It all started in 2008 when Christchurch parks and playgrounds became smokefree. Now many other public places are smokefree like sports grounds, council events, entrances and exits to council buildings and bus shelters. But what about smokefree outdoor dining venues?
Our community survey (2014) showed that 81% of participants supported smokefree outdoor dining. When we asked hospitality venues in 2015 what they thought, 61% said their outdoor dining areas should be smokefree or possibly be smokefree.
Fewer and fewer people are smoking and more smokers are quitting than ever before. In fact, smoking is on the way out…it’s common to have no smoking in outdoor dining areas across the ditch in Australia and many other places overseas. It’s catching on in New Zealand too, with Palmerston North and Auckland also joining in on the action and making their outdoor dining smokefree. Let’s not get left behind, lets make smokefree outdoor dining the norm all over New Zealand.
New Zealand has a goal to be smokefree by 2025. It’s a vision of a smokefree future that is less than 10 years away. Christchurch is on its way towards being a smokefree city and smokefree outdoor dining is a stepping stone towards making this a reality.
From there the Fresh Air Project was born through a partnership between the Cancer Society and the Canterbury District Health Board, along with full support from the Christchurch City Council. We strongly believe there will be a ground swell of venues going smokefree in the near future. We challenge you to take the leap - we are here to support you! To find out more about how to become a smokefree venue, go to the ‘Join the Movement’ tab.
Let’s all help make New Zealand smokefree by 2025.
We are extremely pleased to share the results of our 6 month pilot. 18 venues remain smokefree and feedback suggests the public are in full support of the movement, with 94.5% of the 1,861 customers who provided feedback indicating they support it. Almost ¾ of respondents also reported they would be more likely to visit a completely smokefree venue. 94.1% of business owners/managers would recommend smokefree outdoor dining to other hospitality venues. To read the whole report please click on the ‘report’ tab below.
