The City has recently developed a Play Space Strategy to guide improvements to the City's 169 ‘play spaces’, which include anything from a skate park, to nature play areas, a multi-court space, community gardens, and outdoor exercise equipment.
I am particularly excited about the new Annual Shade Program included in the Strategy, which aims to progressively shade all the City's playgrounds. The lack of shade is a big concern to many families, not least because the play equipment can be too hot to touch on sunny days.
The Program considers the natural shade provided by existing trees, the time of day the play space is used, and whether shade could be improved with the addition of a shade sail or more trees. The installation of new shade sails in specific playgrounds will be considered each year, subject to funding.
Tree planting around play equipment will start immediately, and the City will aim to complete the planting of trees across all our playgrounds (wherever suitable) within 4 years. While we will only see the shade from those young trees in the years to come, it is important that we start dealing with the health risks associated with UV exposure.
We will continue to involve you in the planning and design of play spaces throughout the City.
Cr Elli Petersen-Pik