The Scoundrel & Seadogs Bar and Grill, a New Zealand-based pub, has been granted permission to install nine new poker machines. While the new games will generate additional funding for community programs, local residents are not pleased that their applications were approved without any public consultation. Members of the Tuakau community, where the pub in question is located, have spoken out against the new pokies.
Even staff members at Scoundrel & Seadogs have voiced their concerns about the new games. During the application process, local councillors identified several concerns about the poker machines, but the application was still approved.
According to Alan Parkes of the local council’s environmental health team, the application should not have been approved because the games would have violated the terms of the Franklin Gambling Venues policy. The policy states that poker machines should be located a significant distance from ‘sensitive sites’. In this case, the site is the Little Star Early Childcare and Education Centre.
The club also hosts family dining, and it is considered dangerous to allow children into a venue that offers pokies. It is believed that these concerns were ignored because councillors directly from Tuakau where not involved in the decision-making process. Instead, two councillors from the Waikato District, who were not familiar with Tuakau, weighed in on the application.
Some Tuakau-based politicians were not even asked for their opinions on the matter. "The decisions are made under delegated authority and the only time that I offer an opinion to these things is when a ratepayer approaches me and draws my attention to their concerns,” says Tuakau councillor Lionel Petersen.
“Nobody has done such”. Onewhero-Tuakau Community Board members have requested that the consent should be withdrawn until a public consultation has been held. There is no word yet on whether or not Waikato District councillors will comply.
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