Bigger not always better: Timaru Christmas tree too heavy for Piazza?

Monday, 18 September 2023

The Timaru District Council has confirmed it will carry out a structural assessment of the Piazza to ascertain whether the town’s new large Christmas tree can be erected on it.

A structural assessment of Timaru’s Piazza is being undertaken to determine whether it will be able to hold the town’s fancy new Christmas tree.

Timaru District Council group manager infrastructure Andrew Dixon confirmed in June the council planned to erect the tree on Timaru’s Piazza, so it would tie in with the Caroline Bay Carnival.

“It’s going to be quite a feature to get people into town, we’ve got the new CPlay playground going on down at Caroline Bay … the idea is to create connectivity, try and draw people out of Caroline Bay and into the city centre,” he said at the time.

However, on Monday he said the Piazza remained the “desired location”, but confirmed the council had identified an alternative site in the heart of the CBD.

“Council is undertaking an engineering structural assessment of the Piazza to check the viability of situating the tree there.

“An alternative site is the Strathallan Corner’s raised grass area. Assessment of this location has not taken place as we are pursuing the Piazza site first,” Dixon said.

Asked whether council held any concerns about the risk of wind at the Piazza location, Dixon said the tree – which weighs 901kg and 1200-1500kg when decorated – was designed to withstand cyclones.

“The Piazza location is noted for its exposed area. However, the tree we have purchased is of the similar specification also provided by the supplier which has withstood cyclones in the South Pacific and will be anchored down with a ballast inside the tree.”

Timaru’s Piazza (centre) is a bridge providing access between Caroline Bay and the main street.

In June, Dixon confirmed the district’s height regulations had forced the council to buy a shorter tree than originally planned.

With its new tree 9.1m tall, Timaru would join the ranks of neighbouring towns such as Ōamaru, Twizel and Waimate which all had large Christmas trees – but the amount spent by Timaru’s council far outstripped that of its neighbours.

Waimate’s Christmas tree stands 9m tall and cost $30k. Timaru’s tree is just a fraction taller at 9.1m and cost $90k.(File photo)

Christmas was celebrated in Ōamaru with a 10m tall tree. It was one of three community Christmas trees in the Waitaki District. Palmerston and Kurow had 4.5m tall trees, and all three trees had sponsorship, the council said.

Twizel had a 7m tall tree which was purchased by the Twizel Mistletoe Group after the community helped to raise more than $25,000 to replace the town’s dated Christmas decorations.

Waimate paid $30k for its 9-metre tall community Christmas tree after securing $22,000 worth of sponsorship in 2018. At the time, the council committed a maximum of $8200 in ratepayer funds to the project, almost half of which was to cover the installation of electricity, so the tree could be lit up.

Councillor Allan Booth has asked council staff to provide an update on the Citytown programme. (File photo)

Described by Dixon as being “fairly upmarket” and designed to last about 20 years, the tree was expected to arrive in Timaru in November.

He gave a breakdown for the $130,000 project, excluding GST. The tree cost $90,800, decorations $4209, freight from Auckland to Timaru $12,400, and project management to install and take down the tree $22,940.

At a meeting earlier this month, Councillor Allan Booth asked council staff for an update on the Citytown project.

Sebastian Adbulranen, 7, uses the new binoculars on Timaru's Piazza.

The Christmas tree was purchased as part of a plan to spend $1 million on “quick wins”, after the council admitted its CityTown trials had resulted in very little progress in the CBD in terms of improvements the community could see.

To date, those “quick wins” had included the installation of a set of binoculars at the Piazza at a cost of about $6000, and work to fix the town’s slippery tile issue.

The number of homes with Christmas lights is growing in Timaru with about 30 decorated in 2022 including several on Maple Crescent. First published December 16 2022.

Booth raised concerns about the roll-out of the programme saying it felt “quite disjointed”, and questioned who was in charge saying he was concerned it did not “appear that anyone was taking ownership” of it now.

“It's not the sort of thing that we should be doing ad hoc.”

Booth said he was concerned about a potential lack of planning and said he wanted to see an urban designer involved to guide the programme.

Dixon said the Citytown project had undergone a transformation, and council now had a “very robust” project plan in place.

“We have, I assure you, controlled costs a lot more than what was previously.”

He said a draft master plan would be launched in the next couple of weeks, then put out for consultation.