Restaurants, cafes join pilot smokefree initiative
SMOKEFREE outdoor dining is coming to the South.
Twenty cafes in Otago and Southland will be making their outdoor spaces smokefree from this month as part of a pilot programme.
The Fresh Air Project had already been successful in Christchurch and it was now making its way to Dunedin, Invercargill and Queenstown.
Otago and Southland Cancer Society chief executive Dr Rachael Hart said the vast majority of Southerners — around 85% — did not smoke and research showed they wanted to enjoy outdoor dining without smoke.
Public Health South’s health promotion adviser Emily Nelson said they were initially concerned that cafes might be reluctant to get on board, but the opposite was true.
‘‘The cafe owners we spoke to could see the benefits that being involved would provide to both their customers and their bottom line,’’ she said.
Dunedin cafe The Perc Central was among the businesses taking part in the pilot, and owner Sarah Hussey was very supportive of the initiative.
She said her children come to the cafe and she hated if they had to walk through a ‘‘cloud of smoke’’ outside.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said the pilot was a significant step towards the national goal of a smokefree New Zealand by 2025.
‘‘Having smokefree outdoor spaces will also help make Dunedin a more liveable, healthy city,’’ he said.
The project would finish in March next year and cafe owners would be interviewed before it started, midway through and at the end for their feedback. It would be evaluated by the Cancer Society and Public Health South.
It was supported by the Otago Chamber of Commerce, Queenstown Lakes District Council and Dunedin and Invercargill city councils.