Council will lobby the state government to reduce electronic gaming machines in Ballarat from 663 to the state average of 454.

Councillor Des Hudson said council needed to have a “robust conversation” with the state government over cutting back poker machines in the city.

“We have 13 gaming venues with 663 machines,” Cr Hudson said.

“We need to have a conversation with the Minister for Gaming to partner with the City of Ballarat to reduce it by 209 machines to get back to the state average.

“This will be a very bold statement but we will be seen as a leader. We will be watched by all the other municipalities.”

Cr Hudson said Ballarat spent more than $55 million on gaming in 2010.

Councillor Ben Taylor said council would send a clear message it only wanted the number of machines the community found acceptable.

“Yes, the horse has bolted but let’s round them back up again,” Cr Taylor said.

“Let’s push hard to say this is what we should have in Ballarat. We shouldn’t be way over the state average.”

Cr Taylor called for a cap on pokie numbers in January.

But Monash University Department of Health Social Science deputy head Dr Charles Livingston said while he thought it was a great idea, he doubted it would be successful.

“Local government powers over poker machines are very circumscribed,” Dr Livingston said.

He said while councils did have some planning powers, their decisions were often overturned on appeal to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, which usually cost large amounts of ratepayer money.

“But councils need to keep up the pressure. It’s rare to find a local government that approves of pokie machines and I know Ballarat council has been concerned for many years,” he said.

Australian Hotels Association chief executive officer Brian Kearney told the media yesterday the government would not be able to change its recently granted 10-year gaming licences without it being a breach of contract.

Council will also put its draft gaming policy out for informal public comment for the next four weeks.