TOWN councillors in Minehead have discovered it is never too early to think about Christmas, as they were asked to decide on a new festive lighting scheme for this year.

The council’s five-year agreement with Festive Lighting came to an end in 2025 and councillors were warned they could not leave it too long before agreeing a new deal or there would not be time to arrange this year’s switch-on at the end of November.

Now, councillors have voted for a new three-year contract with the company at a cost of £13,668 plus VAT per year to take Minehead through to the end of 2028.

Town clerk Ben Parker said Festive Lighting was one of four tenders received and the merits of each were discussed based on whole-life cost implications, installation, and dismantling support.

Mr Parker said the bid was based on a ‘cohesive Victorian Christmas’ theme using traditional warm white lighting and garlands, aligned with the town’s conservation area.

There were options for additional scheme reviews before the contract started if councillors wanted to review the design.

The plan included Blenheim Gardens concepts within the base proposal.

However, Mr Parker said it was recommended to the park should be left out so it could form part of a wider discussion around Blenheim Gardens at a later date.

Mr Parker said Festive Lighting was a design-led contractor with more than 25 years of experience delivering schemes for local authorities and commercial centres, including the past five years with Minehead Town Council.

The company had confirmed its scheme was intentionally not a like-for-like repeat of previous years as it aimed to refresh the town’s offer.

It was acknowledged that uplighting might appear less traditionally ‘Christmassy’ over the previous display, but the design was flexible and capable of refinement in collaboration with the council.

Mr Parker said the firm was the lowest cost option for the council and its tender was a ‘strong, cohesive, and design-led proposal’, with good alignment with Minehead’s conservation area, and the proposed use of a sub-contractor which knew the town and its infrastructure.

He said overall it was a well-developed and flexible design-led submission which met the council’s aspirations, but with some acknowledged limitations around uplighting and delivery structure.

Mr Parker said: “Their locally based workshop and manufacturer means they are well placed to provide additional support away from the core contract, potentially at minimal additional cost, based on previous experience.”

Other bids included a company with more than 50 years of experience of large-scale urban and commercial lighting schemes, which put forward a ‘Magical Minehead’ theme using warm white LED motifs to create a traditional and conservation area-appropriate aesthetic.

However, it did not yet have a sub-contractor and wanted to transfer the work to a contract manager who would oversee delivery of the lighting.

The firm was also not comfortable with uplighting, citing potential for light spill on to nearby residential properties.

Another tenderer had not made a site visit to Minehead, while a fourth was more expensive and also routinely charged for call-outs.