Council’s Playgrounds Go Smoke Free

No smoking signs have been placed at all of Wrexham Council’s play areas as part of its commitment to improving the environment for young people.

The Mayor, Cllr I. David Bithell, MBE, launched the initiative at Ty Mawr Country Park today.

The Mayor said: “I am very pleased to be here today to launch this initiative which will help keep our young people away from the hazards of second hand smoking. It is a huge step forward in making Wrexham smoke free and contributes to stopping young people from starting to smoke.”

The benefits of smoke free playgrounds include protecting children from passive smoking and the associated health dangers such as asthma, eczema and middle ear infections. Another benefit of the initiative is that if children don’t see adults smoking in their play space it will stop them from perceiving that smoking is normal and acceptable. This in turn will also reduce the public nuisance of litter associated with smoking such as packets, wrappers and cigarette butts.

Smoke Free Wrexham Group, the group responsible for the initiative, is a multi agency partnership which coordinates activity in the county about smoking prevention and giving up smoking. It also supports the enforcement of regulations around smoke-free premises, illicit tobacco etc. The Group reports to the Public Health Commissioning Group.

The Wales Smoke-Free Playgrounds initiative began in Caerphilly in October 2011. ASH – Action on Smoking and Health, the campaign group, have mapped the progress of local authorities in implementing Smoke Free Playgrounds and Wrexham is now green on this map.

A forum thread has been started on this topic asking how enforceable a ban will be… Click here to take part!