Hurlstone Park hotel wins appeal to move 27 poker machines to new hotel 50m from Campsie Public School

Hurlstone Park’s The Vegas Hotel has won the right to move its hotel licence and poker machines to a new hotel site in Campsie.

An artist’s impression of what the restored Station House Hotel will look like.

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Hurlstone Park’s The Vegas Hotel has won the right to move its hotel licence and poker machines to a new hotel site in Campsie.

The win will see the hotel’s gaming machine threshold of 27 machines moved to the heritage-listed Station House at 203 Beamish St, which is being restored to a hotel by Iris Capital.

It will feature 22 serviced apartments above the pub.

The Vegas Hotel’s application was initially refused by the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority because the hotel in which the gaming machines would operate is in the “immediate vicinity” of Campsie Public School.

The Station House Hotel is 50m from Campsie Public School’s boundary and about 150m at its closest point to St Mel’s Primary School.

Both hotels appealed the ILGA’s decision, and on November 2 successfully argued that the ILGA decision failed to take other factors into consideration.

The Hurlstone Park hotel, which is transferring its licence to the Station House Hotel in Campsie, will soon be replaced by Wattle Hill — an up-market, six-storey apartment complex with 42 units.

The plaintiffs argued, among other reasons, that it is commonplace for hotels to be located on the high streets of Sydney and some pupils from Campsie Public and St Mel’s presently walk past the Oasis Hotel and Campsie Hotel.

Additionally they argued that Beamish Lane, the rear laneway of the hotel which is closest to Campsie Public School, would not be used as an entry into the pub.

A spokesman for Campsie Public School’s P & C said their concerns were about safety, privacy and access.

“We don’t object to Campsie having a new pub just because it’s a pub,” the spokesman said.

“Gambling is a social problem for our community, but that’s beyond the scope of a P & C.

“Hundreds of our students, and St Mels’, travel past that address every day with their extended families and use the bus stop right outside.

“Will the footpath be blocked off during construction? What will our children see as they walk past? Will there be a smoking area opening onto the street? Will the finished hotel’s windows overlook our classrooms and playgrounds?

“The Station House developers have shown every sign so far of wanting to hear our concerns and respond to them, which is positive.

“But recent construction in the area of the school has taught us that we can’t trust any developer or construction company to automatically do the right thing,” the spokesman said.

“We need to keep a very close eye on anything which affects our children.”

Iris Capital were contacted for comment.

In other news...

A proposal to build a 13-storey building next to a Campsie primary school has been rejected.

Developers CD Architects put in an application for a $17.5 million development to build 68 apartments at 46-48 South Parade, Campsie.

The decision went before the Joint Regional Planning Panel on Friday and was refused because of its height, inadequate boundary setbacks, overshadowing and privacy issues.

Canterbury-Bankstown Council had recommended to refuse the application.

The outcome was welcomed by Campsie Public School’s P & C, who had concerns that the building would impact on the school’s privacy and security.

The council is the owner of 85 per cent of the refused development site, which is currently used as a public car park.

The JRPP report noted that “The deficiencies of this proposal are such that a major redesign resulting in a significant reduction of bulk and scale of this building would be required.”