Vaping will now join smoking as a prohibited activity in public spaces in Hamilton. The council’s community committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to add vaping to smoking as a non-permitted activity in council-owned and operated parks, playgrounds and buildings including the Hamilton Transport Centre, bus stops and at all council-operated events. The move has already been met with disapproval from pro-vape lobbyists – principally Jonathan Devery, the owner of Vapo and Alt New Zealand, the largest Kiwi-owned vape company in the country, who has decried it as a backwards step to making the country “smoke-free”.