New banner poles pass muster

The new banner poles in High St, seen
during the New Norfolk Christmas Parade.

CUSTOM-MADE banner poles erected in High St last November have been declared a success following their first use. Locally designed and manufactured, the banner poles have eliminated the need to hire equipment such as a cherry picker in order to hang decorations from light poles as has been done in the past.

New Norfolk Business Alliance chairman Ray Williams said the new banner poles had been a solution to several problems. "Over the last few years there have been many comments about the Christmas decorations in High St and the need to spruce them up," Mr Williams said.

In addition to concerns about the old decorations, the Business Alliance had also been told that 2012 had been the final year that decorations could be hung from the light poles. "With this in mind the NNBA set aside funds to erect purpose-built banner poles to carry Christmas and other community event banners," Mr Williams said.

Ten new poles were paid for by the Business Alliance and installed by the Derwent Valley Council. Their unique design allows them to be lowered by hand for the installation and removal of promotional banners. When not in use by the Business Alliance, the poles will be available for use by businesses and community groups. It is hoped that additional poles will be installed in the future.

Christmas banners were hung in December and taken down again late last week - a far cry from previous years when the old decorations were occasionally still hanging in February.  One banner was torn during last week's severe winds but the new poles were otherwise a complete success.