Butt out of our park

Having a smoke while watching your kids play sports at the Russell sports grounds, is set to be stubbed out - the grounds are about to become smokefree.


Russell Sports Club is one of the first Northland sports fields to become smokefree. The Russell Sports Club committee will officially launch their smokefree status on 19 April 2008, at an event to open their new clubrooms.

Coaches, parents, families and spectators are being encouraged not to smoke before, during or after the game, in the name of setting an example to the players and younger spectators.

"We see this as the way of the future and a way to further protect our children. It's about role modelling; we don't want our children and youth to see people smoking and we want the children to realise it is not cool to smoke," says Mark Hoksbergen, from the Russell Sports Club.

Bridget Rowse, Smokefree Coordinator for Northland DHB, said: "Smokefree outdoor areas are all about children and trying to denormalise smoking around them. It's about the link between visibility and social acceptability that says to children that smoking is normal behaviour. If you see a behaviour every day, you're more likely to pick it up."

Russell Sports Club is adopting an educative policy, which simply means placing
signage around the grounds and asking the public to refrain from smoking on sports fields.

"Clearly we don't have the resources to patrol the sports grounds at all times, but we have widespread support for this initiative and we are asking our residents to help us make our sports grounds smokefree in order to protect our children," said Mr Hoksbergen. However, due to road safety concerns an area in the car park behind the clubrooms has been designated as a smoking area. "We don't want children running across the road to see their parents while they are having a smoke, it's a safety issue." 

Northland DHB has provided a number of ‘Smokefree at all times' signs to be erected at the grounds and in addition to this signage, local pupils from Russell Primary School will paint a smokefree mural to raise further awareness.

Mrs Rowse said that credit for this initiative goes completely to the Russell Sports Club committee and the community. "It is very exciting to see communities promoting positive messages and role modelling behavior to our children and youth," she said.

She encourages other sports clubs, communities and schools to do the same, and urges them to contact their local councils to support the provision of safe, smokefree environments for children and families.

She is currently working with Cancer Society Northland to get all parks and playgrounds in the Kaipara District Council area smokefree, but challenges other district councils in Northland to start addressing the issue. "Many councils in New Zealand are considering, or have already, moved towards developing smokefree policies to discourage smoking in outdoor areas used by children, " she said.

South Taranaki District Council led the way in this area by developing a Smokefree Environments Policy, which discourages smoking in council-owned swimming pools and outdoor surrounds, playgrounds and parks. Upper Hutt City Council, Timaru District Council, Invercargill's Surrey Park, South Waiarapa District Council, Queenstown Lakes District Council, Ashburton District Council and Wanganui District Council have made parks and reserves smokefree. Napier City Council and Gisborne District Council are investigating the development of educational smoke-free policies covering their open space areas. Work is underway to progress smokefree councils in Otago, Wanganui, Auckland and other areas around the country.



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For further information contact:

Bridget Rowse, Smokefree Coordinator

Phone (09) 430 4101 ext 7908

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Clare Blackburn, Communications Manager

Northland District Health Board 

Phone (09) 430 4101 ext 3315