Following the high winds again last night and the possibility of further bad weather, the Christmas Tree outside the Guildhall has been taken down today.
Whilst the tree was leaning this morning it was not as bad as earlier this week however in the interests of safety it was felt it was safer to remove it. The tree was rescued by TVBC on Tuesday after it almost blew over in the storm.
Thank you to Councillor Karen Hamilton for providing the update.
While having a Christmas Tree in the town for Christmas is important to us a symbol, I found it amazing that Cllr David Drew had to make a post on the original article (http://www.andovertown.co.uk/news/storm-weather-hits-andover/) where he appears to claim credit for getting it re-erected after it came down the first time. With the forecast for the coming week, it seems the safest option not to attempt to re-erect it.
Frankly, rather than a bevy of Councillors and a department Head, I would imagine that the junior management of the council staff and their labour force have a better idea of what to do to erect a Christmas tree safely.
Perhaps Cllr Drew and his Conservative colleagues in the town should have focused on the important things in life during 2013:
1. Getting elected on 2 May 2013 instead of allowing the hard-working, charity-supporting and approachable Tony Hooke from UKIP to take his County seat from him.
2. Making sure that the Town Summit delivered something more than glitz and a few minor measures that nibble at the fringes of Andover’s problems.
3. Contributing to the Town Plan, that ought to deliver real improvements to Andover, but one wonders whether it really will.
4. Improving the quality of life for the residents of the Floral Way and Berry Way estates by providing an effective sound screen rather than a garden fence that has made the A303 noise problem worse.
A Happy New Year to everyone.