New Zealand: Bid to Ban Pavement Puffers Goes Lukewarm

Source from:  Independent Newspapers Ltd. / STUFF (nz) 12/02/2014

Calls to use a council bylaw controlling use of public places to rid cigarette smokers from Palmerston North's footpaths has gained only a modest head of steam.

Heart Foundation heart health advocate Sally Darragh said the city council should make it compulsory for tables outside cafes to display smokefree signs, and make it illegal to supply ash trays.

She was talking to the council's policy and planning committee meeting yesterday about its draft signs and use of public places bylaw, expected to be released for public consultation early next year.

Darragh said the concentration of secondhand smoke particles in the air outside cafes was enough to be harmful to passers-by and other diners.

Having the power to stop smoking in such areas would help give effect to the council's smokefree policy in the central city, she said, and contribute to the goal of a smokefree Aotearoa. The council should also note that the Auckland Council had recently received 1400 submissions in favour of making outdoor dining areas smokefree.

Councillors had a spirited attempt during about two hours of debate to rewrite various aspects of the bylaw, which had been drafted, drawing on advice from council lawyer John Maassen.

He said the idea of using the bylaw as a means to ban smoking on footpaths had not come through in pre-consultation staff had carried out.

Councillors should not react to a single presentation and make changes without thinking through the implications, he said. If the public thought it was an issue, they would make submissions.

The council could then consider them in a deliberate way, he said.

Cr Chris Teo-Sherrell pushed for a number of changes, including making the outdoor dining areas smokefree.

But Cr Leonie Hapeta said she was concerned about the effects on businesses and cafe owners.

They had already had to push customers outside to smoke, and a bylaw change could push them away altogether.

"And we have had legal advice against it."

Maassen's compromise was to suggest some commentary be added to the statement of proposal that would go out for public consultation, making it clear feedback on smokefree areas was welcome.

Councillors unanimously supported that approach.

The draft bylaw raises a range of issues for public consultation, especially how it affects or potentially works against the council's encouragement of placemaking activities. It prohibits people from placing objects on the footpath without a permit, but an amendment was likely to soften that approach.

Councillors also debated which part of the footpath should be used to place outdoor furniture - the part close to buildings, or on the kerbside.

Cr Lew Findlay and Teo-Sherrell were concerned for people with disabilities and the sight-impaired, who used the building lines to find a safe path. Enditem