Not so tree-mendous! Council to replace two 'disappointing' Christmas trees put up in borough

The festive fir on Dudley High Street has been criticised by shoppers, on social media and by councillors, describing it as "embarrassing" and "half-dead".

Dudley Council pledged to replace the tree free-of-charge, as well as the one on The Arcade in Upper Gornal, following concerns.

Councillor Shaz Saleem, cabinet member for highways and public realm, said: "Christmas is such an important time of year and it is important our town centres look festive and welcoming.

"The tree in Dudley town centre is in the process of being replaced today after the council expressed disappointment at the one that was delivered by contractors. The tree at Gornal will also be replaced following a similar concern.

"We were very disappointed with the quality of the tree delivered to us in Dudley town centre, shoppers and traders expect much better.

"We don’t see them before they are delivered and then we decorate them once they have been put in place.

"We have therefore been in touch with the supplier and they have agreed to replace it free of charge."

Councillor Shaukat Ali, one of the St Thomas's ward councillors, said he had been informed by a constituent on Facebook about the high street tree and was shocked when he went down to see it.

He said: "It started on Facebook with the message and photo from a constituent of mine, who said she had been down to the town and said she was kind of shocked when she saw the tree.

"I then went down to the town myself to have a look at it and I was shocked as the tree didn't look in a good condition, so I took the liberty of speaking to a few people walking by about what they thought of it and they couldn't believe it either.

"The tree just looks in a really poor state and I have seen a lot of comments about how embarrassed people are about this and how the council can't get even this right and we have the situation in Dudley about how everyone is struggling and now we have a tree looking like this."

A post on the St Thomas’s Ward Labour Councillors Facebook page has spoken about how unhappy people were with the "half-dead" tree.

Jeet Rani commented on the post, saying: "I can’t believe they’ve actually put this up looking like that. They’ve gone blind on everything. Awful and this year we all need a little more happiness this is just a reminder of how life has been with the cost of living."

Kelly Jean Payne said: "How embarrassing for the town. Looks like they've literally brought last year's back. Disgusting, they should be ashamed of themselves."

Councillor Ali sent an email to the chief executive of Dudley Council, Kevin O'Keefe, about the tree and the reactions from people and while he had received a response that Mr O'Keefe would be going to see it, he hasn't heard anything else yet.

He said he and a lot of people were feeling let down about the tree that had been put up.

He said: "It's not just me who feels let down, but everyone around the town who is passing by and who has seen the photographs of it has spoken to me about how they can't believe it and how they do feel let down.

"It's just not value for money and feels to me that that the Tory administration can't get anything right in this town.

"I have sent an email to the chief executive and apart from his response about going to see it, I have yet to hear from him about what he has seen and what he intends to do about it."

Among the people expressing their own disappointment about the tree was long-time Dudley resident Allan Woodall, with the 67-year-old saying he was disgusted at what he had seen.

He said: "It's just disgusting and I'm all in favour of recycling, but not with last year's Christmas tree.

"It's just really bad and what gets me most about it is that the tree was clearly cut down a few weeks ago and the branches were damaged and been brought here on a low-loader, but even after seeing the state it was in, they still decided to put it up.

"I think it's another thing the council hasn't done right in Dudley, alongside the transport and Castle Hill being closed and closing shops, and the least they can do now is replace it, get their money back for this one and put a new one in place."

The uproar around the tree in Dudley followed on from similar tree issues in Upper Gornal, where residents had complained about the tree that had been installed and councillors had worked to replace it.

Councillor Adrian Hughes from Upper Gornal and Woodsetton ward posted on Facebook on Sedgley and Coseley (past and present) to inform residents.

He said: "After Councillor Aston and I had been contacted by a number of residents regarding the condition of the Christmas Tree in The Arcade, I requested that a new one be ordered.

"I have been informed that this will be installed later today. Thank you to everyone who made contact."

The trees have been delivered to Dudley, Halesowen, Stourbridge, Brierley Hill, Sedgley, Gornal and other key centres.

They will be decorated over the coming days as part of the build-up to Christmas lights switch-on events across the borough.