Don’t smoke on Waverley’s beaches

Waverley Council is installing vivid murals along the Bondi Beach promenade in its latest effort to stop beachgoers smoking on Waverley’s beaches.

“We have commissioned an artist to chalk-art a number of striking murals that depict the effects of discarded cigarette butts on marine life such as a clown fish, a dolphin, a groper, a seal, a turtle, an octopus,” Mayor Sally Betts said.

“They will be positioned near the ramps that go down to the beach. The main mural outside the Bondi Pavilion will be of a young child building a sandcastle impacted by cigarette butts.”

The mayor said the council took the issue very seriously and wanted to highlight to locals and visitors that smoking on the beach has a major effect on the environment as well as on the cleanliness of beaches.

Smoking on the sands of Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches has been banned since 2004, but despite an initial decline, the problem has re-emerged with some beachgoers ignoring or not knowing about the ban.

“In the first few years after the introduction of the ban we did audits of our beaches. In May 2004 council officers found 61 cigarette butts in a 2m x 2m section of sand. If this number had been averaged out across the beach, there could have been as many as one million butts at Bondi Beach,” Councillor Betts said.

“The number of butts in the same area dropped to 14 in 2005 and six in 2006. However butts on the beach remain a problem, taking up to 12 years to break down and affecting wildlife as well as residents and visitors who complain about finding cigarette butts while they are exercising or relaxing on the beach.”

The ban will be strongly enforced this summer.

“If you want to have a cigarette go up to the promenade where there are ashtrays and bins to dispose of your butts. Please don’t smoke on our beaches, otherwise you run the risk of being fined $200,” the mayor said.