18 November 2014

Please note: this news article is in our archive. Articles were correct at time of publication, but should not be relied on for accuracy after the passage of time.

ALL the town centre Christmas lights – installed jointly for the second time this year by East Grinstead Town Council and the Christmas Lights Committee – are now on.

The Christmas Lights Committee, which has been organising the lights for 30 years as volunteers, indicated in 2013 that they would soon want to stand down.

The Town Council offered to take the lights on and agreed a transition period over four years.

Last Christmas the Council arranged for the lights in the High Street between Middle Row and the roundabout, and it was agreed that further areas would be handed over until Christmas 216, when the entire project would be in Council hands.

The town’s traders have always donated towards the cost of the lights by appeal from the Committee, but this year the Town Council asked the traders in Railway Approach and the bottom of Kings Street to contribute directly to the Council as they were looking after that area.

The Town Council’s lights are erected and maintained on a contract basis, which means that the Town Council does not own, nor does it have to store or repair them, and that they can replaced every few years with new designs.

The first contract in 2013 was for five years, and as more areas get added to the Council’s orignal contract with the provider they will have the same end date, so that when the contracts run out together, a new scheme can be put in place.

The Town Council will be asking the town’s traders and residents for their views and ideas – but of course it will not be possible to meet everyone’s preference.

When there is just one scheme, the intention will be to liaise with the Rotary Clubs and to have a joint switch-on event for the lights and the Rotary Festive Tree.