TOWN WILL NOT HAVE CHRISTMAS TREE – AFTER LIGHTS WERE STOLEN LAST YEAR
Councillor cannot justify spending another £2,500 from ward budget
TUNSTALL will not have a Christmas tree this year – after thieves stole the lights from last year’s.
City councillor Lee Wanger, right, used £2,500 from his £5,000 annual ward budget to pay for the tree in Tower Square in 2020, but the lights were taken within two days of being switched on.
Now Mr Wanger says he cannot justify spending a similar amount this year when the same thing could happen again.
But he hopes a new Tunstall Chamber of Trade, which is in the process of being set up, could take over responsibility for the town’s Christmas festivities in future, meaning the tree could return in 2022.
Stoke-on-trent City Council withdrew all funding for communal Christmas trees in all town centres apart from Hanley as part of budget cuts in 2019.
Mr Wanger said: “We have always tried to provide at least a tree and lights each year, and have sometimes even put on an event, but without some additional help with funding from other sources, the cost is just getting too restrictive. “We just seem to have too many people around Tunstall town centre who are intent on causing trouble.
“Last year’s Christmas tree had the transformer to the lights stolen on the first night. It was replaced, and on the second night it was stolen again along with the lights.
“So the tree was up for the whole festive season with no lights. It just isn’t worth it.
“Tunstall is getting a new Chamber of Trade, and I hope that they will be able to fund-raise and generate some money so that we can come back bigger and better next year.
“And I am trying to have a permanent living Christmas tree planted in Tower Square, so that we will only need to decorate it each year.”
Andy Dean, co-owner of Oasis Travel in Tunstall, said he was ‘gutted’ that there would not be a Christmas tree this year.
He said: “That’s really disappointing to hear. I was wondering what was happening with it, because it’s usually up by this time.
“I don’t have much to do with Lee Wanger but I can sort of understand his reasoning because of what happened last year.
“Tunstall gets a lot of bad press but I was hoping that this Christmas things would be different, with all the positive things happening around the town.
“All the businesses here will be putting up their own decorations – we’ll do ours next week.
“But I’m gutted that there won’t be anything to bring the town together.”