“Twelve months ago, we went to council and they gave us clear guidelines of what we had to do,” Mr Canny said. “We did everything they wanted us to do. We jumped through all the hoops.

“If they’d told us 12 months ago it was never going to happen, we would have walked away then.”

Mr Canny said the issue wasn’t about nine extra poker machines but council’s planning policy.

“It’s not a gambling or pokie issue, it’s a planning issue. It’s about ‘does the applicant meet the requirements’ but personal opinion became involved.”

He said no-one had objected to their application, including Gambler’s Help.

“They (the councillors) claim to represent the constituents, so why do they personally take a stance? They wonder why we’re confused and why we’ve lost faith in investing in Ballarat but they keep changing the rules mid-game.”

Mr Canny said he would rather pokie revenue was used to help a local kinder or sporting group.

“But instead that money is now sitting on a solicitor’s desk in Melbourne to help us fight for what we think is right.”

Mr Canny said he was also disappointed to discover council’s new gaming policy – requested by Councillor Ben Taylor in January and reducing Ballarat’s poker machines by 30 per cent – was still not completed.