At a meeting last Tuesday, the council granted the permit for an ATM in a previously vacant building in Station Street, Oakleigh, within about eight metres of the Oakleigh Junction Hotel.

The hotel, on Portman Street, has 47 poker machines that took in more than $6million in the previous financial year. The application was for two ATMs but the council reduced the number because the vacant building is a heritage-listed shop with a small street frontage.

The council also expressed concerns about the potentially harmful effects of an unrestricted ATM within walking distance of a pokie venue.

Changes to the Responsible Gaming Code of Practice, which take effect next year, restrict the amount of money that can be withdrawn from ATMs in gaming venues to $200 in a 24-hour period, but these restrictions do not apply to ATMs outside gaming venues.

Cr Joy Banerji, a member of Monash Council's Responsible Gaming Taskforce, said she opposed the proposal but there were no grounds within the Monash Planning Scheme to restrict the location of ATMs.

"The policy at Monash is to reduce and minimise the harmful effects of gambling and this is not harm-minimisation _ this is in fact making it easier for people to lose more money."

A representative for the application did not answer calls from the Journal.