Marrickville Council’s new smoke-free outdoor policy, has taken effect on King Street, Newtown, and business owners are feeling the pressure.
The pressure is only made worse by the ban being applicable to just one side of the street, while the side under the jurisdiction of City of Sydney Council remains a smoker haven.
George Kounadas, from Buzzbar Café, has struggled with the recent law. “It has affected my business, yes,” he said. “A lot of people don’t come here, they go to cafes across the street, where they can smoke. Regulars who used to come to my café have gone elsewhere.”
Andrea Kudelova-Kells, owner of King Street’s 2042 Café, hasn’t noticed the change as much.
“I like to believe our customers come here for good coffee, good service and good food not because they can smoke outside.”
Kells still, however, sees the negative aspect of the ban.
“You’re pushing them away and I don’t think that’s fair. I don’t think that’s a democracy.”
Warren Speicher, Chef at Chill Café and Restaurant, has written an email to the council.
“I really think that it’s an area that the council has no business sticking their nose in. I just don’t see how they’re going to enforce it,” he wrote.
King Street local, Eden Gery, sees how the ban would deter many Newtown residents.
“It’s culture in Newtown to go and have a coffee and a cigarette in a café and catch up with people. It’s bad for business.” The strain on business owners is evident, with frequent café goers Tynan Sidhu and Adam Miles admitting they would opt to cross the street in order to have a cigarette with their coffee.”
“Most definitely,” says Sidhu. “We used to go to Buzzbar, they had a smoking area in the back part and as soon as they stopped doing that I think we’ve only been there twice”.
Marrickville Council have defended the smoke free policy in a recent media release, stating the ban was to “reduce smoking in outdoor environments in an effort to reduce the incidence of cancer in the Marrickville community”. The ban has been in practice since July 1.
