An n family has been ordered by their local council to remove part of their Christmas light display because it extends beyond their property boundary, following complaints from a neighborhood Grinch.
The Harris family only had the festive lights outside their Blue Mountains home, west of Sydney, up for two weeks before a council ranger knocked on their door over a complaint about the display.
‘The ranger said the person even called themselves “the Christmas Grinch” when they called [council] up,’ a family member told 9News.
The complaint centred on the use of three poles, which were installed on the nature strip in front of the property to support lights strung from the poles to the roof of the house.
The family explained that they used the poles as a replacement for two trees that the council had removed earlier this year.
‘Last year we had the lights strung up by the trees, and we didn’t receive any complaints,’ they said.
‘When the trees got removed so quickly we were actually devastated for the Christmas lights, so we were like, “How can we recreate the same thing without it being permanent?”‘
They added that the lights have become a popular attraction for locals, with many stopping by the house during the festive season to take photos.
The family member said that adding the poles was less intrusive than using the trees and that they had invested significant effort and expense to install them.
The inspiration behind the curtain-like lights was to make a ‘magical area’ that would be akin to ‘running under the stars’.
They now have two-week deadline to take down the curtain lights, but are hopeful someone at the council will see the lights as ‘not that unreasonable’ and not enforce it.
Blue Mountains City Council Mayor Mark Greenhill told Daily Mail that the family plans to comply with the council’s request to keep the display within the property boundaries.