Anger over Peterlee's shabby tree

Dec 2 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

FESTIVE plans were well under way for the purr-fect town centre Christmas launch.

Pop star Natasha Hamilton, singer with pop group Atomic Kitten and now a solo artist, was booked to switch on the Christmas lights at Castle Dene Shopping Centre in Peterlee, County Durham.

But just hours before the star was due to take to the stage town centre bosses received delivery of the Christmas tree which was to be the focal point of the celebrations – and gasped in dismay. The tree was threadbare.

Too late to send it back, they could only look on with gritted teeth as Natasha wowed the crowds with a string of hits in front of the tree which has now been labelled a “disgrace” to Peterlee.

Yesterday it stood forlornly in the town centre’s Yoden Way festooned in a dozen Christmas lights and slumping slightly under the onslaught of a wet, cold and windy December day.

Local councillor Joan Maslin said she had been inundated with complaints from residents of the town about the state of the tree.

She said: “It is a disgrace, an insult to Peterlee. Its condition already looks like the tree you take up to the council tip in January after the festivities are over.

“At this time of year, with the credit crunch people are feeling gloomy and need cheering up. This tree will make them more miserable.

“People have been ringing me and stopping me in the streets to complain about the threadbare state,” added Mrs Maslin.

But Mike Weston, manager of the shopping centre which is owned by property company Kenmore, said: “We ordered a standard Christmas tree from a supplier, and when this awful thing arrived it was too late to send it back before the switch-on with Natasha Hamilton.

“I admit it doesn’t look very good. But the local councillor has a cheek to complain. The council has not contributed a penny towards the Christmas decorations.

“We have spent thousands of pounds lighting up the town centre and hiring Santa to come and give free toys to children on Saturdays, and these toys are not rubbish toys.

“If the council is so concerned let them spend some of their money on another tree.”