Illuminated Christmas-themed motifs have been installed on lamp posts surrounding three roundabouts on Bradley Stoke Way following a town council decision to allocate a first-year budget of £10,000 for the initiative.
Cllr Tom Aditya set the wheels in motion back in January when he stated at that month’s Full Council meeting that “it would be good if Bradley Stoke had better Christmas lights”. This led to the town clerk being asked to contact South Gloucestershire Council’s streetlighting team to “find out about the possibility of installing silhouette Christmas lights on the streetlights surrounding the three main roundabouts in the town”.
A report prepared ahead of the Full Council meeting in March confirmed that it would likely be possible for SGC to install commando sockets and time clocks to lamp posts around the roundabouts. This would incur a one-off cost of around £200 per unit, giving a total of £2,400 for a scheme to provide power to 12 motifs across the three roundabouts.
Councillors were given the choice of purchasing the illuminated motifs outright or hiring them each festive season at an annual cost of 45 percent of the purchase price, with additional charges for delivery and collection each year.
Erecting and taking down the motifs could be done by SGC at an estimated annual cost of £155-£165 per unit (this would include the cost of the energy).
Following much discussion, councillors agreed to purchase outright a set of 12 illuminated Christmas motifs and commission SGC to install sockets and timers on the chosen set of lamp posts.
The scheme was allocated a first-year budget of £10,000, reallocated from an underspent budget originally assigned to the 2023 Community Festival which had to be “scaled down” due to councillors’ failure to secure the services of an event management company.
The costs incurred to date are £4,157 to purchase the motifs, £2,400 to install power supplies and £1,980 to erect and take down the motifs. The council will also incur an annual charge of £216 to store the motifs as it has insufficient storage space of its own. This gives a grand total of £8,753 for the first year.
Councillors have approved an ongoing annual budget of £2,650 to cover the costs of putting up and taking down the motifs, along with the off-site storage charge.
Speaking at the December meeting of the town council’s Leisure, Youth & Amenities Committee, Cllr Aditya commented that the Christmas lights around the town “looked very good” and he was “pleased his original suggestion was actioned”. He asked whether the town council could look at installing a Christmas tree on one of the main roundabouts for next year. The town clerk said she would look into this.
Related link: Holiday Opening Hours for shops and services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)
