Her Majesty The Queen, Jubilee Celebrations

Preparations are underway for the country to celebrate the 70^th anniversary for Her Majesty the Queen who has ruled for longer than any other Monarch in British history. 

Additional bank holidays have been granted, with events expected to be held between the 2 and 6 June 2022. This is an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate such a significant occasion.

Cheshire West and Chester Council are expecting to see a demand for community events and are now accepting event requests to hold street parties, put up bunting and beacons of light. The Council has produced an application form for groups that want to hold their own events, email: artswest@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk 

Councillor Louise Gittins, Leader of Cheshire West and Chester Council said: “I am sure there will be a lot of communities keen to run their own street parties. To help simplify the requests, the event application form asks for specific information for a typical event. If communities wish to hold a significantly different type of event, these can be picked up through the normal event application process. 

“If a community wants to run an event but they don’t have the experience to plan an event, please contact us. We are in touch with the Cheshire West Voluntary Action who may be able to identify a person locally who can help.” 

In line with planning for outdoor events, where a public road or park is used, the Council will require an application request and a minimum of £1m public liability insurance (online prices start from £59 depending on the complexity of the event). 

If the community event requires a road to be closed, the Council will waive the legal fee for the closure order. In all cases where a road closure is required, the organiser will need to discuss the area to be used for the event and the Council will agree the method that the road is to be closed. If there are no locally trained people, the organisers may be required to contract and cover the costs for traffic management to deliver the road closure and signage. 

As part of the approval process and to meet the requirements of legal orders and traffic signage, the deadline for bunting requests is Friday 15 April and the deadline for street party and beacon applications is Friday 22 April. 

Applications will be considered on a case-by-case basis and approved where the time scales and requirements have been met. It is important that communities work to the cut off dates so that the Council has the appropriate time to consider and grant the events.

Added Councillor Gittins: “It’s with great pride that Chester has been chosen as one of twelve Queen’s Green Canopy Champion Cities. We started our celebrations with the planting of a Jubilee Tree as a part of a borough-wide contribution to the Queen’s Green Canopy, a unique tree planting initiative created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee. A further 360 trees were planted at the Countess of Chester Community Park by over 40 volunteers. 

“In addition to street parties, tree planting and beacons, more activities will be shared including exhibitions and a Jubilee film.”