Deck the Poles - Yuletide in Goodwood

Not exactly dazzling. Not exactly marketing.

The 2016 street Christmas Decorations, sponsored by the Goodwood Road Business Association (GRBA). Okay they were made by kids. Nobody wants to be unkind to kids. But what the kids made is not the point. The point is that the GRBA's budget of over $70,000 comes largely from a Marketing Levy imposed on businesses. Is this Marketing? Is it screaming at you of festivity, lavish spending and bustling excitement?

And further - why would anyone give a task as important as marketing business to children?

We gather that a "community artist" was engaged at the GRBA's expense to work with school children to execute "artworks" on the chain wire fence of Goodwood Primary that faces Goodwood Road. The Chair of the GRBA says the project is "ongoing" which suggests a continuing drain on the group's resources. Only a small part of the GRBA's funds is actually spent on marketing, often promoting a handful of individual businesses. A whopping 40% goes on administration while an unspecified amount goes on community development projects like the Goodwood Primary School fence.