Gaming in Victoria

1
Gaming in Victoria planning approaches

• Dr Kate Kerkin
• Co-convenor Social Planning Chapter PIA Victoria
  Senior Consultant Planning Coomes Consulting
  Group
• Julian Vander Noord
• Consultant Coomes Consulting Group

2
Our experience

• Strategic Development
• Housing
• Affordable Housing
• Community Visions
• Community Service Plans
• Social Impact Assessment
• Land Use Planning
• Strategic Planning / Planning Scheme Amendments
• Statutory Planning Appeals
• Expert Witness

3
Recent changes to Victorian gaming legislation?

• Planning permit requirement for all gaming
  machines
• Better opportunities for Council to guide the
  location of gaming machines
• Opportunities to better manage impacts of gaming
  on the community

4
Towards a rigorous gaming policy

• Tools for developing stronger policies
• Ideas for strengthening current policies

5
Achieving controls over the location of gaming
machines

• Including local gaming policy in LPPF
• Include land use map in policy designating
  encouraged or prohibited location
• Strategic justification for policy included as
  reference document to Planning Scheme
• Include gaming policies in Local Area Plans or
  Structure Plans

6
What makes a defensible policy?

• Providing justification for controls i.e.
  excluding EGMs in specific locations
• Some bases for justification
• Regional caps report
• SEIFA Index of Disadvantage
• Density of EGMs in particular areas
• Quantity of losses in an area

7
Locally specific justification

• Using local indicators to define Clause 52.28
  Planning Scheme Purpose 'situated in
  appropriate locations and premises and ensure
  the proper consideration of the social and
  economic impacts of the location of gaming
  machines.
• losses assessing local losses against State
  averages
• Determine appropriate / sustainable losses
  against SEIFA
• Current EGMs
• Appropriateness of potential losses
• Quantifying well being

8
Strategies beyond the Planning Scheme

• Gaming Policy in LPPF should be consistent with
  Purposes of Clause 52.28
• Gaming Policy can be supported by other Council
  policies such as Municipal Public Health Plan
  (indicators of well being)

9
The gaming policy challenge

• Need to develop defensible gaming policies
• Translating social values and indicators into
  guidelines for spatial or land use outcomes