Jubilee street parties top nine thousand – with full area breakdown
LGA media release 26 May 2012
Councils have received almost 9,500 road closure applications for Diamond Jubilee street parties next weekend.
Coupled with the tens of thousands of other events planned in gardens, parks, pubs, village greens, care homes, schools, cul-de-sacs and town squares, the scale of national celebration looks set to surpass anything experienced for decades.
Town halls have been inundated over the past few months with inquiries about the June weekend, which also includes the annual Big Lunch – this year called The Big Jubilee Lunch and a part of Buckingham Palace's Diamond Jubilee programme – and have pulled out the stops to make organising events as straightforward as possible. Many councils have waived road closures fees, offered cash grants and given out party packs.
With the majority of road closure application deadlines now past, Hertfordshire has again proven itself to be 'party central' with 451, followed by Surrey with 419. Bristol is the leading city outside London, with 91, and Wandsworth is London's leading borough with 227. However, as an illustration of the true scale of celebrations, Newham Council, which this year launched a 'Let's Get The Party Started' campaign, has received 60 road closure applications but is aware of nearly 200 other Diamond Jubilee get-togethers in its borough. In Manchester, where neighbourhood event organisers were offered grants of up to £200, the city council has received 35 road closure applications but knows of more than 200 celebrations in total.
The Big Lunch, organised by The Eden Project, gives out packs to organisers which provide invites, posters, a wall planner, stickers and recipes to help encourage neighbours to get involved. There's been an unprecedented amount of interest in this year's campaign. Streets Alive, an organisation which offers advice on community celebrations, has a Street Party Website which has seen its hits trebled in the last month to 5,000 a day.
Councils in England and Wales received about 5,500 street party road closure applications for last year's Royal Wedding.
Cllr Flick Rea, Chair of the LGA's Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said:
"As early as January councils were reporting a high interest in street parties and it soon became clear that we were going to see more than for the Royal Wedding. It seems people had such a great time at street parties last year that they want hold one again, and many of those who didn't get involved don't want to miss out this time round. Britain's street party tradition has been well and truly resurrected which is fantastic as it helps bring communities closer together.
"These road closure street parties are just the tip of the iceberg. There will be tens of thousands of other events in gardens, parks, pubs, village greens, care homes, schools, cul-de-sacs, driveways, community centres and town squares. The scale of national celebration looks set to be unlike anything we've experienced for decades.
"Councils have worked hard to help people hold street parties and make the process as straightforward as possible. Though the deadline for road closure applications may have passed in many areas, it's worth people contacting their council to find out as even if it is too late they may be able to suggest an alternative. There's still time for people to organise some form of celebration which doesn't require a road closure and many councils have set up websites detailing what's going on locally to help people join in open events already planned.
"Bringing communities together is something councils see as one of their key roles so it's fantastic that Diamond Jubilee weekend looks set to see people everywhere coming together to enjoy a good old knees-up."
Peter Stewart, Campaigns and Communications Director at The Eden Project, said:
"This year's Big Jubilee Lunch is set to be the biggest ever with millions of people taking part. These figures for road closures show that councils across the land are really getting behind the celebrations. It's set to be a fantastic day and we hope that people will want to do The Big Lunch in 2013 and beyond."
Diamond Jubilee road closure application top-five table:
| City/Town |
| County |
| London |
|
| Bristol | 91 | Hertfordshire | 451 | Wandsworth | 227 |
| Leeds | 72 | Surrey | 419 | Richmond | 225 |
| Birmingham | 71 | Hampshire | 316 | Sutton | 110 |
| Southend | 67 | Kent | 306 | Havering | 94 |
| Coventry | 64 | Essex | 283 | Croydon | 90 |
The LGA is launching a special Diamond Jubilee webpage featuring information and examples of what's happening locally, council case studies, an interactive street party map, street party photos and Q&A guides and documents for party organisers.
Diamond Jubilee webpage
ends
Author: LGA Media Office
Contact: Ben Knowles, Media Relations Officer, LGA, Telephone: 020 7664 3235
Notes to editors
The official Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations take place from Saturday June 2 to Tuesday June 5. The annual Big Lunch, organised by the Eden Project, is being held on the Sunday and is this year called the Big Jubilee Lunch, being a part of the Diamond Jubilee programme announced by Buckingham Palace. For more information see the link below.
The Big Lunch
The LGA's Diamond Jubilee webpage will go live tomorrow morning (25 May).
Diamond Jubilee webpage
The LGA, in partnership with members, DCLG, insurance bodies and volunteer groups, has drafted a universal two-page starter guide for community event organisers:
Starter guide for community event organisers
and a simple information booklet for councillors:
Information booklet.
