Cigarette butts

marc3

we have a nice garden at rear of our HMO.


bit of a problem with cig butts littering the place.
its an external communal area

(medium term are probably going to make it a non smoking area anyway )

short term, mangmnt committe thinks the landlords should simply remind their tenants to keep it tidy-fine .

i just wonder whether man comm should be a bit more pro-active and provide a cig butt receptical to help/encourage tenants to keep it tidy and butt free.
what does the team think ?

medium term-if the man comm do make outside no smoking entirely-i believe no current legislation on outdoor non smoking areas -obviously there is nside where banned completely-,does the team think it would be good practice from the man committee to provide a designated smoking area /shelter or indeed is there some sort of legislation applicable to outside areas on private land which obliges them to do so ?

not the biggest issues in the world,but i am curious and receptive to thoughts /advice of others .

many thanks

moneyistooshorttomention

I must admit I rather thought that smoking in a public place is about to be banned altogether shortly - I may be wrong on that.

Wisest to check what the position is/about to be for sure.

If public smoking is no longer going to be allowed - then it would be unnecessary to make provision for it and doing so might not even be allowed. Mind boggles as to exactly where these smokers would be able to smoke then - and comes up with answer "Other than in a home owned by a fellow smoker = probably nowhere", but that isn't your problem.

Some smokers can be quite determined to break the rules - so be prepared for the fag butts to continue anyway. At one point (many years back now) I found a couple of lodgers I was taking in were throwing fag butts down in my garden (and it was my own home we are talking about here). They weren't even supposed to be smoking in the first place (as my advert always specified non-smokers) so it was doubly cheeky to be throwing them down in my garden - but the little "darlings" did.

HappyMJ

marc3 wrote: »

we have a nice garden at rear of our HMO.


bit of a problem with cig butts littering the place.
its an external communal area

(medium term are probably going to make it a non smoking area anyway )

short term, mangmnt committe thinks the landlords should simply remind their tenants to keep it tidy-fine .

i just wonder whether man comm should be a bit more pro-active and provide a cig butt receptical to help/encourage tenants to keep it tidy and butt free.
what does the team think ?

medium term-if the man comm do make outside no smoking entirely-i believe no current legislation on outdoor non smoking areas -obviously there is nside where banned completely-,does the team think it would be good practice from the man committee to provide a designated smoking area /shelter or indeed is there some sort of legislation applicable to outside areas on private land which obliges them to do so ?

not the biggest issues in the world,but i am curious and receptive to thoughts /advice of others .

many thanks

It's private property you can do what you like. Ban it if you like there's no need to provide any alternative. You've got to be prepared to evict if they continue though which they most probably will. They won't be causing damage if they restrict smoking to outside only so you can't claim for anything. I'd just be happy that they weren't smoking inside. So I'd just get a metal bucket fill it with sand and hope they use it and not the garden. I think the receptacle attached to the wall is dangerous. They do go up in flames if not emptied on a regular basis and if no one is around to notice it the flames can get quite high. A bucket can be put a few metres away from the property.

DandelionPatrol

I think that the management committee would be foolish to make outside non-smoking. This really would invoke logic for unintended consequences - smoking tenants would reason that as they are going to smoke anyway, if it is as wrong to smoke outside as it is to smoke inside, they will ten smoke in the most convenient place inside. They are less likely to be actually seen smoking inside - outside they will be sitting ducks for complaints. Banning smoking outside would be an own goal - and I suspect that once that is realised and smoking allowed outside again, it will be much harder to stop smoking inside than it was in the first place.

moneyistooshorttomention

I understand the logic in that - but, if smoking does get banned in public places, then (in that context) the garden etc will be a "public place" because the other tenants will also use it (ie the non-smokers).

lonestar1

No Smoking sign then have hose pipe at the ready ...... lol


Seriously though what does you lease say ? if it confirms freeholder has to keep communal areas tidy remind the management company of this and get them to clean it

societys_child

What is this team you speak of?

Guest101

I mustve missed the law about smoking in public? - Can you share a link?

HappyMJ

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I understand the logic in that - but, if smoking does get banned in public places, then (in that context) the garden etc will be a "public place" because the other tenants will also use it (ie the non-smokers).

The public at large aren't allowed access so it's private property and legislation won't extend that far. No enforcement officer is allowed to enter your private land (without a warrant) making it impossible to enforce.

polomints

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I understand the logic in that - but, if smoking does get banned in public places, then (in that context) the garden etc will be a "public place" because the other tenants will also use it (ie the non-smokers).

I think you've given some good reasons why such a law would not work.