Christmas tree location revealed as contractors get to work at Timaru's Piazza on Bay Hill

Tuesday, 21 November 2023

Timaru’s new $130,000 Christmas tree was erected in the Piazza on the Bay Hill on Tuesday.

Timaru’s new state-of-the-art Christmas tree will stand in the town’s Piazza, where it will tower over Caroline Bay and its long-running carnival during the festive season.

Contractors started erecting the 9.1-metre-tall tree on Tuesday morning and had finished the job by mid-afternoon.

The Timaru District Council confirmed in June that it had bought the fancy new Christmas tree for the town.

The original plan was for the tree to be erected in the Piazza, providing a link between the main street’s retail precinct and Caroline Bay, where many events including the Caroline Bay Carnival and Christmas on the Bay are held over the festive season.

When fully decorated, the 9.1-metre-tall tree stands at 10m, including the star on top.

However, doubt was cast on that when concerns were raised about the ability of the Piazza to bear the weight of the tree. The decorated tree weighs between 1200kg and 1500kg, but all up the base and tree weigh about 7000kg.

Concerns were also raised about the risk posed by strong winds on the exposed Piazza site.

Following a structural assessment of the Piazza, council spokesperson Stephen Doran said the decision was made to stick with the location and that a number of efforts had been taken to mitigate risks.

“We looked at a number of locations, including Strathallan Corner and the library, which were found to have ground conditions or underground infrastructure that made it unsuitable,” he said.

Chris Carbert, of Celebrations Group, travelled to Timaru to install the tree on Tuesday.

Doran said the base anchoring the tree weighed about six tonnes and was designed to withstand winds of up to 150kph, with specific directional loading for northerly and northwesterly winds.

Asked whether the council was concerned about the risk of vandalism, given the nearby Piazza lift has been out of action after vandals caused thousands of dollars worth of damage, Doran said it was something the council had taken into consideration.

He said it was hoped that video surveillance coverage and increased activity in the area would help, with more pedestrians over the busy summer season.

“While there is a risk of vandalism to any outdoor structure, sadly, we can’t let the risk of a tiny number of people limit the Christmas cheer for the rest of the community.”

Contractors work to piece together sections of the tree.

Because it was the first time the tree had gone up, it had been erected by a “specialist Christmas tree installer” who was based in Auckland and Christchurch, Doran said. The cost of hiring the installer was included in the $130,000 tree budget.

When decorated, the tree stands at 10m tall, including the star on top. The tree also boasts 275m of string lights, 16 glitter star decorations, and a range of baubles.