North Sydney Mayor Jilly Gibson admits she has never personally known the desperate urge for nicotine.

"I think I might have had a puff of a friend's cigarette when I was about 14 or something but no I've never been a smoker," she said.

Now she is spearheading a push for North Sydney to become smoke-free, with the council unanimously endorsing the plan.

The proposal will be put to the local community as part of a consultation process to see what it thinks of the move before being implemented.