Is Oxfordshire County Council being inflexible in its attitude towards this summer’s Cowley Road Carnival? We think so.

This event takes place on one Sunday of the year and it is the overwhelming feeling of everyone that it should take place in Cowley Road.

If Oxford cannot afford the closure of Cowley Road for festivities on one day of the year, whether or not Iffley Road is being resurfaced at the same time, then this is a poor place indeed.

The priority of the council should not be to say no. It should be to find a way to ensure that Cowley Road can be closed for this year’s carnival.