The South Australian Jockey Club is making plans to introduce poker machines into a new housing development in Cheltenham. The plan has attracted a great deal of controversy, as responsible gambling advocates feel that housing developments are no place for pokies. The new St Clair housing development will be built on the property formerly occupied by Cheltenham Racecourse.
It will consist of 1200 homes as well as a restaurant, sports bar and gaming facility. The Jockey Club aims to populate the gaming club with 40 pokies that are currently in the Lucky Horseshoe. The plan has not been well-received by members of the community, including responsible gambling advocate and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon.
He states that pokies do not belong within a housing development, where they can be easily accessed by vulnerable individuals. In many communities, pokies are restricted to areas that are outside of residential areas and outside of the perimeter of shopping centres and schools. Xenophon feels that the same rules should apply in Cheltenham’s new housing development.
Mayor Kirsten Alexander has backed Xenophon’s concerns. She is also worried that relocating pokies into a residential area will cause harm by attracting underage and problem gamblers. "It is not appropriate to have 40 poker machines in a new residential area – they cause great damage, both financially and socially, to the community,” she says.
The Jockey Club has spoken out against these concerns. CEO Brenton Wilkinson has stated that the new club would create 15 new jobs in the area for local residents. He also noted that while the club’s goal is to move the pokies into the heart of the development, they are looking at other sources of revenue.
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