Council rangers to butt in to butt out Artarmon smokers

Council rangers are set to butt in on smokers lighting up in areas across Artarmon, especially one popular eat street.

The smoking limits will apply in areas including Wilkes Ave.

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Council rangers will soon be on patrol to enforce a ban on smoking in Artarmon following a campaign spearheaded by residents and shop owners.

Willoughby councillors have unanimously voted to make Wilkes Ave and the public laneway behind the former Artarmon Library a no-go zone for lighting up.

New signs will alert smokers to the restrictions and will carry on-the-spot fines of $110 for noncompliance.

Bins with built-in ashtrays will be removed as part of the changes.

A generic picture of a man lighting up a cigarette. Picture: Thomas Samson

The move comes after a petition in favour of introducing the limits was signed by more than 280 people last month.

Artarmon resident Jeremy Bell, who started the campaign, said the aim of the petition was to improve the ambience of the pedestrian-friendly area and its growing reputation as an “alfresco” dining precinct.

“We’ve been coming to Wilkes Ave for years — it has some great cafes and coffee shops but every time we sat outside to eat we’d be breathing in second-hand smoke,” he said.

“I decided to put a petition together and went around to a few of the local businesses and they all supported it. All together we got 286 signatures.

“It’s not about penalising smokers or saying people aren’t allowed to smoke, it’s just about doing it in a more appropriate area where people aren’t sitting outside to eat.”

The ban is not the first to be enforced on the north shore, with similar restrictions in place in the Chatswood CBD and North Sydney.

Salvage Specialty Coffee barista Nathan Park and owner Michael Chen were in favour of the restrictions.

A Willoughby Council spokeswoman said a “public awareness and education campaign” would run for three months before penalty notices are issued for noncompliance.

Salvage Specialty Coffee owner Michael Chen, who has run the Wilkes Ave cafe for six years, believes the restrictions will improve the dining atmosphere of the area.

He said it was “too early” to tell if smokers would pay attention to the signs.

“Wilkes Ave is a pedestrian-friendly mall — there are always children around and most people like to sit outside,” he said.

“If you’re a smoker, I don’t think it would be that inconvenient to go the end of Wilkes Ave.”

Nick Pharmacy owner Nick Logan, who collected more than 60 signatures, said possible benefits could include more food lovers and families visiting the area.

He said several smokers had signed the petition in support of the restrictions.

Smokers are being asked to light up their cigarettes in more appropriate places. Picture: Tim Pascoe

“Nobody wants to run smokers out of town but there are absolutely more appropriate places to smoke,” he said.

“Over the last five to 10 years there’s been some really good cafe operators open up in Wilkes Ave — to me the potential for it to become even more of a food hub is huge. I want it to be our own little Crows Nest.”

Other businesses supporting the petition included Anegawa Japanese Groceries, Gelatissimo, Genki Restaurant, Lucky Mart, Sushi-Ya, the Everyday Canteen and Wilkes Cafe.

Signatures were collected from May 8 to June 2.

The crackdown comes as latest health figures show the smoking rate in the Northern Sydney Local Health District is 8.3 per cent, lower than the state average of 15.2 per cent.

Willoughby also ranked in the bottom 20 per cent of NSW councils for smoking-related deaths (44.5 people per 100,000 deaths in 2016, down from 59.8 in 2001).

The council’s smoke-free policy states the restrictions are also aimed at reducing cigarette butt litter.

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