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From swimming pools and sports grounds to outdoor dining areas and even some beaches, smokers are finding themselves unwelcome in more and more public spaces across New South Wales.
As of this week, there will be one fewer place to light up in the city of Sydney: from Monday 26 September, the bustling and upscale shopping precinct Pitt Street Mall will be a smoke-free zone.
The permanent ban was announced earlier this month by the City of Sydney following trials in the CBD’s pedestrian thoroughfare Martin Place.
“Our own research throughout the Martin Place smoke-free trial showed that four out of five respondents support the trial and wanted it permanently extended to other areas, including Pitt Street Mall,” City of Sydney CEO Monica Barone said in a media release.
“This is about giving people the right to walk through one of the world’s most well-frequented retail strips without being confronted by harmful second-hand smoke.”
Complaints by major retailers about the effect smoking was having on their businesses was one factor driving the decision to ban smoking in the mall.
Microsoft, which has a flagship store in Pitt Street, asked the city in November 2015 to remove from the mall a bench and garbage bin that attracted smokers.
“The City has been regularly contacted by major retailers that were impacted by second-hand smoke wafting into their stores,” Barone said in the release.
“For some businesses, operating in Pitt Street Mall at certain times of the day had become unpleasant and unhealthy for their staff and customers.”
According to the City of Sydney, Pitt Street Mall has more than 65,000 daily visitors, and a 2014 report by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield found that it had the fifth most expensive retail rents in the world.
The City of Sydney is not the only local government making an effort to push smokers away from busy public spaces.
GovNews has reported on previous campaigns by the cities of Perth and Melbourne to reduce the effects smokers were having on their cities.
The City will promote the new smoking ban with a high-visibility awareness campaign.
