Byron Bay lights up at Christmas

IT was the best Christmas community initiative in my time as editor of the Byron News and it’s a great pity that it is still not happening.

Back in 2007, Byron United – Byron Bay Chamber of Commerce – decided to launch a major Christmas campaign to try and regain some of the community’s perceived  ‘lost soul’ with a giant Christmas tree in the centre of town to be the major focal point.

As well as the 10-metre tree, the town was decorated with Christmas banners and solar powered lights in the pandanus trees on the CBDs roundabouts.

The tree itself cost $30,000 with the total cost of staging the celebrations put at $100,000, entirely funded by the town’s business community.

Covered in silver and gold decorations, fairy lights and LED balls, the tree, located next to the town clock at the intersection of Jonson and Byron Streets, was officially  lit up by Santa on a balmy November evening.

There was a decent crowd of locals and visitors on hand and I recall plenty of happy, smiling faces.

Byron United vice-president, Sevegne Newton,  said as far as she was aware there had never been a communal Christmas tree in the CBD.

“So, this is a really special occasion and one we want the entire community to be involved in,” she said at the time.

“We want to celebrate the holiday season and show that businesses in this town are prepared to step up and make a difference.”

Sevegne said town businesses, who saw the need for a holiday atmosphere in the town, had really stepped up to support the initiative.

Unhappily, the Christmas goodwill wasn’t shared by everyone.

In early December, the tree was attacked by vandals causing thousands of dollars damage and outraging organisers.

The tree was ‘tagged’, lights ripped out, decorations stolen and surrounding plants trampled.

“I cannot fathom the mentality of these people who would wilfully cause destruction,” said Sevegne.

“It clearly illustrates a lack of respect for our entire community.”

As disappointing as it was, the vandalism failed to dent the enthusiasm of locals in their support of the 2007 Byron Lights Up Christmas project.

Like many good community projects, ongoing costs can be a killer.

And this, unfortunately, proved to be the case with the Byron Bay Christmas tree.

In October, 2010, the Christmas spirit in the Bay became a little thinner on the ground, when Byron United announced it wouldn’t be erecting the tree for the coming Christmas season, nor would it be going up in future years.

The group’s executive officer, Diana Ricketts, said it cost $12,000 to erect the tree, take it down, store and insure it and given the economic climate, it was getting harder to raise the money to cover the costs involved.

Byron United decided to sell the tree to recoup some of the outlay, but whether it was or not, I don’t recall.

Maybe someone out there who was involved in the project can enlighten me.