A COUNCILLOR has demanded to know why their local authority is set to spend £3600 on a single community Christmas tree – after a local supplier said they could do it for £150.
Councillor Dan Hutchison has been fighting to get the festive cost down after officials put forward proposals for a local council budget in Govan to spend £12,700 on lit-up trees.
The Scottish Greens representative is worried about frittering away vital public cash on Christmas trees amid the cost-of-living crisis. Today it was decided the Govan area will get one council-funded tree this year in a bid to keep costs down.
Hutchison said: “I’m concerned as the price is ridiculous. I am not a Grinch. I understand people want Christmas trees. But people are starving and folk can’t heat their homes.”
People in the community have passed on a quote for a £150 tree to the councillor as he has been gauging local opinion on the issue.
He added: “£150 seems so much better than £3600. I don’t understand how a tree, some lights and a bit of electricity costs £3600.
“We are challenging the council department on how they did procurement.”
The issue was raised at a recent Govan Area Partnership meeting when it was proposed as an option that £12,700 could go towards trees from the partnership area budget, which totals about £90,000.
A meeting of partnership members opted today for one tree only at Govan Cross to be paid for by council central funding – with the local area budget remaining untouched. They are in discussion about spending £100 only on a potential switch on.
Hutchison said he is happy about the decision as “the area budget is the closest mechanism for the community to decide where funding goes and to spend it all on trees instead of the cost-of-living crisis I think is the wrong way forward.”
A full council meeting tomorrow will see Hutchison asking for more details when he puts forward the following question: “Could the relevant convener please advise why it costs £3600 to put up a Christmas tree in our communities?”
Proposals originally put forward to the Govan Area Partnership were a Christmas tree at Govan Cross costing £3600, lighting at three trees at Linthouse Roundabout for £9100 and a tree at Ibrox Library for £3600.
