After last year being accused of having the worst Christmas tree in the world, Lismore has this morning unveiled its new tree.
The latest Yuletide offering was made from recycled materials from the city’s waste recovery facility, and was assembled by Lismore City Council staff in their own time.
It was erected this morning on the roundabout at Keen and Magellan Street, with workers using a crane to position the new tree.
Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell said the tree was made using old bicycles that could not be repaired, and decorated with paint that had been discarded.
The bikes were welded onto the steel frame at the council metal shop and the structure was then painted all colours of the rainbow by council staff and their families, in their own time.
Lismore general manager Gary Murphy said the tree represents everything Lismore is about.
‘Recycling represents Lismore in so many ways and is a big part of who we are – one of our community visions was to become a model of sustainability and we are well on the way to becoming the recycling capital of this country,” Mr Murphy said.
‘We’re sustainable, we’re resourceful, we’re colourful, we’re unique and we aren’t afraid to do things differently!’
The Christmas tree was made with parts from more than 90 bikes, 50 litres of white paint, almost half a tonne of steel, around $30 worth of coloured mis-tints from the paint shop, and a lot of love and Christmas spirit.
Just last year Lismore came under fire for having possibly the worse Christmas tree in the world, with newspapers across the country lampooning the 10 metre Cook Pine that had served as the city’s Christmas tree for a number of years.
At the time, mayor Dowell was forced to defend the tree, while acknowledging that it could be improved.
‘It’s a bit bent,’ she said. ‘Much like Lismore itself.’
The latest offering, however, has already garnered a favourable response on social media, with positive comments outweighing the negatives.
Comments have ranged from ‘Brilliant’, ‘eye-catching’ and ‘quirky’.
One commenter even went so far to say that neighbouring Byron Bay would have a case of Christmas-tree envy this morning.
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