Beaches along the Cottesloe coastline are set to go smoke free with the local council voting tonight to ban smoking on its beaches.

Councillors at the Town of Cottesloe voted unanimously to impose the new restrictions which will now be publicly advertised for three weeks for community feedback.

Staff at the council had recommended the ban only be on the three most popular beaches in the area, given it would be difficult to enforce and gave no alternatives for smokers, but it was rejected by councillors.

Councillor Sally Pyvis, who has long advocated for the ban, told the meeting the change had been four years in the making and a long time coming.

“It’s about promoting Cottesloe’s entire beach front as a smoke-free zone,” she said.

“It’s not about a heavy handed approach to infringement and infringing people, it’s not about additional rangers or dedicated signage, it is about public education of raising the awareness that smoking in public places impacts the environment, especially the marine environment and other people.”

The council will be relying heavily on the public to self-police and be part of a cultural change with Cottesloe chief executive Mat Humfrey saying tonight he could not recall any littering infringements being issued by rangers in the past five years.

He said the last instance he remembered was in 2013.

Cr Lorraine Young said she thought there was little to be lost with the resolution but there could be criticism if there was a perceived lack of enforcement.

“There will be difficulties in enforcement because we don’t have unlimited resources and I’d just ask elected members who are party to this decision to be mindful there may be criticism, we may raise the public’s expectation there are going to be ranger’s pouncing and just make sure we spread the message of the intent behind the resolution,” she said.

The Town of Cottesloe would be the third metropolitan local government in WA to ban smoking after Joondalup in 2007 and Cockburn in 2008.