Have your say on Tamworth Regional Council's proposed smoking ban extension to Nundle, Kootingal, and CBD

Tamworth Regional Council has proposed an extension of its smoke-free policy to include a section of Peel Street between Bourke Street and Darling Street, and the main streets of Kootingal and Nundle.

But first, it's asking the community to have their say.

While cigarettes are a "huge issue", the policy also cracks down on vaping, councillor Helen Tickle said.

"There's an epidemic with vaping, particularly amongst younger people," she said.

"Nicotine addiction has been identified Australia-wide as a huge problem."

The proposal comes after calls from businesses within the CBD, Cr Tickle said, and reports of increased smoking in the area.

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"The proposed extension has eventuated after feedback from the community, and also surveys that we've done, and the community have expressed a desire to have the zones extended," she said.

Council has never had to issue a fine, but manager of compliance Ross Briggs said if a smoker was to disobey the policy in a public place, they could be fined more than $100.

He said the policy relies heavily on self regulation, and in most cases, people just move on.

"The fines are not massive, they're basically the same sort of fines that we use for things like not riding a bike on the footpath or parking on the grass," he said.

"We put the signage in place, we mark out the areas where the smoking is not allowed.

"Sometimes it seems like a bit of an invasion of their rights. So we take a gentle approach with education first before we even look at doing enforcement."

The policy is open for comment on council's website, now until Monday, August 22.

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