Lisburn and Castlereagh City Councillors express disappointment as city's Christmas parade is axed
Lisburn councillors have expressed “disappointment” at the cancellation of the annual Christmas parade.
A number of members of the local authority expressed their concerns at the corporate meeting following a late email announcement. In 2021 Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council (LCCC) cut its Christmas events spend to £130,000. This was a major step down from its 2020 budget when the council pushed ahead with a £535,000 festive spend, after councillors knocked back a bid to cut costs. Lisburn South Alderman, Paul Porter (DUP) said: “I have just received an email 15 minutes ago to tell me that the Christmas parade will now be cut. “Did this go through the leisure committee first? “I am very disappointed as will a lot of people in Lisburn be also.”
In response, LCCC chief executive David Burns confirmed that decision had been processed through the committee stage and that councillors had expressed they were “keen to lower the overall (Christmas) budget”.