Agenda of Hearings Committee - 20 February 2018

Hearings Committee

20 February 2018

Speaking Order of Submitters

Time	Name and Organisation	Page Number
09:00	Martin Cheer, Pub Charity Limited	211

09:10	Tanya Piejus, New Zealand Community Trust	64

09:30	Lee-Anne Anderson, Dunedin Netball	90

09:50	Duane Donovan, ParaFed Otago	59

10:10	Karen Shea, The Southern Trust	103

10:40	Eru Loach, Problem Gambling Foundation	153

11:00	Jarrod True, Class 4 Working Party	46

11:20	Marita Johnson	42

11.20 am Marita Johnson

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

Hearings Committee

20 February 2018

Summary of Submissions for Review of Gambling and TAB Venue Policy

Department: Corporate Policy and Customer and Regulatory Services

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1 This report presents a summary of the 56 submissions received during consultation on a proposed Gambling and TAB Venue Policy (GVP). The GVP is under review, as required by the Gambling Act (the Act). The formal consultation period ran from 6 November 2017 until 6 December 2017.

2 Of the 56 submissions, 35 (63%) agreed overall with the general direction of the proposed policy and 20 (36%) did not agree overall with its general direction. One did not state a view.

3 Ten submitters asked to be heard.

RECOMMENDATIONS

That the Hearings Committee:

a) Considers the summary of submissions as it deliberates on the review of the Gambling and TAB Venue Policy

b) Recommends to Council whether to adopt the Gambling and TAB Venue Policy as proposed [or amended].

BACKGROUND

4 The Dunedin City Council’s (DCC’s) GVP is due for review. There are three main legislative requirements for this review:

· The Gambling Act 2003 requires all territorial authorities to have a policy stating if it would allow new class 4 (non-casino gambling or ‘pokie’ machine) venues within its district and, if so, where they may be situated. The policy may also limit the number of electronic gambling machines (EGM) at those locations. Matters to be considered during development of the policy are:

i) The characteristics of the district and parts of the district

ii) Locations of kindergartens, early childhood centres, schools, places of worship and other community facilities

iii) The number of gambling machines that should be permitted to operate at any venue or class of venue

iv) The cumulative effects of additional opportunities for gambling in the district

v) How close any venue should be permitted to be to any other venue

vi) What the primary activity of any venue should be.

· The Gambling (Gambling Harm Reduction) Amendment Act 2013 requires territorial authorities to include a ‘relocation policy’ which sets out if and when it will grant consent for a venue to relocate within its district.

· The Racing Act 2003 requires territorial authorities to adopt a policy on New Zealand Racing Board venues (TABs) within its district.

5 The Council opted to include TABs as well as gambling venues and machines within the one policy when it approved the first GVP in 2004.

6 While the DCC must have a GVP, the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) is the licensing authority and is responsible for the granting or refusing of gambling licences.

7 Dunedin’s first GVP took effect in March 2004 and at that time there were no restrictions on the number of venues or EGMs. When the policy was last reviewed in 2013, a sinking lid was adopted for South Dunedin and a cap introduced for the rest of the Dunedin area. The number of venues and EGMs in the Dunedin area has continued to fall.

8 In November 2017, Council approved for consultation three options including a proposed option to extend the sinking lid to the whole Dunedin district.

DISCUSSION

9 Consultation using the special consultative procedure ran from 6
November until 6 December 2017. Of the 56 submissions during this period, approximately 19 were from organisations and the remainder were from individuals.

Agreement with general direction of draft policy

10 Thirty-five submitters (63%) agreed overall with the general direction of the proposed policy and 20 (36%) did not agree overall with its general direction. One did not state a view.

11 Table 1 shows these results. Note that percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

Options	Number	%
Overall agree with the general direction of the draft policy	35	63%
Overall do NOT agree with the general direction of the draft policy	20	36%
Do not have a view	1	2%
TOTAL	56	100%

Table 1: Agreement with direction of GVP x number & percentage

Support for options

12 The majority of submitters (63%) selected the proposed option of extending the sinking lid, already in place in South Dunedin, to the whole Dunedin district and not allowing gambling venues to relocate. Twenty-one percent of submitters selected the status quo option of retaining the sinking lid in South Dunedin only and not limiting the number of venues or EGMs for the rest of the Dunedin area while keeping limits on where gambling may be established. Thirteen percent selected the option of not limiting the number of venues or EGMs anywhere in Dunedin, allowing gambling venues to relocate while keeping limits on where new gambling venues may be established.

