Queenstown’s popular Five Mile retail and business centre is leading the way in offering a Smokefree environment for shoppers and workers.
As of Friday September 21 the centre is officially smokefree, a fact which was celebrated by Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult as he officially launched the initiative.
The centre has been working towards a smokefree status for some months, canvassing business owners on the move and working with the Southern DHB’s Public Health South on how it should be initiated.
Five Mile decided to become a smokefree centre to support the New Zealand Government’s goal of being smokefree by 2025.
The move has been welcomed by Mayor Boult who has been considering the idea of a blanket ban on smoking in the downtown areas of Queenstown, Wanaka and Arrowtown.
“After seeing the 10,000 cigarette butts which Liz Smith and her family picked up from the lakefront in Queenstown Bay and brought in to show council, I’m aware that many of them end up polluting our waterways and lakes,” he says.
“I’m delighted to see Five Mile taking a stance on this increasingly anti-social habit.”
Emily Nelson of Public Health South says she’s “thrilled” to see Five Mile become the first large-scale new development in the Southland, Otago and Central Otago region to go smokefree.
More and more businesses are going over and above the legal requirements and declaring all workspaces – including work vehicles and outdoor areas – to be smokefree and helping employees access stop smoking support.
“All this action is creating a New Zealand where being smokefree is normal, whether it’s in public, at work, or at home with whānau,” says Nelson. “All of us, especially young people, are influenced by those around us, so if we don’t see people smoking we’re less likely to smoke ourselves.”
Increasing numbers of New Zealanders are becoming smokefree or not taking up smoking at all, with recent tobacco-use figures showing 84% of New Zealanders don’t smoke, 4% more than ten years ago. Fewer young people are starting to smoke, with 96% of 15 to 17-year-olds staying smokefree, and the number of totally smokefree workplaces is also on the up.
Five Mile Centre Manager Regan Allington says a designated smoking area has been established at the centre to cater for those who still wish to smoke.
“The majority of our businesses and their employees are overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the centre clean and smokefree, but we have to acknowledge that there are still workers or visitors who feel the need to smoke,” he says.
“The QLDC is one of the few councils in the country without an extensive smokefree policy but I understand they’re working towards creating one.
“We’d like to think we’re setting a great example as to how that can work and encourage the council to fast-forward their plans.”
The launch was held at Five Mile outside The Warehouse and EB Games, with a sausage sizzle supported by Countdown and The Warehouse helping raise funds for the Cancer Society.
Representatives from the Cancer Society, Sea Shepherd, the Southern Stop Smoking Service and Public Health South supported the event with giveaways and information for businesses and individuals.
