Community outraged as vape shop planned near kindergarten

Tuesday, 13 February 2024

All Saints Hataitai Anglican church co-vicar Guy Benton, pictured with daughter Addison, 4 1/2, is one of many opposing a vape shop in his community.

The Wellington community of Hataitai is fighting to stop a vape store opening next to the suburb’s kindergarten and on the walking route to colleges but they may be powerless under the law.

“It’s a place where there is a kindergarten, there’s college kids walking through to colleges… it will be a target market to them,” said Hataitai resident Sonia Rafter.

There was already “strong opposition” to the store from a local church, school, kindergarten, and growing numbers in the community, who knew a vape store was coming but not who the operator would be.

The largest study of youth vaping in New Zealand recently found more than a quarter of high school students were vaping at least once a week, compared with 10% of Kiwis who reported vaping at least once a month.

A study showed more than a quarter of New Zealand secondary school students are vaping once a week.

Under new legislation, any applications for a specialist vaping operator, unless they sell just mint, menthol, or tobacco flavours, must have approval from Te Whatu Ora’s Vaping Regulatory Authority (VRA).

Applicants after September 21, 2023 had to be more than 300m from a school or marae but Te Whatu Ora confirmed early childhood learning centres, such as kindergartens, were not covered.

“The current legislation does not include any provision that permits the VRA to consider information outside of what is submitted as part of an application, and this includes public submissions on vaping store premises locations,” a statement from an unnamed Te Whatu Ora spokesperson said.

The old Hataitai office of former MP Paul Eagle is being set up as a vape store.

It could not comment on applications unless they were already approved.

All Saints Hataitai Anglican church co-vicar and kindergarten parent Guy Benton said his “heart just sank for my community” when he first got confirmation a vape shop was going into the former Hataitai electorate office of MP Paul Eagle.

He was trying to find out who the vape shop operator was going to be but had so far been unsuccessful.

There was already an “epidemic of youth-orientated addiction” in New Zealand and he believed the store, through a ”fancy“ look and nice smell, would be a lure for children.

A kindergarten teacher says the community does not want a vape shop.

There were already two dairies in the suburb that discreetly sold vape products, he said.

Hataitai Kindergarten head teacher Fiona Bevan said opposition to the vape store had become a “whole community thing”.

“We don’t want a vape shop. It is something young children are getting into and we don’t want it,” she said.

While the children in her care were unlikely to be directly-affected, the proximity of the vape shop “normalised” vaping, and it could directly attract older children.

Motukairangi/Eastern Ward councillor Teri O’Neill said the community did not want its children walking regularly past a store selling “nicotine in candy floss flavours”.

The shop’s landlord was approached for comment.