“Insidious devices”: Early morning pokie plan reconsidered
Plans to extend the opening hours of a pokies pub have been reconsidered after a flood of backlash from the community.
Tasmania
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An application to extend the operating hours of a Claremont pub has been withdrawn, following fears it would increase poker machines access and cause harm to the Glenorchy community.
Vantage Group, which owns the Claremont Hotel, operates the venue until 12am, but had lodged plans to extend until 4am in its redevelopment plans.
It prompted a strong response from community members who opposed the move, amid concerns around the prominence of problem gambling in Glenorchy.
On Friday, the Glenorchy City Council notified community members who made representations against the extension that the application had been withdrawn.
A new application seeking approval for alterations of the premises was resubmitted but did not seek to extend opening hours.
Glenorchy Ald Jan Dunsby, who lives near the pub, spoke out about the proposed extension of hours in July, urging the owners of the pub to reconsider.
Ms Dunsby welcomed the decision for the opening hours to remain as is.
“Although the applicant can resubmit at any time, I’m hopeful that the strong community reaction has been heard by the hotel owners and that our amenity is respected,” Ms Dunsby said.
Clark MP Andrew Wilkie, who also opposed the plans said there were many in the community who recognised the damage caused by poker machines.
“We all know that poker machines in the suburbs increase gambling addiction, and extending access to these insidious devices would only have exacerbated problems like crime, child poverty, domestic violence and suicide,” Mr Wilkie said.
“The figures speak for themselves, with poker machine venues across the Glenorchy municipality already accounting for some of the highest gambling losses in the state.
“As the latest Treasury and Finance figures show, almost $1.8 million was lost on poker machines in the City of Glenorchy in June 2022 alone.”
Mr Wilkie said he hoped the company would not revisit plans to extend the opening hours in future.
“I can assure you any moves to resurrect it will be met with a similar push back from the community,” he said.
The application lodged with the council is separate to the upgrades currently underway in the pub’s kitchen.
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