About New Forest Safety Advisory Group (SAG)

The New Forest Safety Advisory Group (SAG) offers independent advice to event organisers, to ensure high standards of public safety at events and to encourage the wellbeing of all those affected by such events, both those attending or participating, and those in the surrounding area.

If you are an event organiser, it is good practice, and you are recommended to make use of the expert advice of the Safety Advisory Group. They will consider your event and information that you have provided and may give advice to help it to run more smoothly.

If advice is given it is your responsibility to take any appropriate action.

As the Safety Advisory Group is advisory, it does not have any power to approve or prohibit events from taking place, although individual members of the group can take their own action if deemed necessary.

Membership

The Safety Advisory Group brings together the agencies that have an interest in the safety and environmental impact of public events.

Core members of the group are:

• police
• fire and rescue service
• ambulance service
• New Forest District Council (Environmental Health, Licensing, Development Control and Enforcement)
• Hampshire County Council (Highways, Emergency Planning and Public Health)

Additional people may also be invited to advise on certain events, for example: The Forestry Commission, New Forest National Park, public transport providers, town centre managers, Primary Care Trust.

Events the Safety Advisory Group is consulted on

When you notify us of an event, if the level of risk is deemed to be sufficient, we will share the information with the Safety Advisory Group. 

We will generally share information in respect of:

• events with more than 500 attendees
• potentially hazardous events such as fireworks displays
• events which may impact local people, such as cycling events
• events with a particular audience profile

Examples of events to tell us about

• open air concerts and music festivals
• firework displays
• horse shows, agricultural shows, dog shows, car or caravan shows
• open air entertainment including theatre, opera and historic re-enactments
• fetes and fairs
• trade shows
• sporting and cycling events
• processions, marches, parades and carnivals
• street parties

For details on how to notify the Safety Advisory Group about your event see Tell us about a public event.