America's Cup crowds face blazing summer

By BERNARD ORSMAN

Crowds of New Zealand and overseas visitors will flock to the Viaduct Harbour this summer for the Louis Vuitton and America's Cups - with little or no shade from the sun.

That is because the Auckland City Council has not acted on pleas by the Cancer Society to provide a safer outdoor environment when racing starts on October 1.

Skin cancer kills 250 New Zealanders a year and 50,000 new cases are reported annually. The loss of life, pain and suffering cost $30 million a year.

The so-called People's Village at the Viaduct Harbour is a sun trap for families, whose main shield from the hole in the ozone layer will be sun hats and sun screen.

The only shade is in the upmarket bars and cafes, which will be either too busy or too dear for a lot of people.

The Cancer Society lobbied councillors last November on the issue of shade protection and warned them the Viaduct Harbour was a high-risk environment.

The recreation and events committee agreed to look at amending council policy to consider the provision of shade in public places. The policy change is grinding its way through the bureaucratic process. Meanwhile, the council has done nothing to make open-air public spaces sun-safe.

John Greenwood, a leading Australian expert on skin cancer and shade protection, was unimpressed by what he saw at the America's Cup in 2000.

He said a lot needed to be done to shade spectators at this year's event.

Mr Greenwood has been working with the Cancer Society to get New Zealand councils, architects, developers, shade manufacturers and schools serious about shade planning and design.

"There is plenty of potential to provide safer outdoor environments," he said.

Recreation and events committee chairman Scott Milne said yesterday that the council had put aside money in this year's budget to develop a shade policy.

He was unable to comment on what, if anything, was being done at the Viaduct Harbour. The Weekend Herald could not get answers from council officials.

Auckland City spent $40 million developing the Viaduct Harbour. In the past year it has spent a further $1.2 million on handrails, lighting, paving, street furniture and trees. Another $115,000 has been spent on closed-circuit television and audio cables.

The new council, led by Mayor John Banks, has budgeted $260,000 for America's Cup welcome and victory parades, handed over $650,000 to Team New Zealand and given $120,000 of unbudgeted expenditure to Competitive Auckland to lure foreign investment arising from the cup.

The last America's Cup defence attracted 4.2 million visitors.