Street Parties and Small community events

Street parties 

Organising a street party is very simple, especially if you share tasks amongst your neighbours. See the Street Party website for a wealth of helpful tips and advice on holding a successful street party.

You and your neighbours can apply for a temporary road closure to host a street party. There is no charge for this application.

If you cannot close your road, you could instead plan a simpler Street Meet at short notice. 

If your event is likely to attract more than 200 people, please see Organising an event, as a small-scale road closure will not be suitable for a larger event. 

Before applying for a road closure 

Firstly, decide if your road is suitable.  Closures will not normally be possible on main roads or on streets which include bus routes, taxi ranks or roads accessing public car parks. Minor residential roads are usually suitable.

Speak to all affected neighbours in writing to let them know about the plans. Not everyone will wish to be part of your celebration, so please make sure that everyone is advised of what is happening, when and where.

You can download and use our template resident letter.  

Template resident's letter - holding a street party (Word doc, 16 KB)

Please include with your application a map showing the road or section of road, to be closed, as well as a copy of the letter sent to residents.

Application form 

Although we ask for applications to be made to us at least six weeks before the event, we will do our best to accommodate applications after this date. 

Apply for a street party road closure (Word doc, 47 KB)

How much will it cost?

There is no fee for this road closure notice. However, there may be some costs to be aware of:

• the hire of road closure signs, unless you can borrow or make your own signs.
• if your event needs a Temporary Event Notice (TEN) for the sale of alcohol then this can be applied for online at Temporary Event Notices. The cost is £21 and guidance is provided on the webpage.
• for events of more than 100 individuals, you may want to consider Public Liability Insurance (see below for more information)

What to consider for your street party

You will need to consider various matters when you are planning your street party.

Plan

Include a plan of the immediate area, highlighting the road that will be closed, and specifics such as the location of signs, cones or barriers. If your road is a through road, please include on the plan a diversion route.

Signage

Give advance warning of at least one week of the road closure to alert road users of the planned closure.

During the party, position 'road closed' signs at each end of the closed section. 'Road ahead closed' and signs should be used at suitable locations to allow vehicles to turn around or divert easily.

Signs can be hired from local shops. Find out more on the Street Party website.  

Access

The event may disrupt access for residents and also emergency vehicles, should there be an emergency during the road closure. It is important that you consider how this would be managed safely, by having someone available to move barriers, walking the car through the closure, or alerting people to clear the road.  

Hours that apply

The event should not start any earlier than 8am or finish any later than 11pm. If you are providing entertainment, please be considerate to those who are not attending the event, or those with children who may be affected by noise from the activities. 

Insurance

There is no law that says you must buy insurance for a street party, but you might want to make sure you are covered in case something goes wrong and someone makes a claim against you. This voluntary event guide on GOV.UK provides information to help you to decide.

Safety

Useful advice is available to help you, as the event organiser, to consider how to keep the public safe during the street party.  Visit GOV.UK for more information on safety for street parties.

Use of bunting, banners and decorative flags

You must also inform Hampshire County Council if you wish to erect cables, banners, decorative flags, or decorative lighting over the public highway for your event. A licence for these will be required, but this licence fee and requirement for Public Liability Insurance may be waived if the event is a small street parties or an event of civic importance. See the Licences and consents page and select 'Apply for a banner consent'.

Cleaning up

Please ensure that the street and surrounding area where the event is held is left in the same condition after the event. All litter must be cleared, including any which may have blown beyond the site boundary. We may be able to lend you equipment to help with any clean up - see community litter picking for more information.

Alcohol

If you intend to sell alcohol at your event, you will need a to apply for a  temporary event notice (TEN). There is a cost of £21.

Application process 

Please ensure that the information you provide is accurate as we will use it to consult with the Police, Highways Department and the Fire and Ambulance Service. Once any safety concerns have been addressed, we will send you an order permitting the road to be legally closed.  

Small community events in public places 

There are other locations where you may be able to hold a community event or party which do not require a road closure, and should therefore be more straightforward and quicker to organise.

If you want to celebrate with a picnic or get together in the park with your neighbours you do not need permission as this wouldn't be classed as an event.

If you want to have a BBQ, gazebo or music, you would need to put in an event application. Most local parks, village greens, open spaces, cliff tops and car parks in the New Forest District are managed either by New Forest District Council, and Town or Parish Councils, so permission is required from them prior to holding your event.

For open spaces see Small community events on public open spaces for more information, for car parks contact parking.office@nfdc.gov.uk or contact Parish and town councils for events on their land.

Larger events

We will require more information about the proposed event if it is larger scale (open to anyone to attend) and you have a number of activities planned. 

You will need to consider the following:

• if your event needs a temporary event notice (TEN) for the sale of alcohol, this costs £21
• if your event is larger, we may ask you to provide additional information, to enable us to assist you to ensure that the day goes ahead safely and successfully

For advice about organising a large event, contact the New Forest Safety Advisory Group.

Contact us 

Email: traffic@nfdc.gov.uk Phone: 023 8028 5505

Licensing Services

New Forest District Council

Appletree Court

Beaulieu Road

Lyndhurst

SO43 7PA