Gunnedah Shire Council voted unanimously last night to ask for feedback from the community on establishing a smoke-free zone in part of Gunnedah.

The smoke-free zone would include Conadilly Street between Elgin and Chandos streets, and the public walkways to the Vernados and Souris car parks.

Council officers investigated the proposal following a customer service request.

A report to council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee this month was  found to be outside the committee’s delegated powers, and was instead dealt with at a full council meeting.

“Whilst creation of a ‘smoke-free zone’ in a portion of the Gunnedah CBD may create disruption to the lifestyle of some people, the health benefits to the majority of the population will be significant,” a report to council said.

“The creation of a ‘smoke-free zone’ in a portion of the CBD is commended to the committee.”

The report also noted there would be some savings to council in a reduction of litter in the form of cigarette butts.

Tamworth joined a list of about 100 local government areas that have already adopted smoke-free policies in November last year.

The policy, believed to be the first to include electronic cigarettes, included the central business districts of Manilla and Barraba.

The report to Gunnedah Shire Council quoted the National Heart Foundation of Australia  as saying smoking was the leading cause of preventable death in NSW and cost the NSW community about $8 billion each year.

“Over 65 per cent of NSW councils have adopted a smoke-free policy within their council area, with 60 per cent of those councils being regional councils (as at July 31, 2012),” the council report said.

Council officers reviewed 10 NSW council smoke-free policies, five of them in rural areas and five in urban areas.

The report estimated signs to alert people to smoke-free zones would cost $4300, and their would be ongoing maintenance and enforcement costs.

It noted less than 20 per cent of the Australian adult population were active smokers.

“The health implications of second-hand smoke are acknowledged and have raised support within the community for designating public areas as ‘smoke free zones,” the report said.

“This has been recognised by the state legislation to restrict smoking in designated areas.

“However, for council to implement and enforce additional requirements of a ‘smoke-free zone’ within Conadilly Street, an additional cost would be incurred by council.

“Notwithstanding the potential additional costs, it could be expected that peer and community pressure, post an initial education campaign, would result in self-enforcement of the ‘smoke-free zone’ in Conadilly Street between Elgin and Chandos streets.”

Gunnedah Chamber of Commerce president Jamie Chaffey said council was approaching the issue in the right way.

“The chamber supports and applauds the council for going into a consultation process before they just hand down a ruling to say these areas are a smoke-free zone,” Mr Chaffey said.

“This gives the business community and general residents the ability to put forward their point of view.

“There will be strong feelings and emotions from many different people, but being in a democracy, I think council’s approach to this has been the right one.

“We are an educated society and we should be thinking about others as well as ourselves. I think common sense will prevail.”

Authorised council officers and police would be able to issue infringement notices.

The standard penalty notice is about $110 where a person is smoking in an area where a sign is posted.

Currently, people are banned from smoking in the vicinity of commercial dining areas.

The issue brought an immediate response on the Namoi Valley Independent’s Facebook page, with a range of responses, from those who simply approved the idea, to those who believed they should be able to smoke in the street.