Smoke-free bid for Masterton town square

Masterton Town Square.

Smokers discouraged to light up

Smokers are likely to soon be asked to butt out of employing their habit in the new Masterton Town Square - or at the very least part of it.

Masterton District Council is keen to have the square declared smoke-free, especially the Poutama immediately outside the town hall entrance.

Poutama is an incorporated part of the square and is aspirational as it symbolises striving for excellence and is well known throughout the Maori world.

The council favours a smoke-free status of the entire square and it's likely to soon post signs asking smokers to desist while within the confines of the square.

Assets and operations manager David Hopman said there was "no big stick" policy available to the council but people should be asked not to smoke in the square as they were in the case of parks and sportsgrounds.

Councillor Gary Caffell, a lifelong non-smoker, said he was in two minds about making the entire square smoke-free.

"I thought the whole idea was to encourage people to sit down, relax, have lunch and if they want too to have a fag," he said.

Councillor Mark Harris said he didn't want to see "dirty cigarette butts" discarded in the square and councillor David Holmes said there has already been occasions, particularly at night meetings in the town hall facility, that people have congregated just outside the hall doorway and smoked.

Councillor Doug Bracewell said the smoke-free policy regarding sportsgrounds was a case of "basic consideration of others" and that signs for the square should be along the same lines but councillor Simon o'Donoghue warned "we won't be able to move for signs soon".