Please Don't Smoke In Our Parks And Playgrounds

An anti-smoking rap performed in front of District Councillors at last year’s annual plan consideration has helped encourage a stronger signal that all Council-owned reserves, parks and sports parks should be smoke-free areas.

The students asked that all Marlborough’s parks, playgrounds and sportsgrounds, swimming pools and reserves be declared smoke free.

Government legislation already bans cigarette smoking from many places, including grandstands and pavilions.

Council’s Assets and Services Committee deputy chairman Terry Sloan says the Council is not in a position to impose a public ban. But, he says, the Council does have signs discouraging smoking in public spaces, like playgrounds, although its signs are often damaged by vandals.

He and his fellow councillors on the Assets and Services Committee think that signage should be extended from parks and playgrounds to include sportsgrounds, gardens and reserves and they want the smokefree logo included on any new signs that are put in.

“It’s about sending the right signals – please don’t smoke in our parks and gardens and don’t drop your butts in our green spaces. We want to get across the message that our sportsgrounds exist for the good health and wellbeing of our community – and smoking has no place in that,” he said.

Councillor Sloan said the students who came along to Council last year with an original approach to making a submission should feel proud that their efforts had an impact and has encouraged councillors to expand its no-smoking policy.