Mapped: The 52 suburban tobacco shops shut down in NSW retail raids

1 month ago 17

More than 50 tobacco stores have been shut down in raids targeting the sale of illicit tobacco products in NSW as local councils push for a simple change to the state’s planning law they say could halt the booming number of tobacconists operating in the first place.

More than 1.6 million illicit cigarettes, 10,500 vaping goods and 175 kilograms of other illegal tobacco products have been stripped and seized from the shelves of retail outlets during the eight-week period since the NSW government was granted extraordinary powers to shut down tobacco outlets suspected of selling illicit goods.

The laws, which came into effect on November 3, have enabled NSW Health to issue 90-day closure orders – as well as seek court orders for 12-month orders – for stores suspected of selling illicit tobacco or vapes, or selling goods without a licence.

The laws have led to 52 separate tobacco outlets being issued 90-day closures across the state, the latest a shop suspected of selling illicit goods just 50 metres away from NSW Premier Chris Minns’s state electorate office in Kogarah.

Since November, the list of local government areas recording the most number of closure orders has been led by Goulburn, with five retail outlets shuttered during enforcement operations, followed by Lake Macquarie and Wollongong, each with four, and the Mid North Coast and northern beaches, each with three.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the closure orders had helped stem the supply of illicit tobacco and vaping goods in NSW, complementing other recent regulations, including laws enacted in July requiring retailers to hold a licence to sell tobacco products.

A photo taken during closure operations by NSW Health.

But the NSW government is facing growing pressure from the local government sector to go one step further and close a “planning loophole” the sector argues has contributed to a proliferation of tobacco shops operating within many suburban town centres.

Local Government NSW, along with councils including Northern Beaches, Mosman, Glen Innes and Shoalhaven, have written to the government lambasting the current planning framework that allows tobacco businesses to operate via simple change-of-use applications under broad categories such as “retail premises” or “shop”.

Recent examples include a new tobacconist outlet located opposite an early learning centre on Pitt Street in Redfern, which was approved by the City of Sydney Council in November as a “neighbourhood shop premises”.

Products seized during the closure operations have included illicit tobacco and vaping goods.

In the same month, the council approved a separate tobacconist on King Street in Newtown – located within a 200-metre radius from five other tobacco shops – after council planners determined current NSW planning regulations lacked any mechanism for the council to prevent the “clustering or saturation of tobacconists in a particular area”.

Inner West Council mayor and president of Local Government NSW Darcy Byrne believes requiring tobacconists to lodge development applications before opening would enable councils to assess potential impacts, impose conditions on use, or refuse applications if they conflict with the public interest.

“Tobacco shops keep proliferating because the planning system allows them to do so through a simple change-of-use approach, which is basically as easy as submitting a form, and it means every time a local business on a main street shuts down, the odds are it will become a tobacco shop,” he said.

“They should be treated the same way as bottle shops, which have to submit detailed development applications with social impact analysis studies, which means, for example, if there are three bottle shops operating in a certain area, councils can refuse a fourth.

“Additional enforcement is welcome, but we need to stop the spread in the first place because it’s undermining public health and the amenity of our main streets.”

St Leonards Tobacconist was among the first retail stores shut down under the state government’s promised crackdown.

NSW Small Business Commission acting commissioner Catherine Ellis – in a submission to a NSW parliamentary inquiry set up to investigate the illegal tobacco trade – has backed those calls, saying “stronger development controls and planning reforms are needed”.

But acting Planning Minister Yasmin Catley, in a statement, brushed off questions about whether the government was open to amending the state’s planning laws, instead pointing to existing NSW regulations she said represented the “toughest (tobacco laws) in the country”.

Mosman Council general manager Craig Covich believes tougher landing laws could address growing community concern over the presence and prevalence of tobacconists in town centres he said risked “eroding the village atmosphere that communities like Mosman strive to protect”.

“These shops often feature anonymous branding, sparse legitimate stock, and a focus on products that appeal to youth, such as American confectionery and energy drinks, which clash with the character and values of our local centres,” he said.

TSG Franchise – which operates 130 outlets in NSW – has written to the NSW inquiry arguing that many long-serving retail franchisees are facing the “complete demise of their businesses due to the proliferation of illicit tobacco”.

Philip Morris – which supplies around 30 per cent of the state’s legal tobacco market – in a submission attributed a burgeoning black market to federal tobacco excise it claimed had “broken the back” of consumer affordability and accelerated demand for cheaper alternatives.

Health Minister Ryan Park said the government would continue to raid and shut down shopfronts suspected of not complying with new tobacco and vaping laws.

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