Currently, the South Australian Jockey Club (SAJC) is involved in a hearing in the Environment, Resources and Development Court, defending its right to build a new gaming venue along the Cheltenham Parade as part of its new redevelopment efforts. The plan has seen a great deal of resistance from the local community, as The Cheltenham Park Residents Association believe that the new venue will harm the area.
“There is the negative impact that a high exposure to gambling will have on residents in this area," says Claire O’Connor, who represents the association. "Servicing the community, as the SAJC claims to be, is not the same as serving it." The SAJC is not convinced. Charles Sturt Council granted the club the rights to build the new gaming venue over a year ago.
As such, the group does not believe that it is an issue that needs to be taken up by the planning committee. Since gambling is a social issue, the Environment, Resources and Development Court need not weigh in on the issue. This is yet another case of the local community being at odds over the potential to expand or build a gambling venue.
Currently, Bendigo residents are trying to block the local basketball stadium from installing new poker machines. The community group has gone the same route as the Cheltenham Park Residents Association, attempting to thwart the process by interrupting the planning portion of the expansion. Residents believe that the stadium should be required to obtain an additional planning permit before going ahead with the expansion.
It seems as though interrupting the planning process is an effective way to jeopardize a group’s plans to build a gambling venue. With the local government still in doubt over the social effects of gambling, it seems as though appealing from another perspective would bear more positive results for community groups that do not want more gambling venues in their cities.
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