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Future of town centre festival lights discussed
Published Tuesday 11th October 11
The future of Wellingborough’s Diwali and Christmas lights is looking brighter as councillors consider various options to ensure the display can continue for the festivals next year.
This year the lights will be switched on for Diwali on 22 October and will remain on for a week, and the Christmas lights will be switched on in early December. These lights are almost ten years old and need regular, expensive repairs. Energy costs have also risen substantially in recent years, meaning around £2,500 is needed each year to power the display.
Wellingborough Council's development committee will meet on 18 October to discuss ways to keep the lights going and reduce costs. Options include buying a complete new set of lights, which would need fewer repairs, or leasing the lights over three or five years, with repairs included in the cost and the option to change the display more regularly. Purchasing a new set of lights would cost in the region of £31,000, whereas leasing would be around £10,000 to £13,000 a year. All options would have an additional £8,000 required for installing the lights and taking them down.
Any new lights, whether bought outright or leased, would be LED lights meaning that the energy consumption would be reduced by about half.
Councillor Graham Lawman, chairman of the development committee said: "The festival lights in the town centre are important and we would like them to continue. The Christmas period in particular is a vitally important time for town centre retailers and it would be such a shame if we didn't help celebrate this time with the lights display. Obviously times are hard and budgets are being cut, but the festival lights do bring people into the town and help people get into the spirit of Christmas shopping. We just need to find a way to keep the display, but on a smaller budget.
"As well as looking at options such as buying a new, more economical set of lights or leasing them each year, we're also looking at things like ensuring that we are lighting the right areas in the most effective way, introducing more column-mounted lights, and asking for contributions towards electricity. The Hindu Association has agreed to contribute to this year's Diwali lights and the Town Centre Partnership will be contributing to the Christmas lights. The Diwali display is also over a smaller area this year and for a slightly shorter period. All this helps to ensure that we can keep the lights for the benefit of the town centre, but also reduce costs as much as possible to get the best value for money."