The former champion of a community Christmas lights competition has vowed to reclaim her title next year after taking out the runner up spot in the 2023 contest.
Greenbank resident Melissa Hayes is a self-professed Christmas light expert.
She won her first Christmas lights competition in 2020 after building a home in an estate renowned for its annual festive glow showdown.
Ms Hayes won the competition again in 2022 with her elaborate and colourful decorations and took out second place in the 2023 contest.
“Winning is obviously great, but I understand there were new entries this year who hadn’t done it before, so they’ve got to be fair,” she joked.
“I think that’s the way I’ve got to look at it – I’m very competitive.”
Ms Hayes said she would “without a doubt” participate in the competition next year so she could reclaim her title.
“I just wish I could change my property so that I didn’t need my driveway – then I could have more space,” she said.
The Hayes would decorate their homes long before they moved to the Greenbank estate.
“We used to do it in our old house, and we just continued the Christmas spirit here,” Ms Hayes said.
“Each year we like to get bigger and better.
“We’ve got a lot of space here, but we need our driveway for everyday use so that can get tricky.”
The extensive decorations take about a whole weekend to set up, she said.
“We set them up in the second last weekend of November, and do the final touches on the last weekend of November so it’s ready for December.”
But this isn’t just a one-weekend endeavour for Ms Hayes; she’s planning next year’s decorations almost 12 months in advance.
“We take advantage of the Boxing Day sales – we get some new stuff, so it looks different each year,” she said.
With such a huge set up, she’s lucky to get the help of her two kids.
“They help initially, but then they get over it,” Ms Hayes said.
“They do enjoy part of it – we have our dinner outside sometimes under the lights.”
She said much of the local community gets behind the Christmas spirit.
“I love doing it not only for my kids but watching the other kids and people in the estate enjoy it,” Ms Hayes said.
“I’ve got cameras so when I hear someone out there, I just have a bit of a watch as the kids watch the lights and the Santa pop out of the Christmas tree.”
Christmas light decorations can be found at Greenbank on the following streets: Coringley Road, Talbot Drive, Bignell Circuit, Hereford Road, Kakadu Street, Australis Circuit.
