I went to the pub and all I can smell on my clothes is cig smoke.
Roll on July...
Roll on July...
Footpaths next as no-smoking zones
A WEEK after Mosman Council banned smoking in council parks, its mayor says footpaths may also one day be declared smoke-free zones.
"I think there would be community support for it. I don't think people particularly like seeing a whole host of smokers outside any building," Denise Wilton said yesterday.
Cr Wilton said the proposal - which the City of Sydney said it would also assess - would be considered after the total ban on indoor smoking came into effect on July 2.
If people started spilling out of pubs and clubs to smoke after July 2, she said, the council would look at declaring further zones to avoid gatherings of smokers outside buildings.
The assistant manager at the Mosman Hotel, Troy Barnett, said that would present significant problems for pub owners.
"It's going to be a sticky one. I don't want cigarette butts out the front and Joe Bloggs doesn't want to walk through patrons that are smoking outside. But I am really unsure what we will do as a hotel if smoking is banned on the footpath," he said.
Mosman Council has long prohibited smoking on beaches, council sporting grounds and outdoor dining areas located on council land. The council last week voted unanimously to extend the ban to Mosman Square, parks, underground car parks and bus shelters. Rangers are empowered to fine offenders $110.
The City of Sydney is also looking at banning smoking on footpaths.
"It will be considered among a range of options," a council spokesman said yesterday.
The City of Sydney has established a working party to examine the implications of the July 2 ban, including the problem of patrons stepping outside for a cigarette.
"If the pub can't accommodate smokers inside, they just flow out onto the footpath and smoke," the City of Sydney's Cr John McInerney said yesterday. " If they take their drinks out, we then have people drinking on the footpath, which can get difficult for pedestrians. You can walk right past and effectively breath a lungful of smoke."
Cr McInerney said council rangers were not empowered to usher people off the footpath.
In Victoria, some councils have been granted the power to put conditions on pubs seeking development approvals that prohibit the use of the footpath for smoking.
"It could one day happen here," Cr McInerney said.
The president of the Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, said councils were within their rights to ban smoking on footpaths, but said such a move would require community support.
North Sydney Council, of which Cr McCaffery is the mayor, is not considering a footpath ban.
"I don't think there is support for that yet, but my concern is that as we shift smokers onto the street we increase our litter problem and we haven't found a way to deal with that yet," she said.
Waverley Council's mayor, George Newhouse, said the council had imposed a ban on smoking on beaches, but wouldn't consider going as far as Mosman Council.
"I think it's impossible to ban smoking in all areas and it's [a case of] the nanny state going too far," he said. "At this stage, we won't be going further than we have been doing."
A WEEK after Mosman Council banned smoking in council parks, its mayor says footpaths may also one day be declared smoke-free zones.
"I think there would be community support for it. I don't think people particularly like seeing a whole host of smokers outside any building," Denise Wilton said yesterday.
Cr Wilton said the proposal - which the City of Sydney said it would also assess - would be considered after the total ban on indoor smoking came into effect on July 2.
If people started spilling out of pubs and clubs to smoke after July 2, she said, the council would look at declaring further zones to avoid gatherings of smokers outside buildings.
The assistant manager at the Mosman Hotel, Troy Barnett, said that would present significant problems for pub owners.
"It's going to be a sticky one. I don't want cigarette butts out the front and Joe Bloggs doesn't want to walk through patrons that are smoking outside. But I am really unsure what we will do as a hotel if smoking is banned on the footpath," he said.
Mosman Council has long prohibited smoking on beaches, council sporting grounds and outdoor dining areas located on council land. The council last week voted unanimously to extend the ban to Mosman Square, parks, underground car parks and bus shelters. Rangers are empowered to fine offenders $110.
The City of Sydney is also looking at banning smoking on footpaths.
"It will be considered among a range of options," a council spokesman said yesterday.
The City of Sydney has established a working party to examine the implications of the July 2 ban, including the problem of patrons stepping outside for a cigarette.
"If the pub can't accommodate smokers inside, they just flow out onto the footpath and smoke," the City of Sydney's Cr John McInerney said yesterday. " If they take their drinks out, we then have people drinking on the footpath, which can get difficult for pedestrians. You can walk right past and effectively breath a lungful of smoke."
Cr McInerney said council rangers were not empowered to usher people off the footpath.
In Victoria, some councils have been granted the power to put conditions on pubs seeking development approvals that prohibit the use of the footpath for smoking.
"It could one day happen here," Cr McInerney said.
The president of the Local Government Association, Genia McCaffery, said councils were within their rights to ban smoking on footpaths, but said such a move would require community support.
North Sydney Council, of which Cr McCaffery is the mayor, is not considering a footpath ban.
"I don't think there is support for that yet, but my concern is that as we shift smokers onto the street we increase our litter problem and we haven't found a way to deal with that yet," she said.
Waverley Council's mayor, George Newhouse, said the council had imposed a ban on smoking on beaches, but wouldn't consider going as far as Mosman Council.
"I think it's impossible to ban smoking in all areas and it's [a case of] the nanny state going too far," he said. "At this stage, we won't be going further than we have been doing."
Comment