CANNON Park racecourse's long-awaited $10 million clubhouse moved a step closer yesterday after a judge ruled the proposed development was not a tavern.

The decision has delighted the Cairns Jockey Club, which is fighting an objection by AFL Cairns and Cazalys through the Planning and Environment Court.

But club committee member David Row, who is overseeing the approval process, said there was still "one more hurdle" to go; the planning appeal which hopefully would be set down for the court's February sittings.

"We're happy with the decision, how could you not be?" Mr Row said.

"But this was just a preliminary round to argue a technical point."

Although hopeful the club was now about four to five months away from "a valid approval" he also warned the more than $150,000 legal fight was putting great financial strain on the struggling club and the project may ultimately have to be scaled back.

"The landscape has changed since we started out, the Government has capped the number of pokie machines and clubs now have to pay for licences for them," Mr Row said.

"Certainly it is our intention to proceed but we're probably looking at staging it now.

"Maybe initially we'll look at placing some gaming machines in the initial clubhouse."

The development was approved by Cairns Regional Council in March and includes a bistro, bar, gaming lounge for up to 100 pokie machines and a restaurant overlooking the racecourse.

In his decision, Judge William Everson found the proposal fell within the definition of indoor sport and entertainment as defined in the council planning scheme.

He also ruled the public notification was appropriate.

Judge Everson said the definition of a tavern was such a wide one that numerous prospective uses could conceivably be caught by it.

For example, he said an RSL club would clearly fall within it but "a common sense approach would suggest such a result may be seen by many to be incongruous".

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