why I’m a strong supporter of building new community and sports facilities to create new social hubs and opportunities to keep active.
“(Hervey Bay RSL) advised me they intend on giving a portion of funds generated through poker machine revenues back to deserving local community groups in Burpengary, to be used at their discretion.”
The RSL currently sponsors multiple sports clubs in Wide Bay worth tens of thousands of dollars, according to Mr Lynch.
“We’re a community club who supports the wider community, not only RSL and veterans,” he said.
“We support the only rugby league team in town, the Hervey Bay Seagulls, Wide Bay Buccaneers (football) and this is the first year partnership with Bay Power (Aussie rules) worth $20,000.
“Those are the core focus return service to the community and we feel we can replicate that in Burpengary where there’s no club.”
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C & K Burpengary Kindergarten were contacted by Quest Community News for comment.
OLGR will continue to accept submissions made by residents about this application until the Commissioner makes a determination on the application.
Phone the Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au if you or someone you know has a gambling problem.
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