There is up to a seven year difference in life expectancy from the east to the west of Crawley, as well as big inequalities in health. These differences are exactly matched by widely varying smoking rates between the east and the west of the town. Smoking is the single biggest cause of preventable deaths in the UK and the overall smoking rate in Crawley is higher than the national average.
The health issues are obvious but there are other reasons to discourage smoking. Cigarettes and other smoking materials are the primary cause of fatal accidental fires in the home, a major cause of outdoor fires, and are the most common form of litter in the UK. Crawley has some lovely places but all too often, they are spoiled by cigarette litter. It seems to get rapidly replaced as fast as the Council can come round and sweep it up.
The city of Bristol has recognised this problem as well as that crucially; de-normalising smoking is the best way to stop people taking up the habit and to help encourage people to quit. In February, Bristol launched voluntary smoke-free zones in two of their large city centre squares as a trial. I am interested in what Crawley residents think about me potentially advocating a policy to make some of Crawley’s premier outdoor spaces smoke free. For me, the obvious places would be the Memorial Gardens and Queens Square (not including the coffee shop outdoor areas), once the major improvement works are completed next year.
Queens Square will have an interactive water feature and will be an attractive place for families and young children. I can see real potential for making Queens Square and the Memorial Gardens more family friendly if no one smoked there. However, it is vital that any such schemes have public support in order to work. Therefore, before I raise my idea with my councillor colleagues to see if we should advocate site-specific smoke free zones as a policy, I would very much welcome your thoughts. Please do drop me a line at Duncan.crow@crawley.gov.uk and have your say.
Councillor Duncan Crow, Leader of Crawley Borough Council Conservative Group
17 June 2015