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

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

“Subject to the seating being in place,” George added.

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, with one of the club’s key focus areas being maternal and child health.

The project began because every summer in Pāpāmoa, parents were highly frustrated by the lack of shade at local parks, Rotary Club of Pāpāmoa project manager Christa George said.

Dr Bronwen McNoe from the Cancer Society Research Collaboration at Otago University notes well-designed shade areas can reduce UV exposure by over 75 per cent.

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