Breakdown of Diamond Jubilee road closure applications per council, as of May 24. In two-tier areas the county and districts are grouped together. The exact figure is 9,384 (London – 1,994, England – 7,037, Wales – 353). To get figures for any authorities not listed, contact those authorities.
| London
Barking and Dagenham – 5 Barnet – 85 Bexley – 56 Brent – 14 Camden – 40 Corporation of London – 8 Croydon – 90 Ealing – 86 Enfield – 58 Greenwich – 39 Hackney – 26 Hammersmith & Fulham – 43 Haringey – 33 Harrow – 42 Havering – 94 Hillingdon – 87 Hounslow – 36 Islington – 31 Kensington and Chelsea – 21 Kingston – 48 Lambeth – 66 Lewisham – 59 Merton – 62 Newham – 60 Redbridge – 59 Richmond – 225 Southwark – 57 Sutton – 110 Tower Hamlets – 17 Waltham Forest – 55 Wandsworth – 227 Westminster – 55
England Barnsley – 13 Bath and North East Somerset – 40 Bedford – 31 Birmingham – 71 Blackburn with Darwen – 8 Bolton – 14 Bournemouth – 45 Bracknell Forest – 16 Bradford – 29 Brighton and Hove – 62 Bristol – 91 Buckinghamshire – 113 (Aylesbury Vale – 41, Chiltern – 33, South Bucks – 14, Wycombe – 26) Bury – 32 Calderdale – 25 Cambridgeshire – 97 (Cambridge – 26, East Cambridgeshire – 11, Fenland – 8, Huntingdonshire – 25, South Cambridgeshire – 27) Central Bedfordshire – 54 Cheshire East – 72 Cheshire West and Chester – 59 Cornwall – 71 Coventry – 64 Cumbria – 43 (Allerdale – 7, Barrow in Furness – 10, Carlisle – 5, Copeland – 7, Eden – 6, South Lakeland – 8) Darlington – 16 Derby – 25 Derbyshire – 77 (Amber Valley - 20, Bolsover – 6, Chesterfield – 4, Derbyshire Dales – 10, Erewash – 23, High Peak – 11, North East Derbyshire – 3) Devon – 119 (East Devon – 18, Exeter – 18, Mid Devon – 17, North Devon – 9, South Hams – 19, Teignbridge – 19, Torridge – 9, West Devon – 10) Doncaster – 7 Dorset – 108* (Christchurch – 18, East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck and West Dorset – 77, Weymouth and Portland – 13) Dudley – 24 Durham – 29 East Riding of Yorkshire – 40 East Sussex – 109 (Eastbourne – 15, Hastings – 16, Lewes – 27, Rother – 22, Wealden – 29) Essex – 283 (Basildon – 40, Braintree – 20, Brentwood – 23, Castle Point – 22, Chelmsford – 41, Colchester – 19, Epping Forest – 22, Harlow – 11, Maldon – 12, Rochford – 24, Tendring – 21, Uttlesford – 28) Gateshead – 7 Gloucestershire – 171 (Cheltenham – 40, Cotswolds – 48 Forest of Dean – 14 Gloucester – 14, Stroud – 36, Tewkesbury – 19) Halton – 12 Hampshire 316 – (Basingstoke and Deane – 21, East Hampshire – 24, Eastleigh – 30, Fareham – 49, Gosport – 20, Hart – 27, Havant – 28, New Forest – 25, Rushmoor – 12, Test Valley – 33, Winchester – 47) Hartlepool – 12 Herefordshire – 26 Hertfordshire – 451 (Broxbourne – 25, Dacorum – 52, East Herts – 54, Hertsmere – 43, North Herts – 49, St Albans – 95, Stevenage – 17, Three Rivers – 52, Watford – 30, Welwyn Hatfield – 34) Hull – 10 Isle of Wight – 14 Isles of Scilly – 1 Kent – 306 (Ashford – 27, Canterbury – 31, Dartford – 13, Dover – 18, Gravesham – 14, Maidstone – 38, Sevenoaks – 34, Shepway – 22, Swale – 20, Thanet – 20, Tonbridge and Malling – 31, Tunbridge Wells – 38) Kirklees – 8 Knowsley – 15 Lancashire – 135 (Burnley – 14, Chorley – 18, Fylde – 10, Hyndburn – 10, Lancaster – 5, Pendle – 17, Preston – 6, Ribble Valley – 5, Rossendale – 8, South Ribble – 18, West Lancashire – 10, Wyre – 14) Leeds – 72 Leicester – 22 Leicestershire – 86 (Blaby – 9, Charnwood – 24, Hinckley and Bosworth – 11, Harborough – 12, Melton – 12, North West Leicestershire – 10, Oadby and Wigston – 8) Lincolnshire – 52 (Boston – 1, East Lindsey – 6, Lincoln – 8, North Kesteven – 14, South Holland – 5, South Kesteven – 10, West Lindsey – 8)
