A new Christmas market could be opening at Parker’s Piece in Cambridge this year.

Plans have been submitted to Cambridge City Council to host a redesigned festive event at the park for the next 10 years.

No Christmas event was held last year after the organisers of the annual ‘North Pole’ event pulled out.

The city council has now appointed Alpine Christmas Markets Ltd as the new operator to run an annual festive event in the city.

The company has submitted a planning application asking for permission to hold a “family friendly traditionally themed Christmas event” on Parker’s Piece for the next 10 years.

The event would take place from mid November to January 4, with set up and take down time also planned before and after the event.

The Christmas market is proposed to take place in the same part of Parker’s Piece as previous events next to Gonville Place.

Organisers have said the new event will include an open air ice rink, a lodge bar, Christmas market stalls in traditional timber cabins, food and drink stands, a Santa workshop, a Christmas tree maze, curling lanes, heated domes, and traditional fairground rides including a big wheel and carousel.

The event is proposed to open seven days a week 10am to 10pm on Sunday to Wednesday, and 10am to 11pm on Thursday to Saturday.

The organisers said they hoped their plans address concerns some people had about the event.

Planning documents submitted as part of the application said: “The Christmas event has been re-designed in response to the feedback provided from previous events to create a high quality and family friendly attraction with a Christmas theme for the community, including an ice rink, food and drink concessions, and market stalls.

“The event has however responded to concerns raised in terms of noise and disturbance and has removed ‘thrill’ type fairground rides, which have been replaced by a traditional big wheel and carousel, which won’t be highly lit and due to their nature won’t generate significant levels of noise.

“The height of perimeter fencing has also been reduced, with a low level picket fence proposed to enclose the public event space to provide greater views and interaction with the wider area.”

Concerns were raised by councillors previously about the damage events had caused to the grass on Parker’s Piece.

The last event that was held in 2021 was only given temporary permission for that year due to these concerns.

The new proposals include a report specifically explaining how the organisers hope to protect and re-establish the grass impacted by the event.

The plans set out how they intend to improve the health of the grass ahead of installing the rides and ice rink.

The report said the organisers propose to use an “innovative grass plant regulator” which it said will slow down the plants growth and make the turf “less susceptible to stress”.

It added protection will be put down before the rides are installed and said the area is proposed to be fenced off after the rides are removed to allow the turf to receiver.

The application is now expected to be considered by the city council before a decision is made on whether the event can go ahead.