Residents of Marriot Way Morley have lit up their street with Christmas lights for the past 25 years. Thousands have traveled from near and far to visit the display and tens of thousands of dollars have been raised and donated to charities over the years.

But this year, when putting through the appropriate applications through the council, John Roe got told by the City of Bayswater he will have to pay for two licenced traffic controllers to attend the Marriot Way Christmas Lights each night.

John, a pensioner, says he does have volunteers willing to help, but that wasn’t good enough. He even suggested hiring security guards at a cost of $20 an hour, but the council say their licenced staff must be used at a cost of $35 an hour….$3,500 total.

John says he has a trailer covered in lights that drives around and parks in different spots to promote the light display and he’s willing to put a business sign on the trailer as well if they could pay for the fee put in place by the City of Bayswater.