Shifnal Christmas lights will go up
Friday 5th November 2010, 11:39AM GMT.
Shifnal’s Christmas lights will go up this year after town councillors pledged to spend up to £20,000 to ensure the award-winning display was not scuppered by red tape.
There were fears there would be no festive lights up in the town for the first time in 25 years after a group of volunteers responsible for the display fell foul of health and safety legislation.
They were told by Shropshire Council chiefs they did not have the right insurance or qualifications to do the job.
But at an extraordinary meeting last night, Shifnal Town Council agreed to step in and spend up to £20,000 to ensure the lights were in place by the time of the big switch-on at the end of the month.
Town council clerk Fiona Thomas told a packed public gallery some lights would have to be taken down because it had been deemed they were too low and could be hit by lorries. She also said wall brackets would have to be tested along with checks on wires for length, thickness and tension.
Insurance would also have to be sought and specialists, including electricians and “street supervisors”, brought in.
Mrs Thomas told the meeting that action had only been taken now because of “naivety” on the part of past town clerks, who wrongly assumed the lights volunteers were covered by the council’s insurance to sort out the display.
She said: “We have been very lucky that nothing has happened before now, either to the volunteers or the public.”
Most Commented
- Clampdown on Shrewsbury chuggers
- Bishop's gay marriage views do nothing to support bible teachings
- Letter: Alcohol price plans annoy me
- Planners ordered to stay on Newport visit bus
- Letter: Angered by close encounter of the furred kind
- Letter: No sense in overseas job adverts
- The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff doesn't raise a smile
Shropshire Star on Twitter
Keep updated with the latest breaking news and content on our Twitter feed.
Lifestyle
Interactive Dining Out map
Hundreds of reviews by the Shropshire Star and Express & Star's teams to help you decide where to eat.
Entertainment
All the film reviews
Before you plan a trip to the pictures, get our critics' verdicts on all the latest movie releases.
OUR NEW APP
Get the new Shropshire Star app
Download the Shropshire Star’s new app to your iPad or iPhone to get one week of access to our digital newspapers absolutely FREE.
shropshirestar.com
Popular sections
Useful links
The Shifnal Lights Committee are a group of volunteers who i know do a very good job with the displays throughout the year and there is clearly a though of ‘if it’s not broken, don’t try to mend it’. However, we live in a litigious society and if for example a lighting arrangement were to fall or there was a fault in an electrical installation, causing injury or even death, the members of the committee would find themselves personally responsible. The fallout could be personally catastrophic.
It could be argued that the procedure being called for are for the protection of everyone concerned.
Report abuse
£20,000? Why isn’t Shifnal Town Council making cutbacks? There’s no need for such extravagance for the Winter Festival.
Report abuse
Only yesterday afternoon I mentioned to my colleague that H. St. John Peasbody hadn’t commented on here recently.
Why did I have to mention “Tory Boy” at the same time?????
Report abuse
Its not Winter Festival, its Christmas and the volunteers do a stirling job and should be left alone to get on with it
Report abuse
I’ve heard that the lights are going up but not all of them, they are an important part of the community and its actually called Christmas last time i heard.
We are showing support for the lights and the generous volunteers that have put the display up for many years http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Save-Shifnal-Christmas-lights/162777267085884
Report abuse
Mags – whilst part of your posting was correct “the volunteers do a stirling job”,if we as a community have any feeling and loyalty towards this committed group of individuals don’t we have a responsibility to accept that they too were at risk in this and not just the public… leaving them alone to get on with it is a fine sentiment, but who will feed their families and console friends if they were injured or god forbid worse whilst putting on a show for the Town. In this day and age we are all accountable and ignorance is no excuse.
Report abuse
Steffie
I think the truth of the matter is the extent to which the display will go up depends on many factors but from what I’ve heared all the stops are being pulled out to ensure that the people of Shifnal enjoy an illuminated Christmas! The success of the event this year depends on a team effort – TEAM SHIFNAL!
Report abuse
H. St. John Peasbody
Thousands of Parish and Town Council’s throughout the Country put on Christmas Lights displays for their community and are supported by their communities as these are viewed as important events. The reality of the situation is that these displays have to conform to stringent regulations and so the days are numbered for those still putting volunteers and retired people at risk… Shifnal Town Council have my vote in ensuring the safety of everyone during the festive season!
Report abuse
I think H. St. John Peasbody’s point was not that the volunteers should be left unsafe, but that perhaps in a time when there are so many important areas being cut, maybe Christmas lights are not the most sensible thing to be spending £20,000 on, and so perhaps we could have gone without lights this year?
I live in Shifnal, and love the Christmas lights. But I really do feel that £20,000 could have gone to better use than decorations. It is not lights that gives a town the Christmas spirit, it is the people. It just feels a bit frivolous to me. Would we rather have lights or better health services for example? If someone were to lose a life because we wanted pretty lights, I for one would feel pretty shallow.
Report abuse
Shifnal’s Chrismas lights are an exceptional asset to our town. The folks that organise them and put them up do a fantastic job.
It’s only right that we as a town protect them with the correct insurance cover. Without that, they would be personally liable should the worst happen and someone get injured somehow.
I hope they keep going for another 25 years at least.
Report abuse
Hurrah for Shropshire County Council. Or not.
Report abuse
Think the christmas lights always look fab -volunteers do a great job. I have lived in Shifnal all my life and have always enjoyed the Christmas lights. From going to see them switched on as a toddler with my parents to now driving back from a long day at work and being greeted by the festive lights as i get near home-always fills me with a sense of pride that a little place like Shifnal can create a little Christmas grotto for all generations and hopefully generations to come to enjoy ! xx
Report abuse
H. St. John Peasbody;
The Shifnal Lights bring in a LOT of revenue for the town. It wouldn’t surprise me if that £20,000 was surpassed by the turnover increase of local traders, effectively meaning that £20,000 is going back into the communities pockets anyway.
In any case, life today is stressful and boring to say the least, and people like you who scorn such events as the Shifnal lights, merely due to cost, would have us all sit in silence at home until it’s time to go to work again would you? It would make sense financially afterall. Well i’m sorry, but £20,000 is a small price to pay for brightening up the lives of the townsfolk over the winter, and making Shifnal at least feel slightly more cheery.
It’s sad that the issue was dealt with in this way, and wasn’t approached with more consideration. Afterall, someone just turned up with a clipboard, and told the volunteers, who give up their freetime for this, that they couldn’t carry on with a tradition spanning 25 years, due to this red tape of theirs. Fair enough as it turns out there’s a lot of issues with safety and insurance, but with limited time before Christmas (screw “Winter Festival”. Go sing about Rainbow Sheep… which, btw, also don’t exist) it made a lot of people angry.
Report abuse