£165k cost for seasonal lights in Antrim and Newtownabbey, councillors told

The expenditure was approved at a meeting of the local authority on Monday evening.

Sinn Fein Airport Councillor Anne Marie Logue said that she was happy to propose the recommendation that the council proceeds “given the fact that we will be kept up-to-date” with a report if the cost cannot be afforded.

The proposal was seconded by party colleague Glengormley Councillor Michael Goodman who noted that the council will be “regenerating town centres over the coming months”.

DUP Threemilewater Councillor Stephen Ross said that he could not support the proposal.

He indicated that although the council has been reducing the amount of money spent over Christmas, “year after year it slips up again”.

He noted that the sum does not take into account the cost of town centre Christmas trees but accounted for the installation of lighting in five towns – Antrim, Ballyclare, Crumlin, Glengormley and Randalstown

There were 10 objections to the proposal which was supported by 24 councillors.

Residents can also expect Christmas trees to be “dressed” at nine locations across the borough including Crumlin.

Civic trees will also be located in Antrim town centre, Ballyclare town centre, Glengormley, Randalstown town centre, Dunanney Centre, Threemilewater, Antrim Civic Centre and Mossley Mill Civic Centre.

In 2018, the local authority dramatically cut the number of its festive trees across Antrim and Newtownabbey from 22 to four to reduce costs.

The decision was strongly criticised by residents of Crumlin and was branded “blatant discrimination”.

The council had to fork out £3,000 for a replacement after the civic Christmas tree in Glengormley fell over. The others were located in Ballyclare, Antrim and Randalstown.

Last year, civic Christmas trees were situated at each of the borough’s electoral areas after it was acknowledged that “a lot of hurt” had been caused in Crumlin.

Funding was also made available to groups within the borough who wished to provide their own trees.

Council staff were asked to bring back a report to look at the feasibility for reinstating Christmas lights.

Last summer (2019), the local authority said civic Christmas trees were to be returned to all seven of the borough’s electoral districts for Christmas 2019. For more on this, read here

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter.

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you.