A beach too far: ban on smoking is a joke

Peter Farago
SMOKING bans proposed for Surf Coast beaches go too far and will cost ratepayers too much money in enforcement.
The Independent revealed two weeks ago that Surf Coast Shire intends to extend the state-first proposed bans from Torquay to include every beach in the municipality.
But this by-law is unlikely to ever be properly enforced.
The council says “warnings” will be issued in the first 12 months before officers will hit smokers with fines if they light up.
But the actual enforcement of the laws is somewhat of a joke.
Do ratepayers realistically believe their money is being well-spent by officers spending countless hours spying on bathers looking for tell-tale wafts of smoke rising from the sand?
It’s a waste of money to expect shire officers to spend their days roaming the beach tut-tutting smokers.
And what about smokers who refuse to pay their fines? Will council take them to court?
While the smoking bans are an effort to reduce litter from cigarette butts, telling smokers they can’t light up simply goes too far in impinging their individual rights.
Banning alcohol is one thing – broken glass and aluminium cans buried in the sand can be a real danger to beach users’ safety. But smoking on the beach is not a public health issue because it’s in open air.
While a ban on smoking indoors and at restaurants means non-smokers are no longer subjected to the filthy habit, moving onto the beach takes it too far.
And while councillors pat themselves on the back about creating a first for a Victorian council, they set themselves quite a legal precedent that some surfing environmental warrior will be itching to test. So what’s next?
Why don’t they ban McDonald’s on the beach? Hey, they tried something similar a few years ago with the failed Mac-off campaign, so why not have another go?
If we’re going to ban smoking, then McDonald’s sounds logical – some customers don’t read their wrappers and dispose of their refuse thoughtlessly, so the Big Mac is out.
And the next step?
Well, taking any food or food wrappers onto the dunes because some slobs don’t pick up after themselves.
And anything else that is a faint chance of being picked up by a sudden gust of wind – like beach umbrellas – should also be out for its potential littering effect.
Hey, there are even complaints about doggy poo bags blowing up and down the sand.
City of Greater Geelong takes a different approach to cigarette butt litter – education.
Geelong’s council even funded the distribution of personal, portable ashtrays to encourage smokers not to piff their butts.
Litter on the beach is a problem but banning individuals from enjoying the great Australian experience is not the appropriate solution.