Melbourne’s outdoor smoking ban is set to be rapidly expanded into another three inner-city laneways.
The dining destinations of Block Lane, Equitable Place and Howey Place will join The Causeway as smoke-free thoroughfares, possibly as early as this month, subject to approval by Melbourne City Council next Tuesday.
The latest announcement brings Melbourne a step closer to a city-wide outdoor smoking ban in public spaces.
The council has already committed to increasing the number of smoke-free laneway areas from one to seven by the middle of this year.
Council’s city chair Richard Foster said the municipality was fast reaching a “tipping point” where they had to decide whether to keep slowly adding new smoke-free lanes, or go “bigger and bolder” with a city-wide ban.
The new non-smoking laneways are all situated between Little Collins and Collins streets, amid a busy business, shopping and dining precinct.
Cr Foster said the three laneways were chosen because they were more confined than other places in the city. “Passive smoking has the most impact,” he said.
The 60 stores, cafes and other businesses within the affected laneways have largely thrown their support behind the ban, according to a council survey.
Just two businesses in Equitable Place are opposed to the change, fearing that their smoking customers will go elsewhere.
Equitable Place has a much higher level of smoking (22 per cent), compared to Howey Place (13 per cent) and Block Place (12 per cent).
The first outdoor smoking ban was introduced in Melbourne in 2013, with a trial at The Causeway lane between Little Collins and Bourke streets.
A later survey of visitors to The Causeway found strong community support for the rules to be rolled out across the inner-city. Almost 80 per cent of 148 people surveyed believed the smoking ban was a “good or great” idea, with only 5 per cent against it.
