Work begins on city-wide playground shade program

The Schrinner Council’s plan to ensure every playground in Brisbane has shade by 2025 is underway with work commencing on the installation of the first shade sails.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said local companies had been awarded the contracts to install the first sails under the new Sun Safe Suburban Playgrounds program in a win for local jobs.

Playgrounds in Morningside, Wakerley, Balmoral, Kenmore, and Bellbowrie will be the first to benefit from the new program with more to follow.

“Brisbane has an incredible outdoor lifestyle, but it’s also important to protect ourselves and our children from the sun,” Cr Schrinner said.

“Sun burn and skin cancer are serious concerns for Queenslanders, which is why I’m making sure every single Brisbane playground has shade.

Something as simple as ensuring residents have access to shade could potentially save lives.

While many of our green spaces have areas of shade, some parks still need some extra form of cover.

More shade sails mean more opportunities to get outside and enjoy our fantastic playgrounds.”

Under the Sun Safe Suburban Playgrounds program, Council will deliver shade to all existing playgrounds over the next three years using locally-supplied shade sails and mature trees.

Cr Schrinner said the plan is to have shade cover in every single playground to ensure children are protected from the harsh rays of the sun and the playground equipment is cool to use.

“We estimate around 150 existing playgrounds will be upgraded with shade under this program,” he said.

“On average, we currently add shade to around 10 playgrounds a year, but under this program we are boosting that to about 50.

This program is in addition to our ongoing investment in new and improved parks and playgrounds throughout Brisbane suburbs.”

The first five parks that are due to receive shade sails as part of the Sun Safe Suburban Playgrounds program are:

• Akuna Street Park, Kenmore
• Kuranda Street Park, Balmoral
• Fiddlewood Crescent Park, Bellbowrie
• Austin Uhlmann Park, Morningside
• Gordon Crescent Park, Wakerley

Playgrounds to get sunshade within the 2022/23 financial year