A RELAUNCHED balloon festival, planned to take place at an Oxford park at the end of summer, has prompted concerns about traffic congestion from householders living near the site.

A Balloon Fiesta is due to return to Cutteslowe Park, north Oxford, in August, for the first time since the early 2000s, though organisers are unsure whether it will still go ahead due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park and Harbord Road Area Residents Association have said they want to see the festival, organised by Show Time Events, go ahead, but are worried about the large amount of cars which may turn up.

The Friends of Cutteslowe and Sunnymead Park and Harbord Road Area Residents Association have said they want to see the festival, organised by Show Time Events, go ahead, but are worried about the large amount of cars which may turn up.

They want Oxford City Council to encourage people to use public transport to get to the event – a move backed by a city council environmental advocate.

Caroline Johnson, chairwoman of Harbord Road Area Residents Association said “Show Time Events has said that it plans to draw people from an estimated 35 mile radius.

“The focus on car use and free car parks seems to us to be very much at odds with the council’s declaration of a climate emergency and its strategy of keeping cars out of the city.”

She said residents had complained that bringing people into the city in cars was not sustainable, and were worried about the emissions this could cause.

She said the park was "extremely well-served by public transport and the council should be enforcing this as the means of travel".

David Bailey of Show Time Events, which is planning to run the festival said there had been a long planning and consultation process for the balloon fiesta after the company submitted an event application to the city council.

Mr Bailey said a traffic management plan was also in place to stop long queues and to prevent people parking on residential streets and causing a nuisance for nearby residents.

But he added the festival was currently under review because of the coronavirus lockdown.

Mr Bailey said: “We have not yet decided to put it on because we are waiting to see what happens with Covid-19.”

He added the company was due to review its plans at the end of April.

Tom Hayes, Oxford City Council’s cabinet member for a zero carbon Oxford, said he would encourage people to use public transport to attend the festival.

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He said: “Nobody knows when the government-required lockdown is going to end and it is entirely possible that this fiesta may not take place.

“If it does, then of course the council, because of its commitment to creating a zero carbon city, would like people attending the festival to make their way there using sustainable transport.”

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Mr Hayes said the fiesta might be the ‘form of human contact’ people needed when the lockdown is lifted.

Show Time Events runs other balloon festivals in Cheltenham and Staffordshire. Oxford used to have a balloon festival at Cutteslowe Park in the early 2000s.