ORANGE City Council corporate and community relations manager Nick Redmond says it is hard to judge the effectiveness of a smoking ban in the CBD.
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While smoking has been banned in Post Office Lane for many years, the ban was extended to cover the main street between Peisley and Hill streets for three months until November.
“The long-term policy of Orange City Council with the smoking ban is that it should be about educating and persuading people not to smoke in these busy parts of Orange, rather than an enforcement strategy based on fines,” he said.
“There have been no-smoking signs in place for a number of years, and these are being added to following the decision to extend the zone. It’s a long-term approach aimed at producing behavioural change, that’s hard to measure on the short-term.”
Mr Redmond said council was waiting on a report from the Department of Health rangers, who do have the specific roles of issuing fines, who visited Orange earlier this month.
Orange councillor Reg Kidd wants the extended ban on areas in the CBD made permanent.
“I think it would be a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.
“There are still places in Orange people can go and have a smoke, they just shouldn’t do it near food and where there’s young people walking around.”
Cr Kidd said in order to ensure the ban, effective additional signage would needed to be erected throughout the CBD.
