Almost all of the children's playgrounds in the Shellharbour Local Government Area need more shade, according to a council report.
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The report was commissioned after Shellharbour City councillors called for a study that created a list of playgrounds that could benefit from shade via trees or built structures.
The response to that seems to be "pretty much all of them".
According to the report there are 197 parks in the Shellharbour Local Government Area.
Of those, 98 include play equipment.
The review found 87 per cent of those parks - 85 of them - "could benefit from an increase in shade".
The playground most in need of protection was deemed to be Little Park in Shellharbour Village.
Others in the top five were the Blackbutt Reserve play space, McDonald Park at Albion Park Rail, Pelican View play area in Reddall Reserve and Albion Park's Keith Barnes Oval.
The council's Open Space and Recreation Needs Study suggests shade should be supplied - with at least 50 per cent of it being provided by trees.
However that came at a cost - both in terms of finance and time.
The report stated trees were a long-term solution "and will not provide instant shade for play spaces".
"To implement natural shade at play spaces would involve the planting of advanced shade trees that can cost up to $2000 each," the council report stated.
"This would also incur an ongoing annual maintenance of up to $2500 per tree."
A built structure, such as a shade sail over the top of a play area offered an instant solution - but also at a cost.
The report estimated a shade sail could cost around $30,000 and need to be replaced after 10 or 15 years.
"A program to implement shade at any play space will require further consideration of specific site characteristics to determine the best location and type of shade for that space," the report stated.
The report split up the parks into three categories: Local (serving one neighbourhood), District (used by several neighbourhoods and Citywide (used by residents and visitors).
It is the latter two that might be prioritised in any move to improve shade.
"District and Citywide play spaces generally have higher visitation rates, attract people from outside of the immediate area and provide opportunity for longer duration of play," the report stated.
"These spaces have budget allocation proportionate to these characteristics; therefore, provision of shade at these locations could benefit a greater proportion of the community in comparison to local play spaces."
Glen Humphries
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
I'm an award-winning senior journalist with the Illawarra Mercury and have well over two decades' worth of experience in newspapers. I cover the three local councils in the Illawarra for the Mercury, state and federal politics, as well as writing for the TV guide. If I'm not writing, I'm reading.
