Family 'devastated' after council complaint over Christmas lights
The couple started planning the display back in January, but a letter in the mail made them reconsider if the effort was worth it.
A Gold Coast family has been left “disappointed” and “disheartened” after receiving a complaint about their popular Christmas light display.
The home on Boydaw Road in Ormeau attracts hundreds of visitors every night with an intricate show of music, lights and singing characters that took the entire year to plan.
Homeowners Shannon and Scott were overwhelmed by the growing amount of support they received after switching on the display on November 26. They began planning the show back in January, spending countless hours and thousands of dollars to spread festive cheer to the community.
The shows start every half an hour from 6.30pm and run for 20 minutes, while a snow machine covers the driveway with snow where families can play and dance together.
But this week Shannon and Scott were “extremely disappointed” to receive a complaint for “light nuisance”. The couple explained they try to be considerate neighbours and have always had “incredible support” from residents on Boydaw Road.
“The response has been completely overwhelming, the community has been almost unanimously supportive,” Scott told Yahoo News Australia.
“As we built the show through the year, we had so many conversations with our neighbours. We were mindful of how it may impact them so we made sure we gave them a chance to express any concerns. We really didn't have any, which made the complaint to council so disappointing,” he said.
“All of this unnecessary drama could have easily been avoided with a simple chat of asking us to quieten down after a certain time. We were asked once to turn the volume of the music down, and we did that within seconds of being asked, so we've never been unapproachable.”
But instead of coming directly to the couple, a neighbour took the complaint to council instead.
“We received a letter from council advising us of the complaint and that we needed to take this up with our neighbours, and if action wasn't taken, we could potentially face fines,” Scott said.
After approaching one of their neighbours, they were asked if the show could be finished by 9pm – prompting the couple to move the hours forward to make sure everything was finished by 8.30pm.
The couple shared the news of the complaint to their Facebook page, informing the public of their new time slot – but things started getting “blown out of proportion”, Scott said, emphasising they never wanted extra attention or drama over the complaint. It did, however, cause them to reconsider whether they should be doing the display at all, as they didn’t want to upset anyone.
“Having seen that it caused issues with our neighbour, even though it's just one, did give us pause to think whether we should continue with it or not,” Scott said. “But the response has made it clear the community loves what we've done. Not only all ages, but we've had many disadvantaged kids come and enjoy the show. To see these kids have such a good time playing, dancing, even just watching, has made every hour of effort we've put in, worth it.”
Members of the community shared their support for Shannon and Scott on Facebook after hearing the news of the complaint, with many describing their work as “beautiful” and “amazing”.
“How disappointing that someone feels the need to ruin what I believe to be something beautiful to witness,” one heartfelt Facebook comment read. “Your lights, the warmth and happiness it brings is something that has taken my mind off a tough time even if it was for a few minutes. Thank you for bringing some warmth and joy to our neighbourhood.”
“Please continue! My son was yelling out the window 'I love Christmas Spirit' all the way home!!! After your show,” another wrote.
“How many 100’s of people have loved your display?!? Don’t let one Grinch wreck your love of lights for everyone else,” another commented.
Scott confirmed the show will go on and said he encouraged all feedback, good or bad.
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"We will continue our show, and anyone who has concerns is more than welcome to reach out to us and let us know and we will certainly accommodate where possible,” he said. “We don't have the street shutdown or blocked off, the volume of our show isn't excessive, we don't run late into the night, we've done everything to be considerate of our neighbours and we will continue to do so while also giving our greater community something to enjoy.
"We hope the unnecessary drama is behind us and everyone can enjoy the show in the last few days leading up to Christmas."
Gold Coast Council confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that a complaint was made but further action “would not be pursued”.
“In response to a light nuisance enquiry, the City provided advice regarding homeowner obligations,” a spokesperson said.
“The City responds to light nuisance complaints and investigates as appropriate. The City will not be pursuing further action unless additional complaints are received and an investigation is required.”
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