Smoking ban for beaches and parks

Smoking on council-owned beaches in the Western Bay of Plenty District has been banned, including popular holiday spots Waihi Beach, Maketu, and Athenree.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council moved this week to make its 30 beaches smokefree and also facilities that include public halls, land around the halls, playgrounds, parks, sports fields, skate parks, and reserves.
While most people spoken to by the Bay of Plenty Times in some of the affected areas supported the move, many question how it will be policed.
A report was presented to the policy and planning committee on Thursday by council policy analyst strategic Liz Davies to investigate options to develop and implement a council smokefree public places policy.
The option that was recommended in the report was to make all council public facilities, except beaches, smokefree.
But councillor Sam Dunlop moved that the second option be adopted which included beaches in the list of smokefree public spaces. This was unanimously backed by the committee.
Councillor Paul Thomas asked if this could be taken further and include town centres while Councillor Mike Williams suggested they look at what Wanaka was doing where under Queenstown Lakes District Council bylaws those caught littering in public places are liable for a $100 instant fine.
At this stage council has opted for an educational policy due to difficulties associated with policing a full smokefree policy regulatory bylaw. According to the report educational policy allows the council to be seen providing community leadership and acting as a role model".
This will see the public asked to refrain from smoking in the areas agreed upon and signs displayed at the entrance to parks and by playgrounds. Funding of $14,449 (+GST) over 10 years was agreed upon.
Events held in parks, at beaches and in reserves will be promoted as smokefree events and reserves and beaches will have a Smokefree logo added when signs are renewed.
But the report said as the beaches cover a large area it makes it difficult to provide effective signage. To date two other councils have made beaches smokefree - Opotiki and Gisborne.
Councillor Kevin Marsh questioned how the smokefree push would be policed.
"You only have to go up to Tauranga Hospital to see it's not working," Cr Marsh said.
His view was reflective of many spoken to in a short phone survey of residents in Waihi Beach and Maketu.
One Waihi Beach resident, who asked not to be named, said while he smoked, he could see the advantage of making beaches smokefree.
"But how the hell do you monitor this? Really what you are saying is people are just asked nicely not to smoke but can do so if they want?"
Presenting the report to the committee Liz Davies said evidence suggests that smokefree environments was a key strategy in reducing youth uptake of smoking.
"Creating more smokefree environments in places that young people spend time in, such as parks, playgrounds and skate parks, is a useful step to reducing youth smoking uptake.
The number of councils adopting smokefree outdoor spaces policies in New Zealand has increased significantly in the past few years with 23 councils having a smokefree outdoor spaces policy of some kind.
Opotiki District Council adopted a policy making all council-owned and operated public spaces and events smokefree in December 2007.
In December 2008 Rotorua District Council adopted a policy making all children's playgrounds in the district and the Redwoods forest park smokefree.
Research conducted by Toi Te Ora Public Health Service shows that the educational policy approach is working and that there has been a high level of public support for these polices.
In Rotorua public support for the policy reached 93 per cent in a survey conducted after the policy was implemented.
In Opotiki a study showed there was 60 per cent less butts found on the ground in parks in the town after one year of policy implementation.