Christmas lights (Mc10)

Cuts

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Futures Fund

This cut may not get implemented in full because there are proposals to include the service within the futures fund. Please visit the futures fund proposal to find out more.

Description

Cease decorating Town Centre at Christmas time with electric lighting.

The £35,000 cost covers essentially the erection/maintenance/removing of lights each year.

Link

Mc10 - Christmas lights

Your Say

13 comment(s)

Comment
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) Rather than potentially do away with the Christmas lights which could help attract shoppers to the town centre during the festive period, - could the following options be considered; no big light switch on event in the market square, - just turn them on inconspicuously one evening in December. turn the lights on closer to Christmas, say from the 15th December onwards so they are switched on for fewer days to reduce cost. turn them off/take them down straight away after new year. operate them for fewer hours each night that they are on. thank you.
Core LLE12 (Indoor and Outdoor Markets) Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) FF 52b (A Remodelled Dolphin Centre including the Central Library) Hi, I understand setting a budget can not be easy when so many cuts have been made that are out of our control. But, what has been proposed for the upcoming years is an absolute disgrace. The much loved Arts centre had to be sold off because of costs, sold to a private company, and now its distressing to walk past there and see the state of neglect that its in, saddening. And that is what you are proposing to do in the centre of our once beautiful town, sell on the victorian market, what will become of it, what will become of the clock when so many fought to keep its bells!?. That market represents the town and is our landmark. Move the library??? use the money invested in the dolphin centre to move a library to save our heritage. No more flowers, no more christmas lights???. No more shoppers no more income for the town, it is obvious from what i have heard people say that once you remove these landmarks, what used to make our town a proud place to live in, it will not exist. What a dismal place with no christmas lights, no flowers from a town that used to win annual in bloom competitions. But worst of all to reduce funding from the most vulnerable is sickening, to take away from people that can't fight back, the young, the old the vulnerable. We are going back in time, to times of hardship, not looking to a positive future at all. Again I don't pretend to understand how the cuts can be made, or offer any alternative, but take away our landmarks, our heritage and you take away the heart of this town!!!
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) Core EffR5 (Members Allowances) Members should propose a % diversion of their allowances. This in simple terms to be used to cover the proposed cuts to the Christmas lights. This proposal otherwise has been submitted in bad taste.
Core LLE12 (Indoor and Outdoor Markets) Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) FF 52b (A Remodelled Dolphin Centre including the Central Library) I think the council are trying to run darlington into the ground by selling the covered market and closing the libraries down those buildings are our heritage that's why darlington was and still is a market town although we don't have a market like we used to and I guess we will be the only town not having any Xmas lights what a let down the council don't care about the people who live here only to fill their own pockets darlington is going to die from now on no matter how many new buildings you put up its the heritage we must keep not sell it off or knock it down so why don't you listen to the people of darlington and not destroy our beautiful town just to line your pockets
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) How miserable can you get? Noone will want to shop in Darlington at xmas time when there's not a hint of xmas spirit around the town. And the money saved is a drop in the ocean surely!
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) So you cut the fire works and now your cutting the Christmas decorations. So no community spirit no coming together as a town .=more crime less community spirit. Our children will grow into a lifeless town with no spirit or belonging. Shameful. We need to stand as a town and do something.
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) I'm sure every citizen in Darlington will be very sad to hear this news. I do not see the full disclosure of how £35k is being spent other than the summary. It would be most useful to disclose £ by £ what is being spent to accumulate a £35k bill for tree, lights etc. If one knows then one can make suggestions, offer solutions. One is below. This has an impact on everyone regardless of all the above. It is a cultural and traditional event all over the UK and in every Christian country, it would be a huge loss not to embrace the Christmas spirity. The trees and lights are not just a visual joy but and emotional one too and puts people in the mood to reflect, hope, grieve, cry, laugh and make merry. Solution: Queen Elizabeth College and Darlington College have excellent Art/Design labs with Darlington's youngest and brightest, help them make a great portfolio for their future as well as helping them get further ahead in the line to their chosen University by offering them a chance to make all the Christmas decorations for a fraction of the cost of your current budget. You do not need a live tree it can be made from other less expensive materials, let the students use their entrepreneurial skills and bid on a project with designs to be submitted, just as they would in any other kind of tender in the working world. The auto cad 3D rendering unit at the college will be able to show you how it would really look in real life. Students under taking Construction/Electrical/Carpentry...would be given an opportunity to show their skills thus promoting not only their talents and excellent reputation of the two colleges but it would show a clear message that the perceived old 'fuddy duddies' at the council are actually in line with current trends. Everything that you need for Christmas can be met by these two institutes at cost price. Criteria comments: #7 INNOVATION I feel you have missed. As mentioned above you have two excellent colleges. Those young people are Darlington's next generation of businesses, families and tax payers. The council would benefit greatly using the skills of these young people whilst they are still in Darlington so that there is not a brain drain once they have graduated and moved on. Darlington needs to be seen as a frontier market town an innovative town with its brightest of people been given the opportunity to truly make a difference. If you linked Innovation with criteria #2 and #6 Darlington's leverage for community building and inclusion as well as bidding on grants etc..can be better achieved.
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) BAHUMBUG!!!!..Darlington will be such a miserable place to live
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) I believe that the Christmas lights should be maintained to ensure that the town centre is bright and welcoming in the run up to Christmas to encourage shoppers into the area and key retailers to stay within the the town.
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) Barr Humbug!!!! but saying that I no longer shop in Darlington town centre due to high parking charges, so wouldn't miss them.
Cut W12 (Grounds Maintenance, Horticulture, Parks and Countryside Management) Core LLE12 (Indoor and Outdoor Markets) Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) having read the proposals in the recent edition,i would like to make one or two observations. 1.Under the heading Town Centre you only mention Christmas lights,the water feature and floral displays there is no mention of the covered market prosed closure which for me is the most important. 2.the only mention is in the question and answer.The question should have been you,re closing the indoor market in a market town,obviously you wont close the outdoor market as it does not cost you anything.In short in my opinion the question and answer was too vague you sholud have been more precise. It does seem to me that the council are only interested in new builds and not preserving our historic heritage. Any comments would be appreciated.
Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) Attracting trade to the Town Centre is key at Christmas - no-one wants to come to a place where there are no lights. Economic Growth, Retail Growth is essential. Has the potential cost of not having the lights been considered in more lost footfall and traders struggling.
FF 52h (Festivals and Events) Cut W07 (Events) FF 52a (Economic Regeneration Team) Cut Mc10 (Christmas lights) This is a transcription of a comment made during the public meetings held during the budget consultation: Q: Why do you have an events team when you don’t have any events – the fireworks have gone, the lights are going but the events people are still on the same pay? A: There is a thing called BID and all businesses in the town centre pay a levy and the council pays the largest levy and what we have said is this year we will keep the lights but we are looking at getting the BID and some of the big retailers, Binns, M&S, to chip in to see if we can keep the lights going for 2017. We don’t claim to be perfect but we do care and we do try. That’s why we have elections and anyone can stand.

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