TEST Valley Borough Council leader Ian Carr has defended plans for a £26,000 festival to mark the re-opening of the High Street.

The plans, which have come in for some criticism, involve schools and the community in a three-month project culminating in a Time Ring Festival in December.

Cllr Carr told members of the full council last week that a major part of the festival would be engendering some civic pride in young people.

"People may say that's a waste of money but when you try to introduce some civic pride into youngsters, then I think that money is well spent," he said.

He added that the initial interest had been 'overwhelming' with 20 schools from Test Valley wanting to take part.

The Isle of Wight Carnival team, which has been working on top carnival events since 1984, has been brought in to work with a number of schools.

"There are 11 icons of the Time Ring so the themes will be allocated to schools and teachers will be given transferable, sustainable skills in carnival to teach their chosen pupils," said Mr Carr.

The community element will involve the Isle of Wight team offering a certified course in lantern-making with up to 30 community leaders.

A series of workshops will be held in a variety of places including the library, museum and estates, and it is estimated that up to 300 people could be involved in this element of the procession.

Mr Carr said: "The schools and the community group will parade together over the time period of up to an hour."

There will also be samba bands, drumming and steel bands walking with the procession.

A total of £15,000 will come from the capital budget for the High Street improvement, a further £10,000 is available from Hampshire County Council and a £1,000 contribution is available from the borough council's estates services.