IT is indeed great news that the Carnival is to return to Cowley Road and a big thank-you is due to the local city and county councillors, as well as county cabinet member Rodney Rose, for responding to local concerns and making the changes to the schedule of roadworks.

But there are still funding issues to be addressed. The Green-run East Area Parliament has consistently funded the carnival – with matched funding kindly provided by the county – but following the city council’s controversial decision to abolish the area committees, this money will no longer be available.

I will be joining the local Green councillors in lobbying the city to make equivalent funds available from its central grants budget but, clearly, this situation is less than satisfactory and amounts to a further centralisation of decision-making.

There is also the issue of the closure of St Clement’s car park – again opposed by the East Area Parliament but pushed through by the Labour administration.

Not only will this disproportionately affect the small, local businesses in Cowley Road and St Clements Street in the medium term but, in the shorter term, it will impact on the carnival as the off-street parking is critical to the success of the event.

Craig Simmons, Founder member of Cowley Road Carnival, Former East Oxford city and county councillor, Magdalen Road, Oxford