Guide to closing a road for a street party or event
Guide to closing a road for a street party or event
Traditional street party
A traditional street party has:
- simple tables and chairs on one road
- less than 500 people attending
- no sale of alcohol
- no entertainment like live music or performances
You’ll need a Street Party Road Closure Order and no other licence. You won't
Allow at least 8 weeks to apply for the road closure.
Large street party
A larger street party has
- less than 500 people attending
- sale of alcohol
- entertainment like live music or performances
You’ll need a:
- Street Party Road Closure Order
- Temporary Event Notice (TEN) which costs £21
You won’t
Allow at least 8 weeks to apply for the Street Party Road Closure Order and the Temporary Event Notice.
Street event
A street event has
more than one road closedmore than 500 people attending. Ifmore than 5000 are attending,you should give us 8 months’ notice. Ifmore than 20,000 are attending,you should give us 12 months’ notice.- sale of alcohol
- entertainment like live music or performances
- items like portable toilets, generators, staging, funfair rides, catering, trade stalls and lighting on site
You’ll need either a:
- Street Party Road Closure Order, or
- Section 16 application form
Street Party Road Closure Order
You’ll need a Street Party Road Closure Order if your event:
- has less than
an estimated 1000 people attending - doesn’t involve closing a traffic sensitive road
A Street Party Road Closure Order is free.
Section 16
You’ll need a Section 16 if your event is a large street event and involves the closure of a traffic sensitive road or if you want to close
A Section 16 costs £584. There’s an extra charge of £584 if it:
- involves multiple roads
- is
city-wide - is likely to require additional Council resources, such as attendance by Network Management Officer,
due to the nature of the event
Contact traffic@bristol.gov.uk if you’re not sure the road you want to close is likely to have a strong impact on traffic.
In both cases you’ll also need:
You should allow:
- 8 weeks to apply for the road closure and premises license
- three months to apply for the site permission and the Section 16 licence
We won’t accept late applications.
Apply for a Road Closure Order
Apply for a Road Closure Order
When you
- upload a street closure plan, such as a screenshot or a sketch map
- let us know what signs and barriers you’ll have in place to make sure your road closure is safe
- attach a copy of your letter to residents, telling them about the road closure
Apply for a Section 16
Before you
- get a valid Public Liability Insurance certificate covering the dates of your event
- send a letter to all properties (pdf, 26KB) (opens new window) affected, telling them about the road closure
During your application
- a full list of all the roads (word doc, 131KB) (opens new window) you want to close with the corresponding dates and times
- street closure plan, such as a screenshot or a sketch map
- traffic management document (pdf, 23KB) (opens new window)
- copy of your letter to residents, telling them about the road closure
list of all the properties your letter was sent to- copy of your Public Liability Insurance certificate
Make sure you have all your documents ready as you won’t be able to save your form once you start.
Contact traffic@bristol.gov.uk if you have questions about filling in a Section 16 form.
Cost
An application fee of £584 is payable with each application.
- include multiple roads
- are
city-wide - require support from a Council Network Management Officer
- are likely to require additional Council resource owing to
the nature of the event
We’ll let you know on receipt of application if you need to pay the additional charge.
You must provide a Purchase Order or other reference and correct address for invoicing purposes.
Refunds
Within four weeks of application date a cancellation fee of 10% will apply.
Any cancellation requests must be in writing.
What we do after we get your application
After we receive your application form, we'll:
- talk to people who may
be affected by the road closure - let the Police, emergency services and bus operators know about the road closure
- write a legal Order for you to display on the street before your event
- give you advice on how to manage traffic if needed
We'll contact you if there are any problems with your application. If approved, you can expect to receive your legal closure Order seven to ten days before the event.
Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bristol City Council reserve the right to revoke or cancel any application or closure order in the event that central government's social distancing restrictions change.
Marches, processions and races
You won’t need a road closure or any other licence if your event is moving, such as a march, procession or race.
Your event can
Email traffic@bristol.gov.uk at least four weeks before the event.
- date and times
- roads affected
- nature of the event
- proposed traffic management measures
- contact name and numbers of the organiser
Road closure and diverted traffic signs
To close your road safely, you’ll need:
- road closed signs at each point of the road closure
- road ahead closed signs at the junction before, if only part of a road is closed
- a small barrier of cones to show where the road is closed
You'll need diversion signs if you're closing more than a small local road:
- at the start of where traffic needs to
be diverted and at the end of the diversion - diverted traffic signs at each significant junction along the route of the diversion
The Street Party site and Playing Out can also give you advice on how to get road closure signs. You should be able to get signs and cones free from your local community centre. You can also check our list of suppliers.