PUTTING a roof on the upgraded saleyards at Wangaratta will also put a lid on smoking at the venue.
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The roof will define the saleyards as a workplace building, which makes it subject to OH&S legislation banning smoking.
The same restrictions on smoking apply in the undercover sections of the Barnawartha saleyards.
Agent Vin McKenzie is a smoker but isn’t expecting — or planning — any riots at Wangaratta like that seen by Victorian prisoners.
Victoria has taken a tough line on smoking, with tighter bans introduced earlier this year around schools, hopsitals, courts and police stations.
Those who spark up within four metres of a building where the ban applies face an on-the-spot fine of $147.
Operator of the saleyards — Wangaratta Council — has not revealed what penalties await those who flout the smoking ban. But a ban on their habit is something smokers have had to get used to, and it is unlikely there will be many at all who don’t abide by the rules.
Only the most militant of smokers these days would risk the fines that apply — not to mention the filthy looks from non-smokers — to light up where they shouldn’t.