Pokies fight lingers

After a week of lively debate, the Castlemaine pokies VCAT hearing has been adjourned until December 10.

Mount Alexander Shire Council is appealing the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation's (VCGR) decision earlier this year to grant Maryborough Highland Society (MHS) a licence to open a club, complete with 65 poker machines, in the old railway goods shed, in Kennedy Street, Castlemaine.

The matter is being heard by VCAT Deputy President Mark Dwyer.

The hearing started on Monday, August 20, with a strong turnout of Castlemaine residents from both sides – Enough Pokies In Castlemaine (EPIC) and Castlemaine Sports and Community Club Inc (The Club) attending.

The hearing nearly came to a grinding halt on Wednesday after MHS failed to produce enough “quality” information to support part of its case.

But Mr Dwyer decided to proceed with the hearing mainly because of the vast amount of time and money that had already been invested by all parties.

On Thursday, EPIC made another bid to join the hearing but it proved to be unsuccessful.

Ron Merkel QC, for EPIC, made a strong push for the joinder during his submission to the hearing.

The joinder would have allowed EPIC to cross-examine witnesses and would have effectively given the community group the right to appeal the decision in the Supreme Court if it happens to go against them at VCAT.

Mr Merkel also forecast he would be pushing for answers from Maryborough Highland Society (MHS) on four points he raised during his submission.

 Basically these points were:

·         How much money has to be spent in Castlemaine to pay off the MHS debt?

·         Have the MHS directors been acting unlawfully and in breach of their duty by not formally notifying MHS members of their intention to mortgage the Maryborough premises and borrow millions of dollars to finance the Castlemaine club?

·         How much has the `Kyneton (bowling club) experiment' lost since MHS took it over?

·         VicTrack needs to agree to lease the old railway goods shed building in Castlemaine to The Club, which will be running the operation, not MHS. When will this happen?

MHS barrister Peter Caillard said EPIC should not be joined to the hearing.

Mr Caillard said that he believed that Mount Alexander Shire Council was the appropriate entity at the hearing and that EPIC would not be able to bring anything to the hearing that council couldn’t do.

He cited a great deal of legal argument in a bid to persuade VCAT Deputy President Mark Dwyer to not allow EPIC to be joined to the hearing.

Mr Caillard said the allegations of MHS directors being unlawful and in breach of duty were very serious ones and that he would not formally respond to them at the hearing.

He said MHS general manager Malcolm Blandthorn would be back in the witness box at a later date and would be able to answer Mr Merkel’s financial questions, including the situation at Kyneton.

At the end of the session, Deputy President Dwyer ruled that EPIC would not be joined to the hearing.

“It (joining a party to the hearing) is a serious matter and is not something that should be done lightly,” he said. “I am not persuaded that EPIC should be joined.”

Earlier in the day, Mount Alexander Shire councillor Tracey Cross was summonsed to appear at the hearing.

Cr Cross told the hearing the economic and social impact report that council considered on the pokies proposal was prepared by the shire’s economic and social development director, Carolyn Wallace, who was a former member of EPIC.

Cr Cross went on to say that she faced enormous opposition before she opened her Subway restaurant in Castlemaine.

“There is an element of like-minded people in Castlemaine who are anti-development, anti-franchise, anti-me probably,” she said.

Cr Cross said she was the only councillor to vote against a motion for council to appeal the VCGR’s decision.

Outside the hearing, Mount Alexander Shire CEO Phil Rowland said that council’s evidence so far had affirmed that the MHS proposal would have “a detrimental impact on the wellbeing of the Castlemaine community”. 

Mr Rowland said council's evidence had also set out the significant community concerns regarding the development, which were identified through the independent survey undertaken on council's behalf.

“It is frustrating that the hearing is to be held over until December but also important that all views are fully represented,” he said.

Mr Rowland said the debate would continue about how the proposal would benefit or harm the Castlemaine community and what real benefit it could bring to members of the Maryborough Highland Society.

EPIC spokesperson, Jess Howard said the group was looking forward to presenting its evidence of the negative social and economic impacts of the proposal when the hearing reconvenes in December.

“EPIC is concerned that the supposed economic benefits suggested by the MHS appear to be based on high-risk financial modelling with no guarantees of any cash at all coming back to the community,” Ms Howard said.

“The Maryborough Highland Society will be taking more than $5 million in loan repayments alone out of our community to pay for the new club and they now tell us there is no guarantee that any of that money will come back to us.

“From our rough calculations, over the life of the machines, this means more than $30 million will have to be spent on the new pokies to meet their budget. This is an ill-conceived development that will come at a real social and economic cost for our community.

“We can surely find a more positive - and less costly - community use for the goods shed."

Ian Braybrook, a member of The Club, said the group was satisfied with the way the hearing was going.

“But we are a bit disappointed it had to be adjourned, especially for such a long time,” Mr Braybrook said. “We are mainly concerned about the division in the town and that it will continue for another three months.

“We would have much preferred to have seen it settled one way or the other.”