By Dave Woodhall.
It really is just like the eighties again. With widespread cuts threatening a return to recession and rising unemployment, there’s a royal wedding on the horizon to take our minds off the impending gloom. And Birmingham city council today outlined the process for any loyal subjects who wish to share in the happy couple’s, er, happiness by holding a street party.
As staging such an event usually involves having to close the road on which it is being held, and therefore entry/access along it, party organisers need to obtain permission from the city council for a road closure to be put in place.
Rather than processing all closures individually the council plans to grant one overall traffic order which covers all approved closures across the city, thereby minimising costs and administration. The Council will be doing this on April 1st (quiet at the back), so anyone interested in staging an event needs to get in touch with the authority as soon as possible.
Before applying for a closure anyone wishing to organise a party is advised to contact the council informally in the first instance for specific advice on the suitability and likely outcome of their individual plans. They may also like to ask their neighbours if they mind being unable to leave their street for a few hours while the local kids run riot through everyone’s front garden.
Officers will at this stage be able to advise if an application is unlikely to succeed for any reason, for example a road being on a bus route, providing access to key public/business premises or being a through route.
Before making a formal application all organisers must also be able to prove they have arranged suitable public liability insurance to cover the event. The cost of the closure will vary depending on the scale of work involved in processing and implementing specific closures. However, engineers based in Constituency Offices will be able to advise on this at the informal enquiry stage.
Alternatively, you could stay at home, close the curtains and ignore the whole thing.
