Darryn Lyons and Stretch Kontelj discuss ways Geelong can capitalise on Christmas
Former high-profile Geelong identity Darryn Lyons and current mayor Stretch Kontelj caught up recently, with talks centred on making the Geelong “the Christmas capital of Australia”.
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Darryn Lyons may make a return to City Hall almost a decade after the council he led was unceremoniously sacked by the state government.
The colourful character caught up with Geelong mayor Stretch Kontelj recently, with the pair brainstorming ideas on how the city could further capitalise on Christmas.
As part of that conversation, Mr Kontelj said he invited Mr Lyons, who served as mayor from November 2013 to April 2016, to visit City Hall.
“We’ll have some more chats about his vision and some of the ideas he’s picked up during his world travels,” Mr Kontelj said.
“He’s always full of good ideas.
“He’ll be back in town again soon, so I’ll have another catch up with him before he heads off overseas.”
Mr Kontelj said much of the conversation was focused on how Geelong celebrates Christmas, with the pair council colleagues in 2014 when the floating Christmas tree debuted.
“We were looking at the Christmas tree, seeing what else is possibly there, whether we could go a little taller, how we can activate Christmas a little more in future years,” Mr Kontelj said.
”He (Lyons) was a big fan of making Geelong the Christmas capital of Australia.
“I think we can do more as a city in relation to activating Christmas, having Christmas markets and stalls and come up with something that makes the city more of a destination and brings people to the CBD.”
Mr Kontelj resigned from council in July 2015 due to an overseas work posting, less than a year before the council was sacked by the state government over what it said were “serious governance failures”.
“The people of Geelong deserve better,” Local Government Minister Natalie Hutchins said at the time.
“The city is too important for it to be run by a dysfunctional council that is simply unable to work together.”
Mr Lyons unsuccessfully stood as an independent in the Geelong electorate at the 2018 state election, receiving 24.7 per cent of the primary vote but losing out to Christine Couzens.
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Originally published as Darryn Lyons and Stretch Kontelj discuss ways Geelong can capitalise on Christmas