VCAT - Dogs club ‘vital’ - **new article update 09/02/10**

[BulldogBelle]

It's been awhile since we have had an update on the Bulldog Hilton....

Dogs club ‘vital’
The Star
Charlene Gatt
16th June 2009

CLUB Edgewater is a necessary development for the Western Bulldogs’ survival, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) has heard.

Legal counsel for the Bulldogs, Tattersalls and Prizac Developments Chris Townshend told VCAT that Club Edgewater was a proactive way of boosting revenue and attracting more members for the financially volatile club.

Mr Townshend told the tribunal the Bulldogs had a history of being “on the brink”.

He stressed the original Footscray Football Club was made up of Footscray residents and workers and the community had always rallied to keep the club afloat.

The proposed development includes a four-storey hotel, a cafe, a pokies venue with 70 machines, an outdoor bistro area that would face onto Skyline Drive and an outdoor members bar that would face the corner of Skyline Drive and Edgewater Boulevard bistro.

“This location is highly suitable for what’s proposed and it’s particularly suitable for the club. (It’s) a responsible way of managing gaming in the municipality,” Mr Townshend said.

“There is a real connection between the football club and the social fabric of the community.

“It’s probably a regrettable fact that so embedded are football clubs (like the Western Bulldogs) in the community…that they can be taken for granted.”

Residents who attended the opening day shook their heads in disgust and some openly laughed at the comments.

Legal counsel Ian Pitt, who is representing Henry and Niola Glowacki and other Edgewater residents, said it was neither the council nor the residents’ responsibility to “prop up the club”.

“(Western Bulldogs) players are not representatives of the western suburbs or Footscray at all. They come from all over Australia,” he said.

Residents Against Inappropriate Development in Maribyrnong (RAIDIM) spokesperson Margaret Rutherford told the hearing RAIDIM would not object to a smaller development that had no poker machines, had the right number of car parks and provided for the social fabric of the estate.

In a VCAT first, the tribunal is hearing two appeals at the same time.

The Bulldogs are appealing against Maribyrnong City Council’s decision to refuse the planning permit for the development, and the council is appealing the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation’s decision to grant a gaming license.

The hearing continues this week. RAIDIM will make their submission to the tribunal on 22 June.

[Go_Dogs]

And after the $50,000+ I can see the legal fees being for this, we'll need more pokies!

Honestly though, the residents seem to have a pretty weak argument. We are not designating them to 'prop up the club'. The fact is we are creating a development to earn revenue. The development has some unattractive aspects for the local residents and council, but will also offer some very attractive aspects - employment, shopping, restuarants etc.

[Remi Moses]

I particulary like the line that the Western Bulldogs players don't represent the area.Bugger off

[SonofScray]

I particulary like the line that the Western Bulldogs players don't represent the area.Bugger off

They're sort of correct. The players don't as individuals, but they are only a small facet in 100+ years of the Club which as a collective undoubtedly has in the past and will for many years to come. I am anti pokies but the arguments have been presented in that article are incredibly pedestrian.

[MrMahatma]

They're sort of correct. The players don't as individuals, but they are only a small facet in 100+ years of the Club which as a collective undoubtedly has in the past and will for many years to come. I am anti pokies but the arguments have been presented in that article are incredibly pedestrian.

Where the players themselves come from is irrelevant. The club is a cornerstone of the local community, and locals support the club.

Look at EPL - drive around London and you'll pass through Arsenal - full of Arsenal fans, turn the corner and you're in Tottenham, full of Spurs fans, down the road into West Ham... their players come from all over the world, but the club still means loads to the local community.

[Remi Moses]

They're sort of correct. The players don't as individuals, but they are only a small facet in 100+ years of the Club which as a collective undoubtedly has in the past and will for many years to come. I am anti pokies but the arguments have been presented in that article are incredibly pedestrian.

