Rutherglen residents seeking to bring some Christmas cheer to their main street are disappointed after having to move their decorations twice.
A community Christmas decorations committee has organised additions to the street for three years, and have been meeting monthly throughout the year to plan for 2021.
Their pitch to use recyclable materials and involve community groups in decorating was approved by council and Men's Shed member Ray Nolan was involved in making them.
"We decorated old bicycle wheels to make wreaths ... we got some old pallets, measured and cut them into trees and strung solar-powered lights on them so they light up at night," he said.
"At the Men's Shed, we made 50 trees and 50 stars, and sent them out to be decorated by community groups with the nursing home, Scouts and the primary and secondary schools getting involved.
"They did a great job ... we had some really good comments from people walking down the street."
After feedback from Rutherglen business owner Georgie James that some traders did not like the decorations and needed space on footpaths for outdoor dining, there were a series of meetings.
The decorations group conducted a survey of Main Street traders and received 32 positive responses, but agreed to move the wooden trees to an area in front of the Rutherglen Information Centre.
Mr Nolan said it was disheartening and "petty" that Indigo Shire workers then came and moved the trees again last week.
"They said it was in the way of mowing. The thing is, they've moved them onto grass on the other side of the old rail line, which the council also mows," he said.
"This is showing the ingenuity of the teachers, the kids and the elderly and all the people who've donated ... we were really pleased with it."
Ms James said the recycled pallet trees were moved to a new location as agreed in a meeting with the Christmas tree committee and Main Street traders, and a Council spokesperson said the decorations were moved a short distance to enable necessary maintenance.
Some council funding went to the Christmas decorations committee and traders.
Communities have co-ordinated varied decorations across Indigo Shire; like some surrounding councils, a uniform approach is not taken due to the council's geographic size.
IN OTHER NEWS:
In Beechworth, residents met over the weekend to spend the afternoon erecting decorations that were in storage.
One trader contacted mayor Bernard Gaffney about the lack of decorations.