13 Two submitters did not select a specific option, one commenting that they had no view on that question, and the other noting their preference for the retention of current levels of EGMs along with the right for venues to relocate.

14 Results are shown in Table 2.

Options	Number	%
Option 1: Extend the sinking lid to encompass the entire Dunedin district and do not allow gambling venues to relocate (proposed)	35	63%
Option 2: Do not limit the number of venues or gambling machines anywhere in Dunedin, allow gambling venues to relocate and keep limits on where new gambling venues may be established	7	13%
Option 3: Retain the sinking lid in South Dunedin only, do not limit the number of venues or gambling machines for the rest of the Dunedin area and keep limits on where gambling venues may be established (status quo)	12	21%
Other	2	4%
TOTAL	56	100%

Table 2: Support for options x number & percentage

Summary of comments

15 Submitters commented on a range of topics. Most common topics were related to the proposed policy minimising gambling related harm (28 submitters), community benefits from gambling and gambling proceeds (12 submitters), and that the proposed policy will not minimise gambling related harm (7 submitters).

16 Table 3 shows the summary of comments.

Options	Number of submitters
Policy will minimise gambling related harm	28
Community benefits from gambling and gambling proceeds	12
Policy will not minimise gambling related harm	7
Unfair to single out South Dunedin	2
Would prefer national control	1
Policy will allow casino to have monopoly	1
Negative impact on economy as city may lose events (if funding lost)	1
Social benefits	1

Table 3: Summary of comments x number

OPTIONS

17 There are no options with this report as its purpose is to present the results of public consultation on the GVP review for consideration by the Hearings Committee.

NEXT STEPS

18 This summary of submissions on the GVP is to inform the Hearings Committee during its deliberations in February. The Hearings Committee will then report to Council for a decision on the GVP review options.

Signatories

Author:

Anne Gray - Policy Analyst

Kevin Mechen - Secretary, District Licensing Committee

Authoriser:

Adrian Blair - Group Manager Customer and Regulatory Services

Simon Pickford - General Manager Community Services

Attachments

	Title	Page
a	Proposed Gambling and TAB Venue Policy	14
b	Current Gambling and TAB Venue Policy 2013	16

SUMMARY OF CONSIDERATIONS

Fit with purpose of Local Government

This decision/report/proposal relates to providing a regulatory function and it is considered good-quality and cost-effective.

Fit with strategic framework

	Contributes	Detracts	Not applicable
Social Wellbeing Strategy	☒	☐	☐
Economic Development Strategy	☐	☐	☒
Environment Strategy	☐	☐	☒
Arts and Culture Strategy	☐	☐	☒
3 Waters Strategy	☐	☐	☒
Spatial Plan	☒	☐	☐
Integrated Transport Strategy	☐	☐	☒
Parks and Recreation Strategy	☐	☐	☒
Other strategic projects/policies/plans	☐	☐	☒

The draft policy contributes to the Social Wellbeing Strategy priorities of vibrant and cohesive communities, connected people, and safe and healthy people. It also contributes to the Spatial Plan priority of a liveable city – a safe and healthy environment.

Māori Impact Statement

It is a legal requirement to provide notice of the proposed policy to organisations representing Mäori in the area and this was part of the community engagement plan.

Sustainability

This summary report for consideration has no known implications for sustainability.

LTP/Annual Plan / Financial Strategy /Infrastructure Strategy

There are no implications for the LTP/Annual Plan/Financial Strategy/Infrastructure Strategy.

Financial considerations

There are no financial considerations.

Significance

This summary report is considered low in terms of the Council’s Significance and Engagement Policy.

Engagement – external

Consultation for the GVP was carried out using the special consultative procedure as outlined in the Local Government Act. The Gambling Act requires this method of consultation. Pre-consultation was carried out with organisations that provide treatment and support services for problem gamblers in Dunedin. Information on the benefits and harm caused by problem gambling was drawn from the DIA, Gambling and Addictions Research Centre and the Ministry of Health. Each corporate society that holds a class 4 venue licence for a venue on the district as well as organisations representing Mäori were advised of the review, as required by the Act.

Engagement - internal

There has been no internal engagement.

Risks: Legal / Health and Safety etc.

There are no known risks.

Conflict of Interest

There is no conflict of interest.

Community Boards

Community Boards were advised of the GVP review and invited to provide feedback.

Chairperson	Aaron Hawkins
	Maria Laufiso
	Conrad Stedman

	Title	Page
a	Register of Interest	5