Fancy putting on your own street party for the Royal Wedding?

Residents in Liverpool are being invited to organise street parties to celebrate the Royal Wedding.

The legal cost of arranging a road closure for an event to mark the wedding of HRH Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday 19 May is being waived and the city council will also provide signage and cones, with organisers only having to arrange public liability insurance.

Assistant Mayor and Cabinet member for culture, Cllr Wendy Simon, said: “Liverpool comes together at times of celebration and we know there will be communities interested in holding a street party to mark the Royal Wedding. Our aim is to make it as simple and easy as possible for them to do so.”

Separately, the city council has also established a Liverpool-wide Community Events Order, which means that from now on, people wanting to hold community events or street parties lasting up to three hours do not have to apply for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO), which previously cost them in excess of £2,000.

It will allow the closure of roads so that regular community events or street parties can take place, and has the benefit of allowing children to play safely in traffic-free areas, creating safer zones and encouraging young people to get active outdoors, improving their health and wellbeing.

Residents interested in either arranging a street party for the Royal Wedding on 19 May – or other community events needing a road closure between now and April 2019 – must apply at www.liverpool.gov.uk/streetparties by 30 April 2018. 

Cabinet member for highways, Cllr Steve Munby added: “The Community Events Order enables the city council to cover the costs of a one-off, annual Traffic Regulation Order which gives communities the freedom to put on an event in their area.

“Not only is it a simple and effective way to encourage children to play out on traffic-free streets, but in turn, it gives neighbours the chance to socialise, growing the community spirit and engendering pride in where people live.”

Events must be funded and organised by applicants, and major roads and bus routes are exempt. The council does not provide bollards or road closure signs for events other than a Royal wedding or Jubilee event.

The initiative forms part of Play Streets – a nationwide drive for local authorities to develop a scheme that will encourage young people to play safely on the streets.

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