REVELLERS planning to hold street parties to celebrate the Queen's Golden Jubilee have been warned they could face a hefty bill.
Unless Lancashire County Council alters its criteria for closing roads, party organisers will have to take out third-party insurance to the tune of £5million, pay LCC a £500 administration charge for advertising and arranging the road closure and any other costs the council may incur for signs, bollards, railings and diversion routes.
The facts came to light after Rossendale Council received several applications from groups wishing to shut off their street, get out the tables and bunting and celebrate.
But when director of development and environmental services John Cowpe looked into closing the roads for a party he found LCC criteria still applied.
His findings are revealed in a report to tonight's development and environmental services committee, but they will come as a great shock to small communities just wishing to hold a party and raise a glass to toast the Queen,
One group planning a street party is Bacup Pride Community Action Group. Treasurer Ann Sutton said they were hoping to use spare land and so the self-funded group will hopefully not incur any charges.
She said: "I was living in Blackpool when it was the Silver Jubilee and there were street parties everywhere and I don't remember them ever having to pay a fee so why now? I think it is disgusting. We are only organising this event to instill a bit of community spirit for the people.
"We are planning to have a fun day on June 3 with stalls, a car boot sale, tombola, and fun for all the family."
At the meeting Mr Cowpe is recommending all applications for road closure be submitted by the end of March so that the necessary advertising and views of emergency services can be obtained.
His report also states all applications for closure should be accompanied by evidence of insurance cover and the major roads and heavily trafficked routes should not be considered for parties.
Mr Cowpe points out that if the council considers waiving the £500 administrative charge the county council might seek to recover the cost from Rossendale.
A spokesman for Lancashire County Council confirmed the information going to Rossendale councillors was correct, but said: "We are reviewing the issue at the moment. We are aware that people might want to close streets and hold events to celebrate the jubilee and we are discussing what to do."
Pendle Council's principal committee administrator Geoff Yates said: "We will be releasing information about what is happening in Pendle and how the council can help the people in organising street parties in about a week.
"We are producing a leaflet with guidelines which says that everyone is advised to take out public liability insurance but that the council can arrange it for them at a cost of £105 if people want us to do that.
"As far street parties go we will waive the charge for road closures as long as requests are received by Friday, May 3."
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