The Northampton Balloon Festival could face axe

The Northampton Balloon Festival could be scrapped.

The announcements were made last night as part of Northampton Borough Council’s budget plans.

Defending the plans, the leader of the authority, Councillor Tony Woods (Lib Dem, St Davids) said: “This is a challenging time for this council and most other councils in the country.

“No authorities are flush with money at the moment.”

Guildhall officials announced in October the authority faced a budget shortfall of £7.2m, partly due to the impact of the credit crunch.

Last night the authority revealed that figure had now grown to £7.4m.

And the council’s budget documents suggest one way of saving cash could be to “cease the Balloon Festival and explore alternative events in parallel with the Market Square Development”.

But Councillor Woods insisted the festival would not certainly be scrapped, adding: “We’re looking at whether we continue with it as it is or modify it and make it into a summer festival linked to the Market Square.

“It could perhaps be a smaller Balloon Festival, like it was in earlier years.”

After the council’s financial problems were first revealed earlier in the year, speculation mounted that job cuts could be on the cards at the Guildhall.

But Councillor Woods dismissed speculation job losses could be in the high hundreds, adding: “One change we’ll be looking at is a reduction in agency staff, so there will be people leaving the organisation who have been with us quite some time.

“There are likely to be some redundancies, but the rumours that have been flying around have been grossly overstated.”

Council workers who face the risk of losing their jobs will be issued ‘at risk’ letters soon, while public consultation on service cuts will begin in January.

Other plans which are expected to be announced when the full budget is published today include reducing work on local nature reserves, making efficiency savings in community centres and the possible closure of Northampton Museum for up to two days a week.

Tags: Alternative Events, Event Budget Cuts, Northampton Balloon Festival, Northampton Borough Council's

Category: Credit Crunch, Festival News