Of course they don't as individuals. But don't tell me our players dont' represent the club which represents the area!Blow in wind bags having a moan those people

[ledge]

Yeah i cant agree more, they are still playing under the Western banner and as such represent the west.
I Wonder if the main person or all the people against it are from the west originally, that would kill the arguement , even if only one protester was born outside the west.
Bet they didnt think of that.

[BulldogBelle]

Another update....


Dogs slam surveys
The Star News Group
30th June 2009

THE Western Bulldogs legal team has slammed council surveys opposing the Club Edgewater development, in week three of the Victorian Civil and Administrative (VCAT) appeal.

Legal counsel for the Bulldogs Nick Tweedie said two surveys to gauge community opinion “ignored” any future Club Edgewater customers living more than a kilometre from the development.

Maribyrnong City Council commissioned Metropolis Research to conduct two surveys concerning the proposed development, the second held after the Bulldogs upgraded their gaming license application from 65 machines to 70.

Between the two surveys, 68.7 per cent opposed the development and gaming application, 16 per cent supported it and six per cent supported it with amendments. Nine per cent remained undecided.

The survey found that only 1.2 per cent of the sample that supported the application did so because they followed the Bulldogs.

Mr Tweedie suggested the surveys were an inaccurate reflection of community sentiment and said the surveys should have replicated the wide customer base that a development like Club Edgewater was likely to attract.

“This is a gaming application …that proposes customers would be drawn from much farther than a one kilometre radius,” he said.

But Dale Hubner, the managing director of Metropolis Research, said a one-kilometre radius was standard practice for surveys of this kind.

Mr Hubner said social aspects surrounding the development, such as traffic and parking, would and could affect residents living in close proximity to the site, more so than residents living outside the one kilometre radius.

Mr Tweedie also pointed out that, despite the harsh opposition in the survey, City of Maribyrnong residents did not rank gambling as a top 20 issue in the most recent annual community survey.

Only 1.2 per cent of respondents nominated gambling as an issue.

Rejecting the Club Edgewater proposal also failed to make the top three of an Edgewater-specific survey.

Mr Tweedie said Edgewater residents tipped cafes, restaurants, bistros, conference centres and accommodation as priorities for the estate – the same features included in Club Edgewater.

Colleague Chris Townshend stressed that Club Edgewater would not be operating “on all cylinders” despite a 3am closing time.

Mr Townshend said it was likely there would be staggered closing times across the venue, with the gaming floor likely to be closed by 1am.

Bulldogs president David Smorgon, chief operating officer Robert Stubbs and Andrew Catterall from the AFL were expected to testify later in the week.

The hearing will end on 14 July.

[BulldogBelle]

Another update...

Bulldogs to pay big bucks for pokies
The Star Newsgroup
Charlene Gatt | 7th July 2009

THE Western Bulldogs will have to pay up to $6.16 million by 2012 to buy poker machines and gaming entitlements for Club Edgewater.

In week four of the Club Edgewater VCAT hearing, Bulldogs chief operating officer Robert Stubbs said the club could comfortably cover the costs because changes to gaming legislation in 2012 would also triple Club Edgewater’s revenue.

The changes will mean venue operators will have to buy their own poker machines and pay a 10-year entitlement to the State Government.

The machines are expected to cost between $20,000 to $25,000 each, but the price of gaming entitlements per machine has been hotly debated.

In a witness statement to VCAT, Maribyrnong City Council witness Colin Gill predicted venue operators would have to pay about $63,000 per machine for a 10-year gaming entitlement.

But Mr Stubbs said the State Government had already put in place pre-entitlements for existing clubs with machines, ruling out the need for them to enter an auction process.

Mr Stubbs said clubs would be able to buy the machine entitlements at a pre-set price, which was expected to range from $25,000 to $50,000 per machine. Mr Stubbs said the Bulldogs would be able to afford the changeover because of the corresponding tripling of revenue.

