OSWESTRY councillors have voted in favour of the return of a popular town centre event.

At the council’s Markets and Town Centre Committee meeting last Wednesday, members backed Cllr Jay Moore’s joint notion with Cllr Paul Milner to bring back the popular Oswestry Live event, to be renamed Oswestry Party in the Park, but some expressed concerns about security.

Much of the feedback given was positive, but Cllr Moore did address the concerns expressed and asked to be given the opportunity to give the event a go.

“With concerns about security... we don’t need to fill the park with security,” he said. “We need to deploy youth workers into the park to work with the young people and use it as an engagement opportunity.

“It’s so important we use this as a vehicle to bring in young people. With the lack of things for young people to do in Oswestry, this ticks all those boxes. It’s a fantastic opportunity and it’s something that’s widely-wanted.

“The issues are all things that we had happen 10 years ago when we didn’t have councillors like us on here. I think people need to let us run with this and see if it works, and if not we can revisit that later. But give us the chance to do it because I think it’s going to be a great opportunity.”

The reassurance comes after concerns voiced by Cllr Sandy Best.

“My first point is about capacity. That is something that needs to be decided in advance then monitored,” she said. “Securing the park is actually quite costly and I do think stewards are needed to do that not volunteers. And there is the issue of how do we stop alcohol being brought into the park?”

Cllr Duncan Kerr was also in favour of the event but called for an amendment of the notion to include the formation of a working group for the event which was backed.