We’ve recently reviewed our health promotion policies and are considering some important updates. Now we want to hear what you think about these proposed changes.
We’re proposing to merge our current Healthy Beverages, Smokefree and Vapefree, and Sun Protection policies into a single, comprehensive policy. There are a range of proposed changes in each of these categories.
Our proposed Health Promotion Policy (healthy beverages, smokefree and vapefree, and sun protection) 2024, if adopted, would introduce several changes aimed at enhancing community health and wellbeing.
Consultation document: Draft Health Promotion Policy(PDF, 3MB)
February 2025 update
In late 2024, Palmerston North City Council consulted on our Health Promotion Policy.
One of the topics in the proposed policy is the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages at Council events and facilities. There are several reasons for this, which are outlined in our proposed policy. One key reason is the poor oral health of children in the MidCentral region — measured by higher rates of decayed, missing, and filled teeth compared to other regions. It’s important to note this is a large region, and not just Palmerston North city.
Currently, under our existing policy (since 2017) these drinks are not sold at our libraries or community centres. Our existing policy also encourages contractors selling these beverages at Council facilities—including our offices, the Conference and Function Centre, Central Energy Trust Arena, and the Lido Aquatic Centre to choose not to. At the Central Energy Trust Arena, these drinks haven’t been sold for a few years.
The policy applies to drinks including sugary fizzy drinks, sachet mixes and energy drinks. The policy outlines the full range of drinks impacted. A range of other beverages, including ‘zero’ sugar options, remain available for purchase. It’s important to note that people can still bring their own sugar-sweetened beverages to Council venues and events, as long as they are for personal consumption. The policy only affects the sale of these drinks at Council facilities and events.
During our consultation, we proposed expanding the list of Council facilities and events where these beverages cannot be sold.
Public feedback is crucial to good decision-making and understanding our community’s views. We received a large amount of feedback, which was presented to the Community Committee in December 2024. In March 2025, the Council will consider this feedback alongside the proposed policy and take a look at the existing policy to see if it’s still fit for purpose. At that point elected members will decide whether to make changes.
The purpose of our proposed policy is to improve people’s health
The aim of our proposed policy is to promote healthier lifestyle choices for Palmerston North residents and visitors.
As well as owning land and running public facilities, we’re also a major provider of events in the city. This means we have the opportunity to determine how our public spaces and events are managed. The proposed policy aims to guide us in running these in a way that reflects our community’s values by encouraging behaviour change in the places, facilities and events we manage.
Read about the changes we're proposing
We're proposing to combine the Healthy Beverages, Smokefree and Vapefree, and Sun Protection policies into one policy, titled Health Promotion Policy (healthy beverages, smokefree and vapefree, and sun protection) 2024.
The draft policy targets events defined as ‘Council-delivered community events’. These are events directly delivered by us for the community. For example, Esplanade Day and our New Year’s celebration.
We're also proposing to extend the list of Council facilities where sugar-sweetened beverages can't be sold. (In other words, beverages with calorific sweetener, including some carbonated soft drinks, fruit drinks and flavoured milks.) This is to reflect current practices by facilities that have already transitioned to removing these from their supply stock.
These new facilities are: Caccia Birch, Central Energy Trust Arena, Central Energy Trust Wildbase Recovery, isite Palmerston North, Palmerston North City Council Civic Administration Building and Customer Service Centre, Palmy Conference and Function Centre, Youth Space.
Other proposed changes include:
- requiring smokefree and vapefree signs to be in te reo Māori and English
- requiring sunblock stations to be available at Council-delivered community events scheduled between September to April (daylight saving months)
- an update to the structure of the policy including the strategic content, purpose, objectives, and principles
- expanding the mandate of the current smokefree and vapefree reference group to become the health promotion reference group
- adding a requirement to raise public awareness of the policy
- adding a requirement to advocate to the government on matters to achieve the objectives of the policy.
You can find more detailed information on our proposed changes in the consultation document.