| Liverpool – 39 Luton – 13 Manchester – 35 Medway – 31 Middlesbrough – 13 Milton Keynes – 46 Newcastle upon Tyne – 19 Norfolk – 100 (Breckland – 20, Broadland – 13, Great Yarmouth – 9, King's Lynn & West Norfolk – 17, North Norfolk – 14, Norwich – 16, South Norfolk – 11) North East Lincolnshire – 15 North Lincolnshire – 17 North Somerset – 31 North Tyneside – 55 North Yorkshire – 64 (Craven – 4, Hambleton – 9, Harrogate – 26, Richmondshire – 1, Ryedale – 11, Scarborough – 7, Selby – 6) Northamptonshire – 160 (Corby – 6, Daventry – 22, East Northamptonshire – 32, Kettering – 22, Northampton – 41, South Northamptonshire – 23, Wellingborough – 14) Northumberland – 18 Nottingham – 26 Nottinghamshire – 176 (Ashfield – 11, Bassetlaw – 20, Broxtowe – 23, Gedling – 33, Mansfield – 5, Newark and Sherwood – 27, Rushcliffe – 57) Oldham – 8 Oxfordshire – 177 (Cherwell – 32, Oxford – 37, South Oxfordshire – 45, Vale of White Horse – 39, West Oxfordshire – 24) Peterborough – 12 Plymouth – 25 Poole – 61 Portsmouth – 47 Reading – 45 Redcar and Cleveland – 11 Rochdale – 20 Rotherham – 17 Salford – 24 Sandwell – 4 Sefton – 63 Sheffield – 57 Shropshire – 53 Solihull – 43 Somerset – 72 (Mendip – 12, Sedgemoor – 16, South Somerset – 26, Taunton Deane – 15, West Somerset – 3) South Gloucestershire – 57 South Tyneside – 18 Southampton – 45 Southend-on-Sea – 67 St Helens – 15 Staffordshire – 86 (Cannock Chase – 9, East Staffordshire – 19, Litchfield – 9, Newcastle-under-Lyme – 10, South Staffordshire – 7, Stafford – 20, Staffordshire Moorlands – 11, Tamworth – 1) Stockport – 34 Stockton-on-Tees – 30 Stoke-on-Trent – 19 Suffolk – 90** (Babergh, Forest Heath, Ipswich – 21, Mid Suffolk, St Edmundsbury, Suffolk Coastal, Waveney) Sunderland – 13 Surrey – 419 (Elmbridge – 60, Epsom and Ewell – 42, Guildford – 31, Mole Valley – 43, Reigate and Banstead – 39, Runnymede – 37, Spelthorne – 19, Surrey Heath – 22, Tandridge – 30, Waverley – 56, Woking – 40) Swindon – 40 Tameside – 1 Telford and Wrekin – 8 Thurrock – 24 Torbay – 23 Trafford – 64 Wakefield – 9 Walsall – 20 Warrington – 34 Warwickshire – 107 (North Warwickshire – 10, Nuneaton and Bedworth – 15, Rugby – 26, Stratford-on-Avon – 22, Warwick – 34) West Berkshire – 24 West Sussex – 198 (Adur – 21, Arun – 29, Chichester – 29, Horsham – 51, Mid Sussex – 37, Worthing – 31) Wigan – 38 Wiltshire – 126 Windsor and Maidenhead – 60 Wirral – 64 Worcestershire 72 – (Bromsgrove – 11, Malvern Hills – 5, Redditch – 4, Worcester – 11, Wychavon – 27, Wyre Forest – 14) Wokingham – 45 Wolverhampton – 12 Wychavon – 27 Wyre Forest – 14 York – 43
Wales
Anglesey – 8 Blaenau Gwent – 7 Bridgend – 19 Caerphilly – 18 Cardiff – 58 Carmarthenshire – 6 Ceredigion – 1 Conwy – 24 Denbighshire – 6 Flintshire – 14 Gwynedd – 3 Monmouthshire – 12 Neath Port Talbot – 19 Newport – 23 Pembrokeshire – 11 Powys – 21 Rhondda Cynon Taff – 28 Swansea – 40 Torfaen – 10 Vale of Glamorgan – 9 Wrexham – 16
|
* Dorset County Council collected figures for East Dorset, North Dorset, Purbeck and West Dorset (77) and cannot break them down per authority.
** Suffolk County Council collected for its districts (69), except Ipswich, and cannot break them down per authority.
The top-five table for the 2011 Royal Wedding:
| City |
| County |
| London |
|
| Bristol | 54 | Hertfordshire | 298 | Richmond | 85 |
| Cardiff | 52 | Surrey | 205 | Wandsworth | 79 |
| Milton Keynes | 34 | Kent | 182 | Newham | 67 |
| Winchester | 33 | West Sussex | 113 | Bromley | 51 |
| Newcastle | 32 | Gloucestershire | 97 | Croydon | 49 |
13 August 2012
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