Darwin RSL scraps all pokies from proposed Esplanade clubhouse ahead of crucial Darwin council vote
‘THIS site is unique in Australia. It’s where they fired the first shots at the Bombing of Darwin. There were a lot of people killed in the Harbour, and it’s the only place where there was a battle in Australia’
Northern Territory
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DARWIN RSL has revealed it has scrapped all poker machines from its plan to rebuild its clubhouse near the Cenotaph on the Darwin Esplanade.
Darwin council will tonight vote on whether or not to support the controversial proposal, which has faced fierce opposition from The Deckchair Cinema.
The back of the cinema’s screen — the closest point to the proposed clubhouse site — is located about 80m from the existing carpark where the RSL wants to rebuild.
Darwin RSL Branch President Stephen Gloster told the NT News in June they were prepared to scrap pokies from the proposal in a bid to make the venue “more family-friendly,” but confirmed today that all pokies had now been officially removed from their proposal.
Speaking on ABC Radio on Tuesday morning, a sometimes emotional Mr Gloster said the RSL felt the site was the most “fitting” location for the club to rebuild after fire destroyed the revious clubhouse on Cavenagh St in 2018.
“This site (on The Esplanade near The Cenotaph) is unique in Australia. It’s where they fired the first shots at the Bombing of Darwin,” the RSL branch president said.
“There were a lot of people killed in the Harbour, and it’s the only place where there was a battle in Australia.
“So, to put the RSL there would just help with the remembrance of it all ...”
He said pokies had been scrapped from its proposed clubhouse “to fit in line with attitudes towards poker machines throughout the community.”
“Well, with the submission, we did do an update and we took the poker machines out,” Mr Gloster said.
“It’s an image the RSL is trying to move away from ... and we’ll probably be the first club in Australia to actually make that move.”
He said if the RSL was forced to rebuild on its previous site on Cavenagh St, the scrapping of pokies would not be possible.
“You don’t get the flow of traffic in there (Cavenagh St),” Mr Gloster said.
“You’ve got to make an income to pay to run the place. In Cavenagh St we needed the poker machines to make a profit.”
The Deckchair Cinema is opposing the proposal saying noise and light pollution from the venue could ruin its business.
But Mr Gloster said the RSL would “spare no expense” to ensure the Deckchair Cinema didn’t experience the problems it feared.
The RSL’s proposal includes sound and light mitigating elements, specifically addressing the reduction of disturbance towards the eastern face of the site, where the Darwin Deckchair Cinema is located.
Darwin Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis, also speaking on ABC Radio, referred to people opposing proposals like the new RSL clubhouse as “dream destroyers.”
He said he didn’t anticipate that the RSL building on the site would “become an issue for the Deckchair Cinema”.
The vote tonight will determine whether or not the proposal will be given in-principal support from Council.
Mr Vatskalis said if the proposal is voted down it will be “dead in the water,” and if it is passed the RSL, it will have to begin a community consultation process.
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Mr Vatskalis said he “couldn’t see” anything else being built on the site apart from an RSL “considering the historical value.”
“To me it would be toally disrespectful to consider anything else going there,” he said.
The site is next to Darwin’s Cenotaph.
Originally published as Darwin RSL scraps all pokies from proposed Esplanade clubhouse ahead of crucial Darwin council vote