Currently, any revenue from a gaming machine is split three ways – with the venue, the State Government and Tattersalls each getting a third of the total amount.

Under the new 2012 regime, the venue operator will receive 100 per cent of the revenue, but incurs the costs of buying the machines, the gaming entitlements, plus GST.

Venue operators also have to give the State Government 30 per cent of total revenue. Mr Stubbs told the hearing last week the Bulldogs were paying off a $5 million debt at about $300,000 a year.

The hearing will start this Thursday to allow an exchange of submissions, and all parties will present their closing arguments on 13 and 14 July.

The Bulldogs are appealing against Maribyrnong City Council’s decision to refuse the planning permit for the development, and the council is appealing the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation’s decision to grant a gaming license.

[Rocket Science]

The saga becomes curioser and curiouser.

===============================

Godwin Grech in Dogs pokie mystery

Royce Millar
July 9, 2009

"IT seems implausible that a senior public servant would commit matters to writing which were not accurate."

So declared Victoria's gaming authority last December, in reference to a letter from a federal public servant about a contentious plan by the Western Bulldogs for a new pokies venue.

And the name of the public servant? Godwin Grech.

Less than three weeks after Mr Grech wrote himself into Australian political history as the central player in "Utegate", The Age can reveal that the public servant has written his way into another political drama — this time over the Bulldogs' plan to build a gaming venue in Melbourne's western suburbs.

Mr Grech, a Bulldogs supporter, became involved in the gaming venue issue when he wrote a letter, at the request of club chief executive Campbell Rose, as part of the push to build the new venue near the Edgewater housing estate and the Highpoint shopping centre.

The Bulldogs have always claimed that a core condition of an $8 million grant from the former Howard government to redevelop their Whitten Oval base was that its pokies be relocated. Mr Grech's letter purports to confirm this.

But inquiries by The Age have indicated that no such condition exists — at least not in writing.

Mr Grech was working in former prime minister John Howard's department and was responsible for handling the Bulldogs' grant, when it was announced soon before the 2004 election.

Last November the Bulldogs tabled the Grech letter, on Treasury letterhead, at a hearing of the Commission for Gambling Regulation.

The Grech letter states that a "core condition" of the grant was relocating poker machines because the redeveloped Whitten Oval would include a child-care facility. "I cannot emphasise this enough — it was very important to the approvals process," Mr Grech's letter states.

Asked this week to identify documents containing the federal funding conditions, Mr Rose initially referred to an agreement between the Government and Bulldogs over the $8 million. But he said he could not comment on detail because of confidentiality. However, the Gambling Commission's written decision on the Edgewater licence in December specifically states that the Government-Bulldogs agreement is "silent" on the issue of gaming machines at Whitten Oval. Mr Rose later conceded the grant conditions might have been made verbally.

Other than Mr Grech, however, he could not identify another public servant able to verify even verbal discussions about the grant condition. After a five-year stint in the Prime Minister's office, Mr Grech moved back to his former job in Treasury in mid 2008.

Mr Rose denied manufacturing the condition with Mr Grech to strengthen the Bulldogs' claim for the licence.

The Greens have actively opposed the Edgewater project and have long been suspicious of the Bulldogs' claim that they had to move their poker machines. "Eight million dollars. You would have thought there would be something in writing," said local Greens MP Colleen Hartland.

She said the Bulldogs' football future was being used as an "emotional tool" to back a new and bigger pokies venue in the west, despite the area's serious gambling problems. Mr Grech could not be contacted.

The Age is not suggesting the Gambling Commission's licence decision hinged on the Mr Grech's letter alone. It was one of a range of matters that contributed to the granting of the licence.

Commission chairman Ian Dunn last night said that in hindsight he might have sought more detail from Mr Grech about the conditions attached to the federal funding.

"If we were duped by Godwin Grech so be it."

He stressed that he believed the Howard government had probably intended the gaming machines to be moved.

