FRODSHAM’S Mayor wants to spend up to £20,000 replacing much-loved Christmas lights to make Frodsham a more ‘eco friendly’ town.

Mayor of Frodsham Cllr Andrew Dawson has called for a replacement to the current lights which cost more than £8,000 every year to string up and light up the town.

Cllr Dawson believes that replacing the lights, which are ‘inefficient’ and a ‘waste of money’, could help the town to slice thousands of pounds off massive electricity bills and installation costs.

But with former councillors heralding the festive display as ‘the best in Cheshire’ and the ‘best thing Frodsham does’ Cllr Dawson’s idea has sparked outrage and concern that the new lights would be too expensive and not as spectacular.

The new festive plans come just weeks after Cllr Dawson put forward controversial plans to scrap the annual over 70s social, which acts as the pensioners’ Christmas meal, and replace it with a £5 voucher for each of Frodsham’s 1,200 elderly residents.

Cllr Dawson said that the Christmas lights cost:

£1,900 to light up the town in electricity costs;

£1,900 to hire a cherry picker to lift the person who is stringing-up the lights;

£4,300 to employ a trained individual to install and set up the lighting display.

Cllr Dawson has said that replacing the lights with more economically efficient bulbs would cost a large amount but would save the town a fortune in the future, saying: “This is an awful lot of money to be spending on things which no one has changed for years.”

“There is an argument to go more environmentally friendly, we could spend an amount on new lights but we could half electricity costs.

“The Christmas lights are brilliant but I would rather spend £20,000 on energy efficient lights than continue to waste money, we are going to get a pay back over the years if we do that.”

Former Mayor Brian Lloyd defended the festive lights and added: “The Christmas lights have been going on for sometime now, they are extremely popular.

“I have had people come up to me and say that Frodsham lights are the best in Cheshire and I would not argue with that.

“People love the lights and we never had any complaints about the cost, it may be expensive, but people do not mind because it is what they want to spend it on.”

Former Cllr John Maddock said that the installation of the lights cost slightly more last year due to fixtures and alterations which needed to be made to comply with Cheshire West and Chester standards.

“This year the changes that were made will help to reduce the cost to put them up,” said Mr Maddock.

“The lights are the best in Cheshire, people do not complain about them, he is the only one complaining about them, what will he spend the money on instead?”

Rachel Flint