By Cam Lucadou-Wells
The spectacular Christmas lights at Hugo Court, Narre Warren are bigger and stronger than ever, despite being shut down by a Victoria Police officer in the middle of the night.
The lights had been switched off on 13 December due to traffic gridlock extending to Narre Warren North Road a kilometre away.
Since the incident, an “extremely helpful” Victoria Police and City of Casey have teamed up to bring order to the traffic chaos, resident Mark Morrison said.
It includes a Casey traffic management crew closing roads and directing traffic to recommended parking areas.
Police have also stepped in to stop illegal parking on corners and nature strips.
“The council has agreed to foot the bill for the traffic management this year,” Mr Morrison said.
“There’ll be negotiations for next year, where we’re going to have to figure out how we can help finance it.”
The lights have also gathered an even stronger cult following, with thousands flocking to the event on the following weekend.
“It’s actually worked out well for us that (the shutdown) happened,” Mr Morrison said.
“By getting the police and the council on side has made a hell of a difference.
“I was stressed out on Thursday and Friday thinking how do we handle this?”
For more than a decade, every one of the court’s 10 households have hoisted elaborate light displays of Santas on sleighs, dinosaurs and even a Christmas tree of VB cans.
CFA and SES units have been known to bring in their trucks. A jolly Santa is expected to turn up on 23 December.
It was however an awful surprise for Mr Morrison when he was awoken by an “extremely angry” police member banging on his door about 10.50pm on 13 December.
“You’re causing traffic chaos,” the officer allegedly told him.
Each house was told to shut down the lights, and darkness soon descended upon the court.
A Victoria Police spokeswoman said police asked residents to turn off the lights that night to help clear away traffic due to safety issues.
Narre Warren police had since been supportive, working over several days with Casey to formulate a traffic plan, Mr Morrison said.
“We gave police a pump-up on Facebook the other day. They’re on board and we got lots of positive comments.”
In recent weeks, there had been a few complaints from neighbours. Residents said they did their best to discourage visitors driving their cars into the court.
On the residents’ Facebook page, they’ve posted suggested park-and-walk options. They may look at closing down the lights earlier on weeknights.
The crowds have swelled on the tide of social media – the lights recently gaining 190,000 visits on a post on a Mornington Peninsula-based Facebook site.
A man in the States sold resident Tim Winter an inflatable Christmas triceratops on the strength of Hugo Court’s reputation.
It takes several days for each resident to install their lights, but it’s more than worth it.
“We just want to put a smile on people’s faces,” Mr Morrison said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re 5 or 95, everyone has got a grin from ear to ear.”
Resident Kim Winter adds: “The best thing is when people say we can feel the spirit of Christmas here.”
A satisfied Mr Morrison looked out on the huge groups of smiling families and children basking in the glow of the lights on the weeken.
“I was thinking how amazing is this?
“Everyone just loves it.”
