Christmas 2018 on The Levee was not everyone's cup of tea with traditional decorations scrapped and replaced with an Australiana theme.
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There was a ute, a Hills Hoist, cricket bats and balls, thongs - even the odd surfboard.
There were calls from traders to bring back the traditional decorations including the huge nutcrackers which stood pride of place at entry points to the shopping precinct.
This year they're back.
Maitland City Council announced the nutcrackers' comeback this week during discussion on The Levee Marketing and Activity Plan.
The 2019-2020 plan is the guiding document for marketing and activity for The Levee over the next financial year. It was adopted unanimously.
The plan was developed with input from an online survey to traders in April and distributed to the wider trader and building owner community for input.
During the discussion Cr Mitchell Griffin said it was good to see the traditional decorations would return.
"There were a lot of comments and commentary when they went away," he said.
"It was good to see the ute in the mall but a lot of people missed those traditional items. I heard a lot of feedback and glad we have returned to the traditional Christmas decorations this year," he said.
Commenting on the plan itself, Cr Robert Aitchison said the previous plan had worked well for the community. "We have seen the events our teams are putting together and they are growing all the time," he said. "The Winter Solstice is something new and an event I'm looking forward to.
"The plan is all about finding ways to bring people to The Levee and the spin off from that goes through the city," Cr Aitchison said.
Cr Philip Penfold asked council's marketing manager Rachel MacLucas what interaction council had with property owners and business people on The Levee in preparation of the plan.
Ms MacLucas said a draft copy of the plan was circulated to all traders within the precinct and all those who pay a levy. "When we get towards the end of the previous year's plan we put out a survey to ask what worked and what didn't work," she said. "It wasn't an overwhelming response but there were some and we try to adapt to meet those needs where possible," she said.
Cr Henry Meskauskas said not everyone in The Levee zone reaps the benefit of the rate levy they pay for marketing and promotions. He called for a rate reduction for those who don't benefit such as Maitland RSL Sub-Branch. "We have to pay an extra $6500 a year and we get nothing - you don't advertise for us," he said.