Tag: environment

Council to Review Smokefree Policies

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Review brought forward

 

Note: Pressers placed in Talking Auckland are to be taken at the value you attach to them. I just pass the information on. Commentary does not always follow.

 

Council to start Smokefree Review

A recommendation to bring forward Auckland’s Smokefree Policy review was well received by councillors at today’s Governing Body meeting and the review will start in the coming months.

The recommendation was made due to large public interest in the outdoor dining aspect of the Trading and Events in Public Places Bylaw which was adopted by the committee today. Although smokefree dining is not a regulation of the bylaw, more than 1,300 submissions were received from the Cancer Society, Auckland Regional Public Health Service and individuals on the subject and the council has listened to their concerns.

Councillor Krum, Chair of the Hearings Panel on the bylaw, says “The panel felt keenly the passion of the submitters on this topic and the need to expedite the review of the Smokefree policy. We wish to consider the wider areas the policy should cover such as town squares, beaches and so on and – once the review of the Smokefree policy is complete – we will be giving Aucklanders the opportunity to give their feedback on smokefree public places.”

Auckland Council currently has one of the most comprehensive Smokefree policies in the nation in terms of public places and is in the process of expanding this.

Phase one, which included playgounds and transport centres, was adopted in 2013 and we are in Phase two of the policy which will make shared spaces and plazas smoke-free. Signage for these areas and the beginning of an awareness campaign will commence mid-year.

The purpose of the Smokefree Policy Review is to determine if a smoke-free bylaw is necessary for public places, including outdoor dining areas.

Auckland Council will start the policy review in the second half of 2015 and public consultation needs to be undertaken to understand the region’s views on a smoke-free bylaw.

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Company Fined For Polution

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It Simply Does Not Pay to be lazy

 

In what is one of the largest fines under the Resource Management Act a company was fined over $100,000 plus costs for allowing dye to enter waterways and harm wildlife.

From Auckland Council:

Heavy fine for one of Auckland’s worst pollution incidents

 

An Auckland company is paying a heavy price for causing Auckland’s most destructive freshwater and marine pollution incident in decades.

Jenners Worldwide Freight, a freight forwarding company, has been fined $103,000, and   ordered to pay $25,000 costs, after being found guilty at the Auckland District Court of spilling over 1000 litres of purple dye into the Oruarangi Stream and Estuary and the Manukau Harbour in South Auckland.

The dye spill in July 2013 killed all eels and fish in the stream, just under half of the mud snails and other species in the estuary. It drastically affected various oysters beds in the area with many oysters being killed. Fishing was banned in the area for months.

In sentencing Jenners, Judge Harland said “It is a fundamental responsibility of any person in any management position to understand and appreciate the workplace risks and the wider risks associated with any activities that are conducted within the business which they manage.”

She added: “The failure by management to even appreciate that there was a relevant rule in a plan that applied to them was also remarkable.”

Auckland Council Resource Consents Compliance Manager, Stefan Naude, said that this prosecution and the level of the fine makes it clear to business owners and managers that they must find out what their obligations are under the Resource Management Act and other relevant regulations, and comply with those obligations.

“In this case, if the container had been stored in a secondary containment device, at minimal cost, as required by the regulations, the discharge of the dye could have been prevented.”

The fine took into account the defendant’s previous good record, guilty plea and remorse.

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Pictures and actual judgement will be posted here later