It will reach its conclusion in court on Monday when the case closes and the verdict is expected to be handed down.

Some of Australia's top alcohol harm experts have given evidence in the case, as hotelier Peter De Angelis refuses to give up on his plan to open a large pub in Casula in western Sydney.

With a capacity for 500 to 1000 patrons, the proposed Casula Hotel would be 135 metres from a primary school, and just metres from an aged-care home.

Fifteen poker machine licences – capable of generating more than $1.8 million in profit a year, based on the Liverpool average – would be transferred from another hotel in Liverpool.

Liverpool Council has rejected the plan because of the harm it believes a pub of that size will do in one of the most socially disadvantaged communities in the state, with high rates of public housing, domestic violence and unemployment.

But the De Angelis family, which owns a string of Sydney pubs, and this month paid $25 million for the 24-hour Uncle Bucks gaming venue in Mount Druitt, has appealed to the Land and Environment Court. Their lawyer has accused opponents of "modern prohibition".

Senior counsel Adrian Galasso asked expert witness Kypros Kypri, of the University of Newcastle's school of medicine and public health, if his objections amounted to "social prejudice". "Because they live in a particular demographic they shouldn't enjoy the sorts of things that other demographics in Sydney should enjoy?" he asked.

But Liverpool Council's social impact witness Judith Stubbs told the court it was not paternalistic, and it was "critical to listen to a community about its needs and its issues".

Margaret McClune, 85, and Anne Ollerenshaw, 77, live in a retirement home just metres from the site, and travelled by train to the city to watch the court hearing.

"I've been here 20 years. We just like peace and quiet in our little units," said Ms McClune, who fears the pub will empty patrons outside her courtyard at closing time.

"It will be very noisy and violent. We get scared. It's not fair to all the people here," said Ms Ollerenshaw.

David Inverarity, who lives across the road, is worried about children walking past to the primary school. "All the kids cross the road at those lights," he said. His son, Nathan, 8, is among 700 students to have signed a petition.

The De Angelises have argued to the court that another hotel they own, the Macarthur Tavern, which featured on the NSW Government's Violent Venues list until last year, has improved.

The community has obtained police data that showed 827 incidents where police attended the Macarthur Tavern between 2012 and 2015.

Liverpool Mayor Wendy Waller said: "Liverpool Council has committed close to $100,000 fighting the appeal lodged by the developers of the proposed Casula Hotel."

"Council believes it is dangerous to locate a hotel of this size, with this many car parking spaces, along the Hume Highway."

Criss Moore, a teacher and organiser for the Casula Community Group for Responsible Planning, said the pub would be on a section of the Hume Highway with the worst traffic accident rate in NSW.

"You put that with alcohol and kids crossing for school and its pretty scary," she said.

Ms Moore said she was not surprised the De Angelis family had persisted, because the average poker machine profit in Liverpool was $159,000 a year.

But there is a surprising twist in the long-running battle.

Mr De Angelis's father, Arch De Angelis, who heads the family hotel company, once worked as a general practitioner in Casula. He was remembered as a family doctor by a number of the elderly people opposed to the hotel.

"He used to always say, 'I'm going to do something great for Casula'. It's an absolute betrayal of trust," Ms Moore said.

She had challenged him to build a private hospital instead of a pub.

Peter Angelis did not respond to requests for comment, but has previously told Fairfax Media the community campaign was "hysterical and misinformed".

Since the De Angelis family moved from Casula, Peter has become a presence on the Sydney social scene after once dating Seven star Samantha Armytage.

He bought a $4 million apartment in Point Piper last year, owned by his late grandmother Veronica Laundy, telling the media it had great sentimental value because it was where his mother Robyn had grown up.

He had to bid against his uncle, Arthur Laundy, patriarch of the separate Laundy Hotel Group.

Rich-lister Arthur, the father of Liberal MP for Reid Craig Laundy, had been involved in a dispute with Robyn over their mother's will that centred on poker machine earnings.

Peter's brother Phillip De Angelis, another director of the family company, paid $4 million for a Bondi Beach apartment in June.