Whangarei's public bus stops are to be made smokefree as the Whangarei District Council promote's a smokefree lifestyle for the district and the mayor wonders if Whangarei could become the first smokefree district in the country.
The ban will be a largely symbolic gesture as councillors heard when they passed the new policy on Wednesday as there will not be fines for breaching the ban.
The district council has already led the country in stubbing out smoking in public places, with all the district's public parks, including children's playgrounds and sports fields declared smokefree. At Wednesday's infrastructure committee meeting councillors discussed a submission from Northland DHB's Public and Population Health Unit and the Cancer Society asking to make bus stops smokefree. The submission was also supported by the Northland Regional Council, which runs the district's bus service.
The submission said a survey of bus users found that 72 per cent wanted the bus stops to be smokefree and that the policy should be educational, rather than punitive.
Mayor Sheryl Mai was happy to move the motion to ban smoking at bus stops, saying in her last stint on the council she had fought hard to get the ban imposed on public parks and playgrounds.