By Jason Dowling
One Melbourne council has had enough: no more pokies is the cry from the City of Monash.
The council would oppose applications for any new machines, disallow gambling advertising at council owned sporting grounds and strip funding to any community groups meeting at venues with poker machines, under the council's draft gambling policy.
Two community groups would have to move venues for their meetings or risk losing council funding if the policy is adopted.
More than $300,000 is lost every day on average on poker machines in the south-east Melbourne municipality that takes in suburbs including Burwood, Chadstone, Glen Waverley and Oakleigh.
Fifteen local venues have poker machines with a total of 957 machines.
The draft policy would also oppose any relocation of existing machines to disadvantaged areas in the municipality.
"We need to keep taking a strong stand as the harms caused by gambling are enormous," Monash mayor Stefanie Perri said.