Hutt City Council has voted to introduce a sinking lid policy on pokie machines.
A sinking lid policy means the council won't issue any new licences for gaming machines and that they can't be transferred to a new venue or owner if the venue they're currently in closes.
"Council has a responsibility to support the wellbeing of all our people. In 2019, $29 million in profit was collected from gaming machines in our city," its policy, finance and strategy chairman Simon Edwards said.
"Of that, only $4 million was returned to the Hutt-based community and sports groups in the form of grants."
Edwards said Lower Hutt has "well above" the national average of gaming machines per capita.
There are 425 gaming machines in Lower Hutt, with four machines per 1000 population. Nationally, there are 2.9 per 1000 population.
Council heard from community and sporting groups that rely on funding from the machines. They were worried about the drop in funding if machine numbers were reduced, but also many were uncomfortable about the harm they caused.
"Community groups are an important part of our city, and we have heard and understand their concerns," Edwards said.
"We’ve taken a balanced approach by introducing a sinking lid, and we will be strongly advocating to central government to consider providing alternative sources of funding that don’t rely on pokies."
Porirua and Wellington have similar policies.
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