Council in Xmas tree quandary
Daniel Burdon
19Jun09
ALICE Springs Town Council is mulling over six options for a public Christmas Tree to be displayed in the central business district for the festive season.
The options for a tree -- ranging from $3000 to $50,700 -- will be put to the Ordinary Council meeting on June 29.A council report outlines the following options for a Christmas tree to be erected in Todd Mall or near the Civic Centre.Option One: An artificial tree sourced in Australia but built in Thailand that comes in six, eight, 10 and 12 metre models.It is comprised of a metal frame with panels of hinged PVC tree branches either with or without lights, and could cost up to $50,700, and would need to be erected and removed for the festive season each year.Option Two: Another artificial tree, costing about $11,900 and sourced in the United States and made in Asia and Mexico.This tree would stand at 20 metres and is made of cylindrical steel sections bolted together with PVC foliage attached and layered over each other from the top down.According to the report, this option is known as a ``Barcana'' tree, and would come with pre-lit lights, avoiding extra costs associated with lighting.Option Three: Another artificial tree, and this would be designed and built by an Alice Springs-based sheet metal works and sign-writer. To be made of aluminium, the tree would stand at least 7.2 metres high, consisting of four cones overlaid on each other with a 1.2 metre star shining from the top. The tree quoted would cost about $44,000, and each layered aluminium cone would have small holes for lights to shine through.Option Four: A native Australian river she-oak, or a Casuarina cunninghamiana, currently located at an Alice Springs nursery. To cost about $3000, this natural tree currently stands between eight and 10 metres high, but should double in size in its first year after permanent plantation.Option Five: Another natural tree, the classic straight-stemmed Norfolk Island pine tree, with the possibility of getting a Araucaria cunninghamii instead.This option is available from the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, and would likely cost more than $6000 to buy and freight to Alice Springs.Option Six: Continue using an existing Jacaranda tree on the church lawns as Council did in 2007.
