Antrim and Newtownabbey will be switching on Christmas online this year, the borough council’s Community Planning Committee has agreed.
At a meeting on Monday night, councillors discussed plans for a switch-on ceremony that will take place virtually at locations in the borough’s seven district electoral areas at a cost of £15,000.
Last year, approximately 30,000 people attended switch-on ceremonies across the borough with civic carol services held at Mossley Mill in Newtownabbey and Antrim Forum as well as a senior citizens tea dance in Ballyclare.
Councillors have been told that “taking into consideration the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, restrictions on events and social distancing”, it will not be possible to deliver a similar programme to last year’s.
Instead, It has been proposed that each ceremony will be pre-recorded and posted online on a specific date. Entertainment at a local theatre will also be pre-recorded.
Airport DUP Cllr Matthew Magill questioned the £15,000 cost of the switch-on ceremonies which he described as “quite substantial expenditure given it is a virtual switch on programme” and asked if there is a possibility of limiting expenditure.
This sum is in addition to the £165,000 cost of providing festive lighting in Antrim and Newtownabbey.
Council officer Nick Harkness, director of Community Planning, explained that most of the £15,000 cost relates to each link that would take place in the theatre.
Cllr Magill commented: “For an expenditure of £15,000, it must be some show.”
He went on to say he is aware that production costs can be “significant” but he said that this seems to be “an excessive budget for something that would not last a terribly long amount of time”.
“It is not something I would be supportive of,” he added.
The officer said that he would “make every effort to keep it as low as possible”.
Macedon DUP Cllr Victor Robinson asked how long the production would last saying: “£15,000 is quite a lot of money. I just wondered how many people would watch it”.
He was informed that it would last 15 minutes.
Glengormley Sinn Fein Cllr Michael Goodman pointed out that civic switch on ceremonies usually last longer than 15 minutes and are usually well-attended.
SDLP Dunsilly Cllr Ryan Wilson stated: “I share the concerns of Cllr Magill, paying £1,000 per minute for this production seems excessive in terms of ratepayers whether they feel it would be money well spent. ”
He was told by committee chairman DUP Cllr Mark Cooper that officers “want to keep the budget lower than £15,000”.
In 2018, the local authority dramatically cut the number of its festive trees across Antrim and Newtownabbey from 22 to four to reduce costs. The decision was strongly criticised by residents of Crumlin and was branded “blatant discrimination” with the town missing out.
