Opponents of the expansion of Vikings clubs into New South Wales have voiced their fears in a public hearing before the body which will make the decision.
Residents near the proposed club with an estimated 150 poker machines said it could lead to a rise in domestic violence, noise, drunkenness and "hoon" driving behaviour.
They were speaking at a public meeting in Queanbeyan of the Southern Regional Planning Panel, the NSW body which will decide the matter after a recommendation by the local council.
"There are young family's homes only 50 metres away from the proposed outdoor beer and smoking deck," Antje Wilson said.
She said that "gambling and alcohol are a risky combination", so she worried that a closing time of 3am would lead to disturbances.
The president of the Jerrabomberra Residents' Association, Margot Sachse, voiced a string of concerns: "We do not support the current development application for the Vikings Club at Jerrabomberra because:
- It is too big
- Too close to homes
- Proposes to trade too late
- And too reliant on too many poker machines."
She said there would be 800 patrons of the club on weekdays and 1100 from Thursday to Saturday, and that would destroy the life of a residential community.
"A building three storeys tall would exceed the 12-metre hieight limit for the area," she said.
"There is clear evidence that poker machines induce problem gambling and that they make money for the clubs at the expense of vulnerable members of our community.
"Gambling can bring about domestic violence and has a generational impact on families."
Resident Gabrielle Sutton feared "alcohol-fueled violence" because of the size of the proposed club in a residential area.
Perhaps the most powerful argument came from a resident who said he had been a member of a Vikings Club and had been "evicted" occasionally at 2am.
"I love what the Vikings do," he said. "I would very much welcome the jobs in the area. I would love to see it."
But he added that the proposed club was too close to homes. "This is ridiculous. When I'm kicked out at 2am and I'm loud and enthusiastic, this is 50 metres from a house."
He said the public had been given far too little information about the proposal, "so reject it" he urged the decision-making panel.
Several residents said the information from Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council had been inadequate, and sometimes gave a false impression of the proposed development.
The chairman of the decision-making committee, Christopher Wilson, said that no decision had been made. The council had been asked to provide more details. There would be another public meeting before a decision was made.
When the new club was proposed, the Vikings organization said the move over the border was because of the restrictions and difficulties the club felt it faced as the ACT government wrestles with how to clamp down on poker machines.
"It's been death by 1000 cuts in Canberra. There hasn't been any growth. Our costs have risen dramatically, and revenue does not keep pace, so our profitability is virtually non-existent," Vikings chief executive Anthony Hill said.
"If we want to grow our core business, we have to go over the border. We've got approximately 10,000 members over the border."
Mr Hill also blamed the ACT's "cumbersome" planning system for pushing clubs to look elsewhere.
The Vikings Group is one of the biggest clubs organisations in the ACT with four venues (Chisholm, Erindale, Lanyon and Town Centre).
Just before the pandemic (when the last figures were published by the ACT Gambling and Racing Commission), the four Vikings clubs had 540 gaming machines.
Their patrons lost $17,070,137 to them. In the last financial year (2022-23), those losses by patrons rose to $24,350,687 despite the ACT government's policy of cutting the number of poker machines to reduce "gambling harm" when people become addicted to pokies.
The issue of poker machines in the ACT came into focus after the suicide of Raimo "Ray" Kasurinen, who took his own life after gambling heavily on machines at the Hellenic Club.
