Elf ’n’ safety ruins Xmas
Little seasonal cheer for town as festive lights deemed dangerous
IT could be mistaken for a heartbreaking storyline from a Christmas movie.
For one town is set to miss out on much of the festive cheer this year after Scrooge council bosses announced their Christmas lights do not meet the latest health and safety standards.
Residents in Thurso, Caithness, have been told by Highland Council that ‘serious issues’ have been uncovered with the dozens of overhead lights usually strung above streets.
Changes in health and safety legislation have left the town unable to afford the latest requirements after it spent thousands of pounds on new lights around ten years ago.
It means much of Thurso will remain without any cheerful seasonal lighting, with the majority of the lights only being allowed in the centre of town and Sir John’s Square.
Joan Lawrie, development officer within the Thurso Community Development Trust, said locals were disappointed but accepted the decision.
She added: ‘I think there are some very valid health and safety concerns. The last thing that we would want is any lights potentially coming down.
‘The issue with the Thurso lights is that we would have to pay to install the points that they would get attached to, or pay to have the ones already here tested.’
The group was informed by Highland Council that the fixing points they were using would not pass inspection.
Mrs Lawrie, who is also a member of the Thurso Christmas lights committee, said: ‘A lot of the points here, like streets up and down the country, are on higgledy-piggledy buildings and the lights attached to chimney stacks and things like that.
‘We know that a lot of them are unlikely to pass when getting them tested so it’s not worth us as a community group paying to have them tested.’
She added: ‘We have a lot of lamppost lights, which thankfully for this year are OK, but unfortunately next year we will have to replace.’
Mrs Lawrie said efforts would focus on the town square and church, and the pedestrianised area. Ground-mounted lights will also feature.
Alison Wilson, who is involved in the group, told the John O’Groat Journal: ‘There is no point in dwelling on it as that won’t get us anywhere.
‘Instead, we’re launching fundraising appeals and have come up with a really good plan for the future. Christmas lights are very costly and we hope Thurso will support us with our efforts.
‘Together we can take the disappointment from this year into a spectacular festive wonderland of lights for 2020.’