A community's festive spirit has been crushed after the council created 'the worst Christmas show ever'.
Residents of Forster, on the NSW north coast, would have been thrilled to see the town's largest tree being decorated for Christmas in late November.
The work took council crews and an aerial platform three days to complete, but when the lights finally came on, local residents were unimpressed.
Adam Fitzroy of MidCoast Aerial Photography was so furious that he posted photos of the tree on Facebook.
'This is absolutely pathetic, what a shameful attempt. Not that I expect anything less from our council, but this has to stop,” he said angrily.
The 'Christmas' decorations consist of one large tree with strings of lights. Locals claim it took three days to decorate
Mr Fitzroy wrote that he and other entrepreneurs put a lot of effort into tourism, but are ashamed of the Christmas atmosphere on display there.
“There is nothing that screams neglect and lack of interest more than a thoughtless, rushed, ugly, un-Christmassy light installation on perhaps one of the MOST striking trees in the whole of Forster-Tuncurry,” he wrote.
Ny Breaking Australia contacted MidCoast Council about the tree – and shortly afterwards they published a press release online.
The council said their staff were not 'professional tree decorators' and, following the complaints, would no longer attempt to put on Christmas light displays.
“The provision of Christmas lights is not a core Council service, or something in which we have expert skills, hence the decision to give the community the opportunity to own the lights in the future,” the spokesperson said. Edition read.
“The cost of lighting, installation and removal on the Forster site is approximately $8,000, while Christmas lights across the region cost the Council $25,000. The majority of the costs associated with installing and removing the lighting come from crane rentals,” she added.
However, one councilor did comment on the post, calling for an end to council bashing and noting that the team was doing its best.
“We live here too, we remember how good it used to look with at least three trees lit up,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the body that used to do the Christmas lights no longer does this job and has no interest in it anymore,” he said.
He said this left the council suddenly having to do a job that 'was never meant to be done by the council'.
In its statement, the council revealed it had supported the installation of wooden trees and tree wraps in Wharf Street, Forster.
“Disappointingly, a few have already been stolen,” they added.
The council revealed it would donate the lights to any community group that would accept the job of decorating.
The company claims it made the decision to give up the job in May, not after this week's outrage.
The tree is pictured in 2021 – community says at least 'effort' has been made to make it look like a Christmas display
“If it doesn't meet the standards that we all expect and have become accustomed to, we'll be beaten for it,” he added.
But the councilor's cries seemed to fall on deaf ears as most people chose to decry the 'Mr Squiggle' effort.
'How embarrassing for the city. The school children would love to make big decorations and have their work hung proudly on the tree,” said one.
“The council doesn't care about it, but the community does. Sorry to all the little kids who like to see lights at Christmas because that's not going to happen if the council is involved.'
In his post, Mr Fitzroy said this is not the first year the tree has been a disappointment – and claimed the council has not listened to feedback.
“If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was for Halloween with that creepy effort,” he said.
He also gambled on the cost of the exhibition.
“$185 an hour to rent an aerial platform, $1000 on rope lights, $100 on hula hoops and $10 on zip ties.
“And please don't say it's $10,000 in wages because we're not paying for 10 guys doing nothing while two people in a cherry picker and a safety officer downstairs can operate the whole thing,” he added.
And people kept piling on the criticism.
'Very poor performance for a holiday resort. The council should be ashamed of themselves,” one person said.
“What a wonderful sight to come home to,” another joked.
The community has started a Facebook group to work together to create a good exhibition next year.