Temperatures rise over lack of shade at outdoor sports center

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
Tempers have begun boiling over in Netanya's Kiryat Hasharon neighborhood after residents complained that the local Sportek center contained not one iota of shade from the scorching sun - and received the response that the city had planted trees and they would grow, reports www.mynet.co.il. Residents said that with summer fast approaching, it would soon become impossible for children to play on the grounds or for parents to stand in the sun watching them, and it was ridiculous that the city was not doing something to provide shade now. According to the report, residents have complained that although there are sunshades over the playground equipment, there are none over the benches just outside the playground or over the large stretches of lawn nearby, making most of the center "useless" in the summer. "I was there this week and thought I would get sun stroke - I can't see myself coming here in summer," one local mother said. A municipal spokesman said there were sunshades over the playgrounds and over the sports grounds, and that numerous trees had been planted in accordance with architectural plans. But the spokesman acknowledged that it would "take a number of years before they can provide shade."