Grassroots effort brings shade to Pāpāmoa Park

The Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa will meet at 5.30pm on January 23 at Gordon Spratt Park to celebrate the opening of the new shelter, pending seating installation.

The accessible shelter at Gordon Spratt Park, Pāpāmoa is due to be completed two and a half years after construction began.

Work began in July 2022 to add accessible areas with sun shades, as only two in Pāpāmoa had sun protection.

Construction is due to finish on January 23 at 5.30pm, at which point Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa members will meet to celebrate the new shelter, Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa project manager Christa George said in a press release.

This was subject to the seating being in place, George said.

The project was managed by the Rotary Club, which raised around $20,000 in cash, goods and in-kind donations of time and expertise.

Tauranga City Council supported building services, including seating and the erected shelter.

It was a grassroots effort led by a group of mothers who had raised concerns in 2022 about the lack of sun shades, George said.

“[The intention is] to see more families enjoying that area and give them [a place where] they can sit and look out for their kids.”

In 2022, George thought there could be a way for Rotary to help, as one of the club’s key focus areas was maternal and child health.

Dr Bronwen McNoe from the Cancer Society Research Collaboration at Otago University said well-designed shade areas could reduce UV exposure by more than 75%.

According to McNoe’s research, exposure to ultraviolet radiation during childhood and adolescence was a significant risk factor for the development of skin cancers later in life.