With just over three months to go before the nation celebrates The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, residents are being urged to celebrate this royal milestone with friends and neighbours by organising a street party.

As was the case with last year’s royal wedding, the council has once again stripped away all the bureaucracy, red tape and cost of holding a street party over the Diamond Jubilee bank holiday weekend of June 2 to June 5.

Councillors have again agreed to waive the normal £50 fee for arranging a road closure, while all the other information that’s required can be submitted online via a simple internet questionnaire.

This simplified system means there is nothing to stop residents setting up tables and chairs and staging a great neighbourhood get-together to mark The Queen’s 60 years on the throne. This is also true for people wishing to take part in this year’s Big Lunch event – a national day of street parties aimed at bringing people together, which is happening on June 3.

Wandsworth is hoping to surpass last year’s royal wedding tally when residents arranged 67 street parties – the second highest number in London.

The borough will be at the heart of the nation’s jubilee celebrations with a spectacular 1,000-boat river pageant weaving its way along the Thames from its starting point in Putney, and a massive festival celebrating the Queen’s reign being staged in Battersea Park. 

Council leader Ravi Govindia said: "If last year’s royal wedding was anything to go by, Wandsworth residents will show their traditional community spirit in style by holding dozens of street parties.   We’re expecting everything from small gatherings of a few neighbours to major events. We want to encourage as many people as possible to enjoy the Jubilee, which is why won’t be charging for street parties and have made organising them as hassle-free as possible.”

Residents are being reminded that not all streets in the borough can be closed for a party – only those that will not have an impact on the wider road network. The council also has no authority to close red routes and Transport for London are unlikely to allow roads covered by bus routes to close.

March 3, 2012