Street smoking ban eyed

Waikato District Health Board bosses plan to ask the Hamilton City Council to ban smoking in the streets outside a building to be tenanted by its staff.

The office, which is to house 700 relocating DHB workers, forms part of the KPMG Tower on Alexandra, Collingwood and Anglesea streets. It used to be home to Farmers. The DHB executive director of facilities and business, Chris Cardwell, said the central business district site would be smokefree in line with other DHB facilities and campuses.

That meant all staff and visitors to the building, which will accommodate some mental health services, must not smoke inside.

But, as with the Waikato Hospital campus, the DHB wants the ban extended to some streets outside.

“The DHB will also be encouraging the Hamilton City Council to make the streets directly outside the office designated as no-smoking areas too,” Cardwell said. “As a public health promoter, it’s important we lead the way in trying to improve the health of the community.

“Any health professional will tell you that the No 1 thing you can do for your health is to give up smoking, or not take it up in the first place.

“The last thing we want is people standing around outside the offices smoking. It’s bad for our staff working inside the building and it creates a bad impression for the public.”

The Hamilton Central Business Association’s general manager, Vanessa Williams, who welcomed the addition of 700 workers to the CBD, said she did not think a smoking ban would deter shoppers from the city.

Much of Hamilton is already designated smokefree by the council.