Council killjoys

No British monarch has ever celebrated a Platinum Jubilee before, so it is hardly surprising that the country wishes to mark the occasion with communal events like street parties. Yet this would-be revelry is being hampered by an outbreak of killjoy regulatory nit-picking by councils across the land.

An estimated 15million people are set to take part in neighbourhood events this weekend but those seeking to close their roads to accommodate tables and chairs have run up against bureaucratic barriers. Local authorities in England say they have received just 16,000 official applications, far fewer than would be needed to cover the numbers preparing to hold events. Council bosses are now telling people they can only go ahead with officially approved parties, though how they propose to police that is anyone’s guess.

The Government says residents should organise a “street meet” rather than a party if they have left it too late to obtain a licence, the former not involving the closure of the road. But do they ever stop to ask why so few people might have applied for permission? In some areas organisers have been made to fill out counter-terrorism forms, outline their security plans, say how they will cope with severe weather and produce a Covid risk assessment.

Many have been told they must take out public liability insurance. One council advised against putting bunting up in streets lest it damage “our dustcarts, light poles and/or vehicles”. Faced with such ludicrous requirements it is hardly surprising that many just gave up. This weekend sees a unique moment in our national story. To see it blighted by petty bureaucracy is depressing.