30 May 2016

MEDIA RELEASE

Smokefree outdoor dining in Palmerston North

The Palmerston North City Council is introducing its new smokefree rules for outdoor dining on Council footpaths.

It is the first City in New Zealand to introduce the measures through a bylaw.

Businesses using Council footpaths as outdoor dining areas will require new permits from the Council. Businesses will also have to display smokefree signage as well as remove ashtrays from those outdoor dining areas.

It follows last year’s review of the City’s Signs and Use of Public Places Bylaw.

The new conditions are being launched in time for World Smoke Free Day on 31 May 2016.

PNCC Head of Environmental Protection Services Wayne Jameson says “While the new conditions don’t ban smoking in outdoor areas, the aim is to support Council’s educational efforts to discourage smoking in public places.”

“This builds on the Smokefree Outdoor Areas policy adopted by the Council in 2013, which has seen smokefree signs placed within Council facilities and in parks and reserves around the city.”

Council will be in touch with businesses that place tables and chairs on the footpaths about the changes. A new permit will be issued to those businesses in June.

The smokefree signage, which is being supplied by the Council at no charge to those businesses, will be delivered shortly. The community can expect to start seeing the new smokefree signs from June.

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