Proposed public places smoking ban includes Melbourne city footpaths

A new councilor, Richard Foster, is pushing for a ban on smoking in public places ‘throughout the city of Melbourne’, Australia, according to a story by Vittorio Hernandez for the IBTimes and quoting The Age. The ban would include footpaths.

Foster said that cutting the impact of smoking would help make Melbourne healthier.

“We have extended [no-smoking] boundaries around play areas, we have extended boundaries around childcare centres and hospitals, it is about time that we actually made it simpler for smokers and healthier for everybody else . . . just ban it outright and be done with it,” he said.

The councilor said he expected some legal challenge to the expanded smoking ban and some resistance, but he believes the move would have very strong support from the council and the public.