Residents of this popular seaside town are furious over a “pathetic” and “disgraceful” council-decorated Christmas tree.
A frustrated local took to Facebook to post a long, scathing review of this year’s Christmas tree on display in the New South Wales town of Forster, on Australia’s mid-north coast.
A user called Midcoast Aerial Photography called the tree “ugly Mr Squiggle” and tagged the local council in the post so they could see the complaint.
“This is absolutely pathetic, what a disgraceful effort,” they wrote.
“It’s not that I expect less from our council, but this must stop. Before reading, please note that Mr. Squiggle’s effort took three days to complete.
“Despite all the money, effort and advertising that is spent on tourism by people like me and many other content creators, companies and organizations dedicated to bringing people to our beautiful area in the region, there is nothing that “screams more negligence and lack of interest than a thoughtless, rushed, ugly and un-Christmas installation of string lights on possibly one of the most notable trees in all of Forster-Tuncurry.”
“What kills me the most is that in previous years all the comments that you would have received about the exact same thing have not been learned from and instead of being rectified or changed with the help of community feedback, they have been replicated once further. as if it were some kind of winning formula.”
The poster then compared a Christmas tree from another year to the recent one and asked if this is the best the city could create.
“Is that really the best the creative minds on the council can come up with? A piece of string light hanging from a tree? they asked.
“If I didn’t know better, I would have thought it was Halloween with that scary effort. In previous years we had the tree next to Beach St. Seafoods with the hula hoops (to represent ornaments) it was MUCH fancier, what went wrong?
“Before it was a beautiful sight at night, everything illuminated.”
Other locals agreed with the sign and shared their disappointment over the Christmas tree.
“Honestly, it would have been better not to have done it at all… it’s a horrible mess,” one wrote.
“What is that? Making toilet paper shine?” asked another.
“Our beautiful paradise deserves much more, an effort as ugly as a disaster,” wrote one local.
“What a shame for the city.”
The council learned of locals’ disappointment and posted a response to the matter on its website a day later.
He said his staff were not “professional tree decorators” and noted that this “comes at a cost.”
“MidCoast Council is aware of community comment on social media regarding Christmas decorations installed on an iconic tree in Forster,” the statement read.
“Council Director of Liveable Communities, Paul De Szell, said that while some members of the community may not appreciate the lighting, even the small amount of decoration comes at a cost.”
“Installing Christmas lights on trees as large as this is a specialized operation that we don’t have the budget for.”
“Our staff are not professional tree decorators and we have done what was possible with the available budget and in the same manner as we have done in previous years.”
“In May this year, the elected Council made the decision to no longer hold Christmas lighting displays after this year, and the lights will be donated to local businesses and community groups for use in future years.”
The statement also indicated that the city council would leave decorating the city’s Christmas tree to local residents in the future, following the backlash.
“Providing Christmas lighting is not a core service of the Council, or something in which we have expert skills, hence the decision to allow the community the opportunity to take ownership of the lighting in the future,” it said.
“We have had conversations with Wharf Street Traders about this and the opportunities that exist in the future.”
“Some sections of the community seem to be very passionate about lighting and this will give them the opportunity to participate in decisions about it.”
“The cost of the lights, installation and removal at the Forster site is approximately $8000 and Christmas lights across the region cost the Council $25,000. Most of the costs associated with installing and removing lights come from crane rental.”
“The council has also supported the installation of timber trees and tree wraps on Wharf Street Forster, which were also installed this week. Unfortunately, some have already been stolen.”
“Christmas-themed banners have been installed in major centers in Taree, Forster and Gloucester, and the Council is also running a Christmas window display competition.”
MidCoast Council has been contacted for comment.
