Christmas in Hamilton will look a little different this year as the Corporation of Hamilton plans a green Yuletide and foregoes real trees for artificial ones.

It will also replace the "washing line" lights that have been used to decorate the city during Christmas season for decades low-energy lighting will be used instead. The plan was revealed during the last Corporation meeting and it is hoped the new decorations will lower the city's carbon footprint and the cost of the annual celebration.

"The lights we had been using are getting pretty old and it's hard to get replacement parts," said city engineer Patrick Cooper. "We've been band-aiding them together for a few years now."

He added that new decorations are planned for the entire city. "We plan to have something for all of the main access routes to the town, like banners, and we'll still have trees in the traditional places like City Hall," Mr. Cooper said. "We'll also be working to decorate the two main shopping districts namely Reid Street and Court Street. There will also be some themed decorations in the residential area of Princess Street."

A Corporation spokesperson said that an increase in focus on Court Street came in part due to repeated complaints that the area was being ignored.

"Over the past three years, we've had a lot of comments from retail shops saying why don't you do anything in our streets.

"Year after year we're going to expand on that, building on what we're doing this year."

The Corporation warned earlier this year that it would have to limit Christmas decorations should its revenue sources be cut by Government's new Municipalities Reform Act.

With that Act passed, the spokesperson said the new decorations would save money but the environment was the main motivation for the change. "The city has been taking going green seriously. These changes will save several hundred thousand watts of energy," the spokesperson said.

The Corporation also discussed the return of the shuttle service between Bull's Head Car Park and Hamilton. It is anticipated the service will resume with the end of daylight savings time on November 7. A final announcement about the service's operating hours is expected to be made in the near future however it is thought it will run from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.