Mall smokers run out of puff

Anna Harrison.
Anna Harrison.
The Cromwell Community Board has made outdoor areas of the Cromwell Mall smokefree, against the recommendation of council staff.

The decision came after a Central Otago District Council report was presented to the board at a meeting last week.

In May last year, WellSouth and the Cancer Society proposed the board make the mall smoke-free.

WellSouth surveyed 13 of the mall's business owners, of which 10 supported the move, one did not and two were neutral.

It also surveyed 43 members of the public, 36 of whom supported, three did not and four were neutral.

This meant 75% of business owners were not surveyed.

Shirley Calvert.
Shirley Calvert.
The council then surveyed building owners and found seven supported the idea, eight did not and one was neutral.

However, as several owners had more than one building, it also tallied the results in terms of how many supported the smoke-free policy per building.

In this tally, seven buildings were supportive, 24 were against and one was neutral.

The council report recommended the mall not be made smoke-free as ''given the low level of business owners surveyed, the support from business owners for the proposal for the mall to be smoke-free has not been proven''.

Three businesses in the mall with liquor licences, Three Amigos Bar and Grill, No.7 Restaurant and the Cromwell Brew House and Bistro, all have designated outdoor smoking areas in the mall. These areas will all be made smoke-free.

If the businesses wanted smoking areas, these would have to be on their premises.

Board member Anna Harrison said making the mall smoke-free would come from the Government eventually anyway, so the board should take the lead.

Shirley Calvert said she was surprised the building owners were not more supportive of the move. The policy would not be policed, but would rely on community enforcement, she said.

Board chairman Neil Gillespie said there would be people who opposed the move.

''I'm all for civil liberties, but I think if you want to smoke, you can do it at your own home.''

The policy would begin when the Smokefree agency supplied signs.

Cromwell's sports ground and Old Cromwell precinct are already smoke-free.

jono.edwards@odt.co.nz

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