Smoking On Beach May Be Next To Go
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday May 17, 2004
Smokers have been rejected from offices and restaurants, their presence in pubs and clubs is precarious, and now they face a new fight for their right to smoke on Sydney beaches.
A proposal before Manly Council tonight may ban smoking on the beach where the newspaper editor William Gocher was arrested in 1902 for defying the law by swimming during the day.
The proposal would create what it is believed would be Australia's first smoke-free beaches from Queenscliff, past Manly and Shelly beaches to Manly Cove, Clontarf and Sandy Bay. It would go far further than recent playground and sportsground bans by some councils.
Manly's Councillor Barbara Aird said a ban would reduce passive smoking and the number of cigarette butts on the beach. She hoped other coastal councils would follow but was unsure if the proposal mustered enough support to pass. The Mayor, Peter Macdonald, said the vote would be close.
Dr Macdonald doubted whether the community would support a total ban but favoured no smoking near children on the beach. ``You run the risk of losing the support of the community when you introduce a radical measure. I think it's more of the waste issue than a health issue."
Anne Jones, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said cigarette butts were not ``benign pieces of litter when it comes to marine life" and there were high concentrations of chemicals in used filters that small children could put in their mouths.
Many coastal councils would be ``closely considering" Manly's lead, partly because the Environmental Protection Authority estimated about nine billion butts were tossed in NSW each year.
While the risks of passive smoking on a beach were not ``in the same ball park as in pubs or clubs", it was an issue in crowded outdoor areas during summer.
A spokesman for British American Tobacco Australia, John Galligan , said it would be a big jump to ban smoking outdoors. It was better to change behaviour through positive rather than punitive means, such as providing disposable ashtrays.
© 2004 Sydney Morning Herald
Share This