Diamond Jubilee Street Parties
The Queen's Diamond Jubilee
To mark 60 years of the
Queen’s reign the Diamond Jubilee will take place in 2012. A
special four-day Jubilee weekend, 2nd - 5th June 2012, will provide
an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate and
commemorate the events of the last 60 years.
The late May bank holiday has been
put back to Monday 4th June and an additional Jubilee bank holiday
will be held on Tuesday 5th June.
Bedford Borough
Council wants to do all it can to help local communities
mark this historic occasion with celebrations across the
Borough.
Planning a Diamond Jubilee Street Party?
A thoroughly British way
to celebrate, and a great way to get to know your neighbours, is to
organise a street party.
Bedford Borough Council
hope that the information detailed below will help groups of
friends or neighbours, parish councils, residents associations or
any other community group to plan their street party so that it
goes with a swing!
Street parties can
be organised by groups of residents for their neighbours and
are usually quite straightforward to arrange. They generally
don’t include activities that need a licence, such as selling
alcohol, trading or providing entertainment, but there’s
plenty of information below on when licences may be required.
You may want to close part, or all,
of your street for your party and for that you will need to get
permission from the Council. You may also require some
insurance to cover your event.
Help & Advice on Organising Your Diamond Jubilee Street
Party
Bedford Borough Council's
Events & Marketing Team will be running street party drop-in
sessions open for all to attend. These will take place in February
2012 and will consist of a presentation, questions &
answers and assistance in completing the application forms if
required.
If you cannot make one of
the sessions and require advice then please email
the Events & Marketing
Team or call them on 01234 221955. You can
also click
here to download the Council's Guide to Organising Safe
Events.
Road Closures
Applications to close a
road for a Diamond Jubilee street party need to be with the Council
no later than Friday 18th May 2012. This is to ensure
that we have a definitive list of closures taking place at least 2
weeks prior to the event so that the emergency services & waste
services etc. can plan accordingly.
All of the
residents & businesses on the street will need to be
consulted, and access for pedestrians, resident's vehicles and the
emergency services must be maintained.
Please be aware that
applications for major roads, through roads or roads on bus
routes are likely to be rejected due to the complications
associated with the diversions.
If approved, the Council
will not charge you for your closure.
However, you may need to source equipment such as signs
and barriers from a third party (such as a Traffic
Management company), for which they may charge.
If you wish to close a road for a
Diamond Jubilee street party then please click
here to download a Small Event Road Closure Application
Form.
For further enquiries please email the Council's
Highways
Helpdesk or call them on 01234 718003.
Alternative Locations
You don’t have to hold
your party on a street. For example, do you live near a park
or a green? It might be easier to hold your party there so that a
road closure is not required. Perhaps speak to your local
schools to see if they are doing anything.
Insurance
It is likely that Bedford Borough
Council will not require Public Liability Insurance for a street
party; however, it is recommended that you obtain some cover. The
size of your party and nature of activities planned will determine
whether there is a need for insurance.
Public Liability
Insurance can start from as little as £50 and you could split the
cost between residents or even run a raffle to cover the cost (see
below). The Streets Alive and
The Big Lunch websites offer
helpful advice on this type of insurance.
Even if your party does
not have insurance, this does not mean you need to forget about
managing and minimising any risks or hazards that may be associated
with it. A simple risk assessment may help with this.
Licensing
It is most likely
that a street party will not need a licence. For
example:
- You only need a licence if alcohol is being sold - sharing
drinks with your neighbours does not require a licence.
- As long as your street party is a private party for residents
only, the music is not advertised in advance to attract other
people and you're not charging for attendance, then you
will not need a licence. This is the case whether the music is
live or recorded.
- You only need a licence to serve food if are planning
to sell hot food and drink after 11pm.
Please email the Council's Licensing
Service or call them on 01234 221961 for further
information.
Raffles and Tombolas
If the tickets are sold
on the day and the prizes are not worth more than £500 in total,
then you won’t need a licence. However, if you want to sell tickets
in advance then you may need a lottery registration. Please
email the Council's Licensing Service or
call them on 01234 227449 for further information.
Proceeds from any
tombola/raffle should go to either a good cause or towards covering
the cost of your party.
Clearing Up Afterwards
You will need to clear up after
your street party. It’s a good idea to make sure everyone
knows what time the party will finish and to ask for volunteers in
advance to help clear up.