By Criss Moore.
The controversial Casula late trading pokie pub proposal is about to reemerge after being unanimously rejected by Council’s Independent Assessment Panel because of its likely negative social impact.
Liverpool Council has advised the Casula community they are about to meet with the De Angelis Hotel Group to advance the new pub DA. Local Casula residents were refused permission to attend the same meeting and confirmed there had not been any consultation by the pub proponents with the local community leading up to their new DA about to be lodged with Council.
De Angelis Hotel Group were caught out trying to reach a voluntary planning agreement (VPA) with the nearby large Casula primary school without revealing any of the harmful alcohol and gambling impacts that the hotel would force onto the nearby community.
The local community is becoming increasingly frustrated with trying to obtain important Police Linking data that reveals alcohol related incidents at five nearby De Angelis owned pubs. One of which is the controversial Macarthur Tavern that was recently listed as equal first and second most violent venues in NSW.
Casula Community has also yet been unable to obtain pokie machine profits information for the nearby other De Angelis Pubs. The latest estimates are an additional 30 pokie machines in the neighborhood could draw an annual profit of $125,000 per machine and is likely to cause an additional 60 problem gamblers within the surrounding local community.
The spokesperson from the local Casula Community Group members said “that the local Casula residents and families have every right to be angry and frustrated with the new, very high risk late trading pokie pub proposal so close to a local school, public housing, and a disadvantaged community”.
“We are concerned that the Local Liverpool City Council will not properly consider the overwhelming negative social impact of this pub and rely unproven and ineffective “mitigation” measures that will prove to be too little too late for the public safety and welfare of our vulnerable community”.
Link to SMH
and generally;
http://drinktank.org.au/2015/11/alcohol-law-backward-step/
It is important to keep in mind that the public interest to data includes:
- Both Houses of NSW Parliament expressed concern over the development proposal and role of council.
- Over 2000 public objections.
- 700 school kids petitioned against it
- Continuing media interest and public commentary.
- First DA unanimously rejected by IHAP because of negative social impact.
- Australia has the worst rate of gambling harms (majority pokies) in the world; NSW has the worst rates in the country.
- Domestic violence in Liverpool is second only to Blacktown.
- The De Angelis HG also own the MacArthur Tavern – recently named the equal most violent and second most violent venue in the State of NSW
- Placed on Hume Highway Liverpool which has the highest accident rate in Sydney
- Close to large public school (145m), public housing, emergency crisis accommodation, women’s refugee, numerous places of worship
- There has been no community consultation by De Angelis with the local Casula community before the new DA is lodged
Contact: Criss Moore phone: 04 3514 4729 for inquiries.