TRADERS are calling on town and district councillors to come to the rescue as Petersfield's Christmas lights display faces a funding crisis. A special meeting was called last week by the volunteers who have taken on the job of organising the Christmas lights. The chairman of Petersfield Marketing Ltd (PML), Vernon Peake, and his committee said they wanted to "clear the air" after a difficult year in which they had found it hard to attract funding from businesses in the town. Mr Peake told the meeting PML needed £10,000 to put on a display in the town centre and so far only £4,000 had been collected. He said it was unlikely that the remaining £6,000 would be raised in time for Christmas, but he was determined to carry out his promise to light the town centre and, in future years, to extend the festive displays to Lavant Street, The Causeway, Dragon Street and the Folly Market. Leading Petersfield businesswoman Jill Towner, who was a member of the town's now-defunct promotional group Petersfield First, called on the town council to take emergency measures to help this year. And a Lavant Street trader said he believed that, instead of offering free car parking in Petersfield in the run-up to Christmas, East Hampshire District Council should be asked to make a contribution to the lights equivalent to the parking revenue it would have lost from free parking. "This year there is a crisis," Mrs Towner told the meeting, " and I think we should ask the town council for help, otherwise we are going to have a problem. Then, in January, we can have a systematic approach to the businesses for funding. I really truly believe that if we start in January, we can do something special next year." She said she believed PML needed to have the support of businesses to pursue the Christmas lights project. "PML does not have time to get this organised this year and I believe, in a crisis, the town council should help." Mrs Towner's husband, goldsmith Trevor Towner, said he believed the answer was to ask businesses to make regular contributions through standing orders to the bank. "I would be happy to pay £30 a month," he said, "and with other businesses doing the same, we could get the funding going." George Watkinson said Petersfield town councillors had provided funding for the Christmas lights. Currently, he told the meeting, every man, woman and child in the town paid the equivalent of 62p towards the lights. "If businesses in the town gave just a couple of pounds , it would help PML raise enough funds," he told the meeting. But Mrs Towner said she did not believe 62p was very much to contribute for a good festive display in the town. Mr Peake said PML had been criticised for concentrating the lights in The Square and the High Street and leaving out traders in Lavant Street. He told the meeting the group had to work with limited resources, where the footfall was highest. He admitted PML had concentrated on the High Street and The Square last year, but he pledged to extend the lights over three years. This year, he said, Blachere's, the Scottish firm which leased the lights to Petersfield, had donated 12 wall lights shaped like shooting stars, after hearing of the town's plight. These would be put up in Lavant Street, in addition to any lihgts bought individually by Lavant Street traders. "Things are going to happen in Lavant Street, but we need help," said Mr Peake. Steve Riley, whose wife runs Wear2Dance in Lavant Street, made the suggestion that East Hampshire District Council should contribute the car parking revenue it would have lost by offering parking free. Alternatively, if enough volunteers could be found, he suggested motorists using the free parking could be asked for donations in lieu of parking. After the meeting, Mr Peake told The Herald he had visited most of the Lavant Street businesses at the weekend. Optician Irena Morgan-Owen had taken the lead, by buying a light herself, as had One Tree Books. Steve Riley had agreed to join the PML committee, said Mr Peake, to represent and liaise with Lavant Street traders.
