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The Canberra CBD group has abandoned the city's hanging flower pots, directing the money instead to more lights in the city's trees. For about eight years, the Planter People have had the contract to install hanging baskets on light poles in the city over the summer months. Numbers and costs have been cut in the past two years to 1364 pots of petunias, costing $194,000 a year (including GST). This year, Canberra CBD, a business group funded by a government levy on owners, went to tender for the first time for the flower displays. But chairman Tony Hedley said after considering the tenders submitted the group had decided not to renew the contract and to spend the money instead on significant extra lighting. "In considering the tenders we took the view that we could get bigger bang for our buck in extending the lights," he said. "The flowers were only there for a few months in the summer ... The board took the view that the lights would be a permanent 365 days of the year beautification to the city." Canberra CBD chief executive Jane Easthope said lights were currently in 130 trees. The plan was to install more on a longer east-west axis, if possible all the way to Childers Street near the Australian National University, and to create a new north-south axis linking the city to Braddon. But with no power in the centre of Lonsdale Street, the group was exploring solar lighting or another method to get lights to the centre trees. It had also offered to put money towards an upgrade of Elouera Street between Lonsdale and Mort, if the government provided budget funding, she said. Ms Easthope said city traders did not believe the flowers would "bring new trade to their door". "It certainly improved the amenity of the city, there's no doubt. People admired them and commented positively. But we need to think about what we can do with our budget," she said. Peter Conway, of the Braddon Forum business group, said the CBD group should now consider funding Floriade's move into the city, including, he suggested, plantings in the heritage areas of Braddon, such as the bottom oval at Ainslie School and the centre strip of Ainslie Avenue. Canberra CBD is considering new flower arrangements in the city, but Mr Hedley said the concept was yet to be refined. The lights bring their own challenges, with ongoing vandalism and constant repairs, and Ms Easthope said lights in 26 of the trees were in desperate need of replacement. Mr Hedley said Canberra CBD was looking for "more durable and economical" lighting solutions. It will also need approval from the ACT government to install the lights, but Mr Hedley said he didn't anticipate a problem, given the lights were seen as "activating and enlightening" the area. The hanging flower baskets were first installed in 2008 when the CBD group signed a three-year contract with the Planter People to install pots over summer, from November to March. In all, 1400 baskets were installed in 350 locations. The following year, the Planter People produced a new strain of petunias that draped over the pots better, CBD reported. In 2011, 89 locations in Braddon and 25 in the city's west were added, costing an extra $74,000. The flowers cost $258,000 a year, with the CBD group also trialling winter flower pots at the Garema Place skate rink for two years. Costs and pot numbers were cut back in the past two years. The CBD group has also been pushing for an "arbour" in City Walk leading towards Glebe Park. The Planter People could not be contacted.

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