Maribyrnong Council is opposed to the new 70-machine Edgewater club being operated by Bulldogs partners, Tattersalls. It has challenged its gaming licence at the Victorian appeals tribunal. A decision is pending.

Victoria University is also investing $6 million on the Whitten Oval redevelopment and has confirmed that it had made it a condition that the club move its poker machines.

[bulldogtragic]

What a curious story. As long as the club wins, i don't care. Good thing the former PM's helper was a WBFC fan and not another teams...

[Sedat]

Another update....


Dogs slam surveys
The Star News Group
30th June 2009

The hearing will end on 14 July.

BUMP

Has there been any announcement following the conclusion of the VCAT hearing?

[BulldogBelle]

BUMP

Has there been any announcement following the conclusion of the VCAT hearing?

Still not fully over as per the articles out today as listed below...

[BulldogBelle]

Latest...

Hearing’s last hurdle
The Star News Group
Charlene Gatt | 21st July 2009

THE Club Edgewater planning appeal has wrapped up after a marathon six-week hearing – but it’s not over yet.

Legal counsel John Larkins, on behalf of Maribyrnong City Council and Edgewater residents, and Chris Townshend, on behalf of the Western Bulldogs, Tattersalls and Prizac Investments, tendered their closing submissions to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) last week.

But the hearing – which includes the Bulldogs’ appeal against Maribyrnong City Council for refusing a planning permit and the council’s appeal against the gaming licence – has been extended by one day to allow for closing submissions concerning the gaming matter.

The hearing will reconvene on 7 August for the tribunal to take into account changes to gaming legislation in 2012 and how this would affect Club Edgewater.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation granted the Bulldogs a gaming licence for 70 machines last December.

Under the licence, 48 of the machines will be relocated from the Whitten Oval while the remainder will come from Yarraville Club, Powell Hotel, Club Leeds and Braybrook Tavern.

If approved, the Club Edgewater development would also see the removal of 11 machines from the municipality.

The Bulldogs have said Club Edgewater would reduce gaming expenditure in Maribyrnong by about $700,000 a year.

Under the new 2012 regime, gaming venue operators will receive 100 per cent of gaming revenue but have to purchase the machines, the gaming entitlements and give the State Government a 30 per cent cut.

Currently, any revenue from a gaming machine is split three ways – with the venue, the State Government and Tattersalls each getting a third of the total amount.

It means the Bulldogs will have to fork out up to $6.16 million by 2012 to purchase the 70 poker machines and 10-year gaming entitlements for Club Edgewater.

A decision on the appeals isn’t expected for weeks after the final hearing day.

[BulldogBelle]

More...

The case for ...
The Star News Group
21st July 2009

- Bulldogs CEO Campbell Rose: “If the club was unable to find a suitable venue to which it can relocate the 48 gaming machines currently operating at the Whitten Oval and, accordingly, had to relinquish its right to operate those machines, the permanent loss of the revenue generating potential of those machines would have very significant implications for the club.”

- Bulldogs President David Smorgon: “For many years, our supporters and members have been asking why the club does not have a social facility of the standard other clubs enjoy…We will be able to hold functions, our best and fairest night and other club events at the Edgewater venue.”

- Bulldogs Chief Operating Officer Robert Stubbs: “Whilst we have continued to invest (and actually increased our investment) in Spirit West Services over the past few years (and as a result, reduced the club’s operating profits that may otherwise have been realised), this has been predicated on the belief that we would be able to readily find an alternative social venue location for the Whitten Oval gaming machines, and that, once this happened, our social club venue profits would grow. If the Edgewater facility is not approved…(we will have to) reduce our commitment.”

- Legal counsel Nick Tweedie: Two surveys conducted by Metropolis Research at the request of Maribyrnong City Council to gauge community opinion “ignored” any future Club Edgewater customers living more than a kilometre out from the development.

* The above statements have come from witness statements tendered at VCAT or have been said over the course of the hearing.