'Dazzlingly dim' Christmas lights Options

[spartacus]

Thatcham are leading the way with ensuring that Christmas lights don't distract passing motorists or worsen the light pollution levels for surrounding countryside by having their festive tiny-twinklers on the A4 set at levels which can hardly be seen from 10ft... What's the point...? Any 'christmas effect' is drowned out by the LED street lanterns directly above


The cost of getting a road contractor with a cherry-picker to put them up and take them back down again in January will not be insignificant, so if you're going to that bother you may as well stick up some lights that are worth the expense. You could walk right past these lights without noticing they were there.

[motormad]

They are a bit crap. I normally go to the turn on every year and yet I didn't bother.

And to be honest if you didn't point them out to me I would not even notice Top work Thatcham!!! Why do I live here

[regor]

They are dim because they are ecologically sound, low energy, very green etc etc.
If we want bright lights we need to burn more energy.
Its a choice. The council chose "dim and cheap running" if you want "bright but more expensive" then change the council.

[Biker1]

The council chose "dim and cheap running" if you want "bright but more expensive" then change the council.

"Good morning Sir I am your candidate for the forthcoming local council elections. Can I count on your vote?"
"What type of Christmas lights are you planning to erect in Thatcham this year?"
"Well to cut our costs and eventually those of the taxpayer, you, and to provide a greener solution, we are going for dimmer LED type."
"Then the answer is no, I only vote for bright Christmas lights, sorry!"
"But wouldn't you like to discuss other issues which may affect your decision?"
"No, sorry, the lights are the decider for me!"

[Nothing Much]

My goodness! What next?. Not only is this a "Grumbling Forum", but humoerous as well.
All that is needed is to get the spelling and grammar in order
ce.

Dim lights are a bit dim.

[On the edge]

I'd vote for total transparency and zero energy consumption....

[Simon Kirby]

As always, taxation-funded state-provision is not the only answer:

Copenhagen is not alone in having pedal-powered Christmas tree lights. It would take some organising, but crowd-sourced pedal-power is an incredibly engaging idea, and is exactly what the state should be doing - enabling us to build community and provide for ourselves.


And of course there's really no reason why the state should tax us to provide Christmas lights other than the fact that a town's councillors were very often also its shopkeepers and it served their interests to tax the proles to pay for their Christmas business promotion. A Town's retail businesses are now able to form BIDs to levey charges on business rates and this is a more appropriate way of funding Christmas lights.

[JeffG]

crowd-sourced peddle-power

What is peddle-power?

[Nothing Much]

I note the tree story is dated 2009. A bit of stale news.... oh sorry wrong thread.
If it takes 15 people to power 700 hundred lights, how many hamsters would the same (continue to questions overleaf)

I saw one of those things on the South Bank outside the heavily subsidised and over elitist RFH last week.(Wrong topic again!)
By the size of the tree and bikes it was more for children, who all seemed to be having good fun.

Having taken all authority upon themselves to regulate open spaces,Councils should be allowed to lighten up the dreary
evenings when the poor proles are trudging home for gruel.

I think they should do lights, but dim is just rubbish.
ce

[Simon Kirby]

What is peddle-power?

*sigh*

It's a spelling mistake Jeff, I meant "pedal-power".

[Andy Capp]

What is peddle-power?

The degree of bullsh*t a council official can get away with!

[Simon Kirby]

The degree of bullsh*t a council official can get away with!

Oh I like that. One particularly delicate officer at one of our local councils once wrote to me complaining that my criticism of his council was me "peddling lies".