Councillors unanimously agreed the changes to the annual Newton Aycliffe Santa Tours, which have been a cherished tradition for six decades.
The tours will go ahead this year, but with a revised ‘hybrid model’ to meet updated safety and insurance requirements.
In previous years, Santa would tour every street in the Great Aycliffe area, stopping to greet children and their families – an event which was greatly anticipated by residents every year.
But, the council proposed making changes due to recently updated health and safety advice, something that was met with anger from residents.
The issue was debated at a meeting at Great Aycliffe Town Council last week (November 28), which was attended by dozens of members of the public.
No resolution was made, and the meeting was postponed following a heated debate, which sparked outrage from hundreds of residents the week prior.
Last night (December 3), the council voted unanimously to accept the new proposal, which will see Santa at designated meeting points in the town.
The new compromised solution includes five Santa Tours routes that will take place, using only council-owned vehicles.
The council’s head of leisure, Judith Thexton told the meeting last night, the changes to the Santa Tours are “necessary”.
She said: “Following an informal meeting on Monday, the councillors were in full agreement that the changes were necessary for health and safety reasons following past incidents, and that a full review of the Santa Tours will take place early next year, which will include members of the public.”
Previous incidents include near misses with cars, verbal abuse and even Santa being pelted with stones and cans by youths.
This is not the first time the Santa Tours has faced an overhaul in the town.
In 2018 councillors floated the idea of designated stops rather than Santa visiting streets directly but backed down after a packed public meeting.
Town Clerk, Dan Austin said the changes are needed to “futureproof the event”.
He said: “I’ve lived in this town all my life, went to all the Santa tours growing up and take my children to them every year.
“The officers and I here understand just how treasured the event is. While nobody wants to see the changes made, we’ve simply got no choice but to adapt it to futureproof the event and make it safe to go ahead.”
Each tour will begin with a 45 to 60 minute meet-and-greet session, giving families the chance to see Santa at designated viewing points.
The head of leisure added: “Santa will travel slowly at 5mph through as many streets as possible but will not make unscheduled stops or ride on the rear of a vehicle.
“This is to keep in line with the updated safety guidance required to maintain insurance cover.
“All routes will operate one-way with no reversing on public roads; any necessary manoeuvres will take place only in coned-off car parks, and each Santa will have a supporting vehicle with them.
“The new solution also means we need less volunteers and vehicles which was another issue we were struggling with.”
However, the decision has been met with dismay by some residents, who feel Christmas won’t be the same in the town without the traditional tours.
Volunteer Santa Stuart Mawson, 56, who works in the emergency services, said the changes are “ridiculous”.
He said: “The new changes that have been made to the tours are killing the tradition. They may as well have scrapped the tours this year.
“There will still be lots of traffic coming into the town with people trying to access the viewing points, I think it’s ridiculous.
“The magic was that Santa would come to the children before they went to bed, I just don’t think it will have the same effect anymore.
“If the town council had spoken about the issues earlier on, I think a lot of the health and safety issues could have been sorted.”
Each tour is expected to take about four hours, to give families enough time to see Santa before the children go to bed that evening.
The council also plans to incorporate visits to major care homes into the routes to bring the Christmas spirit to residents who may be housebound and therefore cannot access the new viewing points.
A live-tracking webpage is also currently being developed to allow residents to follow Santa’s progress in real time.
Councillor Michael Stead praised the council for listening to the residents’ concerns and is grateful the cherished event is still going ahead, albeit in a new format.
He said: “Last week, residents spoke from the heart and the council listened. In that meeting, I pushed for the decision to be deferred because the Santa tour is part of who we are as a community, and scrapping the street tour element would have been the wrong call.
“I’m pleased that officers and councillors worked together to find a solution that keeps Santa on the road. This gives more people the chance to see him.”
A working party including members of the public will be established early next year to review the arrangements and consider improvements for future tours.
Two locations have been confirmed so far: the car parks at Woodham Golf Club and the Pioneering Care Centre.
Route maps and timings are yet to be finalised and will be released once approved. Further updates are expected in the coming weeks.
