Make your voice heard in the upcoming Tauranga gambling policy decision.
Written submissions close 4 November 2023. The hearing will be held on 13 November 2023.
The current gaming machine policy in Tauranga is a sinking lid. Changing this policy is outside the scope of consultation.
However, Tauranga Council is proposing to allow venues to relocate to more suitable areas in any circumstances. Currently, venues can only relocate if they have been destroyed by a fire or natural disaster.
We support the relocation provision being considered by TCC. This would mean venues could move to lower deprivation areas and away from residential areas/sensitive sites. We should not have to wait for a catastrophic event to move a venue to a more desirable location.
Make a submission on the Tauranga City Council website here,
In Tauranga:
Community and sporting organisations received $12.55 million in grants in 2022.
63 per cent of venues are in medium-high or high deprivation areas. This is why it’s important TCC passes its relocation proposal — so that venues can move to locations that are more desirable.
In 2021/22, a total of 92 problem gambling clients were seen by services — from all forms of gambling, not just gaming machines in clubs and pubs.
In 2021/22, a total of 43 new problem gambling clients were seen by services. This number (and the above) excludes brief interventions with problem gamblers.
Four of the 32 venues are club venues. There are a total of 469 gaming machines in this TLA region.
We can’t tell you what to say in your submission.
Safer Gaming NZ, and the Gaming Machine Association of New Zealand, want to see problem gambling in Aotearoa reduced to zero. Thankfully, the rate of problem gambling here has not seen any real increase since the 1990s.
Reducing the number of gaming machines in clubs and pubs means a lower amount of grant funding available.
Plus, lowering the number of gaming machines is likely to drive some players into riskier, less-regulated forms of gambling such as online gambling. Online gambling is unregulated, always available, and returns no community benefit.
How to make a submission on Tauranga’s gambling policy.
If you’re willing to help with a submission, please complete the boxes to the right. GMANZ will collect these responses and send them to the TLA for you.
You can also make a submission on the PNCC website by clicking through the link at the top of this page.
We really appreciate your time spent on this — thank you.