Councillor welcomes withdrawal of controversial plan to build 74 houses at Inchture.

Council chiefs are being asked to spend £40,000 on Perth’s Christmas lights switch-on ceremony.

The committee in charge of the city’s Common Good fund will next week approve the budget for the extravaganza on Saturday, November 18.

The money will pay for street entertainment, stages, a festive parade and welfare costs, including medical cover, stewards and toilets.

It does not include the fees for big name acts, which in recent years have included Peter Andre, Billy Ocean, Slade and Professor Green.

Following pressure to slash spending on events, the committee will be asked to pay for just one day of entertainment, instead of two – about £10,000 less than last year.

While there will be activities planned for the day after the switch-on, including more live music and food and drinktheme festivities, they won’t be paid for with Common Good cash.

The Christmas lights show, which brought about 75,000 visitors into the city centre last year, is a highlight of the city’s expanding Winter Festival.

In a report to councillors, business development team leader Alan Graham said: “The development of a strong yearround events and festivals portfolio is an important feature of our efforts to reinforce the city’s credentials as a cultural and events tourism destination.

“Accordingly, with continued investment, there is scope to develop further the Winter Festival and specifically the Christmas lights event as a weekend festival and to market it as such to as wide an audience as possible.”

Details of celebrity guests will be revealed soon.