Residents of famously festive boulevard cry Grinch after council pulls plug

Key points

• Homes along the Boulevard in Ivanhoe have put on a Christmas lights display for more than 50 years. 
• This year many homes are not decorated and residents say council restrictions are deterring them from putting lights up. 
• The council is providing traffic management for the four days before Christmas. 

Many homes are uncharacteristically dim along The Boulevard in Ivanhoe this year after residents claimed council restrictions deterred them from putting on their famous Christmas lights display.

The street has been a popular destination for Christmas lights in Melbourne for more than 50 years, with residents stringing fairy lights along their homes and decorating their gardens with glowing reindeer, candy canes and Santa figures.

A house decorated with Christmas lights on the Boulevard in Ivanhoe in 2015.

But residents are concerned the local tradition, which attracts thousands of sightseers, is under threat after Banyule City Council placed restrictions on the lights.

The council cancelled the lights for the first time in five decades in 2020, due to COVID-19. But this year, it said it would not promote the lights and will limit its usual December traffic management on The Boulevard to the five days before Christmas because of concerns about traffic congestion and the lack of amenities.

Anne Pegoraro has been lighting up her home on The Boulevard for 40 years but said not as many houses were decorated this year because of the council directives.

“They are only doing traffic management for five days,” she said. “Who’s going to decorate the house for five days? It’s a lot of work.

“It is quite a disgrace. I am absolutely disgusted with them.”

Pegoraro started decorating her home when her children were young and kept up the tradition because of the satisfaction she gets from seeing families enjoying the lights.

“You would think [Banyule council] would be proud to keep the tradition going but unfortunately not,” she said. “There were never any problems, [but] then some Jilly and Johnny Come Lately arrived and they want traffic management, they want this, they want that.”

Peograro said she would not be limited to five days of Christmas lights and would keep putting up decorations and lights as long as she was able.

Ivanhoe resident Jennifer Bell, right, with daughter Louise when the lights were cancelled due to COVID-19 in 2020.Credit:Justin McManus

“I’m sorry, I’ll light up when I want, not when you say,” she said. “I’m not going to light up for just one week, it’s not worth it.”

Boulevard resident Judy, who did not want her full name published, said the council had let residents and visitors down.

“If you saw the little faces of the children that come past every night when they see all the decorations and everything, it’s just delightful,” she said. “[Banyule council] used to give us money towards our electricity bills – there is none of that this year. It’s just pretty ordinary as far as I am concerned.”

Judy said the council’s stance had deterred many residents from decorating their homes this year and had cut back on her own decorations.

Christmas lights on The Boulevard, Ivanhoe, in 2011.Credit:Rebecca Hallas

“The effort you have to go to for five days,” she said. “A lot of people have said, ‘You don’t want to support us, we’re not going to do it’, which is a real shame.”

Paul Campbell has decorated his home for the 20 years he has lived on The Boulevard and has continued the tradition this year but said a decreasing number of houses were lit up.

“It’s deteriorated well and truly,” he said. “There’s been a change-over of houses, older people have moved on and new people have moved in and not necessarily bought into it.

“We have a conspiracy theory amongst a few of us that [the council] has been trying to get out of it and shut it down. It’s gone from a council event to purely a residents’ event.”

Campbell has spent around $10,000 over the years on lights and decorations, including a singing and dancing Homer Simpson, and said the decorations took several days to put up and take down every year.

A spokeswoman for Banyule council declined to comment on claims the council’s position had discouraged residents from decorating their homes and said its financial support was in line with other years.

”The Boulevard lights is a tradition of the local Ivanhoe community,” she said.

“As it has become more widely known, large crowds from across Melbourne have been drawn to this suburban residential area, creating congestion and leading to concerns about public safety and amenity for local residents. After discussions with Victoria Police, a decision has been made that council [will] not promote the event in order to reduce excessive crowd numbers and vehicles.”

Victoria Police said it had not raised any concerns about The Boulevard’s Christmas lights and did not make any recommendations to the council to stop promoting the event.

”Our main role in relation to The Boulevard Christmas Lights event is to provide officers on the evening to support the traffic management plan put in place by the council,” a Victoria Police spokesman said. “Victoria Police has worked with council to support crowd and vehicle numbers, however, any decision to promote the event is a matter solely for Banyule City Council.“

Traffic management by Banyule council for The Boulevard Christmas lights

• Traffic management from Tuesday 20 December to Saturday 24 December
• Speed limits along The Boulevard reduced to 20 km/h
• Parking not allowed in any section of The Boulevard
• Footpaths operate in one direction only
• Bollards and safety tape placed along nature strips to encourage pedestrians to remain on the footpath and deter them from walking on the road
• Temporary toilet facilities and rubbish bins 

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