Pokies 'not the answer'

A few gaming machines will not save a Christchurch racing club, the Problem Gambling Foundation says.

The New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club will appear before the Christchurch City Council's regulatory and planning committee today to seek an exemption to the council's gambling policy. It says it needs an exemption to get the 18 pokies needed to protect up to 5000 jobs and $143 million in economic activity provided by Addington Raceway.

Foundation chief executive Graeme Ramsay said the club's claims were "misleading and silly".

The average return on a gaming machine in Christchurch was $44,181, he said. If the club ran 18 machines, that would generate about $800,000, but the return after taxes and other expenses would be about $500,000.

"We are seriously concerned that the solution to their financial problems is pokie machines and wonder what other alternatives have been considered," Ramsay said. "It is a Band-Aid solution that won't solve the club's underlying problem of declining interest in racing."

Council staff have recommended the committee reject the club's bid.

- © Fairfax NZ News