Organising a big lunch 2011

Improving Our Place is pleased to learn of your interest in organising a Big Lunch in your street on Sunday, 5th June.  A key step will be securing a street closure order obtained through the Council, and although you can apply directly we recommend that you do so through Improving Our Place because:

·        we expect that several streets in the area will apply;

·        the cost to the Council of obtaining closure orders for several streets together is the same as obtaining a single closure order (£1100);

·        it is in everyone’s interest to limit Council expenditure as much as possible;

·        it saves Council officer time, and

·        we have already established lines of communication with Council officers.

1.        Councils are entitled to charge for obtaining street closure orders, but it is not expected that Enfield will do so.  On the other hand if many streets each applied separately and sequentially the cost to the Council would be high so it might review its policy.

2.         Where streets adjacent to each other decide to participate it would be helpful, and perhaps make a successful application more likely, if a combined party were to be organised.

3.         Where streets are capable of being split into sections, e.g. because other streets at right angles run into them at one or more points, it can reduce the number of signatures you need to obtain and be helpful to traffic management (see item 5) to hold the Lunch for the whole street in one section.

4.         As a means of strengthening community ties it is a key tenet of the Big Lunch philosophy (which IOP supports) for a street to welcome people from neighbouring streets who express a wish to join their party.

5.         A successful application for a street closure will need a minimum of 90% of those households you were reasonably able to contact in support.    For practical purposes you can satisfy the “….reasonably able to contact.. “ provision provided you try to contact the households you couldn’t contact on your first visit at least once more at a different time of day/week.

6.         Improving Our Place is not able to help with organising The Big Lunch, other than at the stage of applying for a street closure order.

First Steps

1.                  Probably you will begin with friends and nearby neighbours, but subsequently you will need to establish whether:

(i)                 enough people would like to form a team to organise and prepare the            Lunch, and

(ii)               neighbours are prepared to contribute practically & financially towards food and drink.

2.          With your friends, and using the Signature Sheet attached or a form of     your own design, make a house-to-house canvas of interest.  On the assumption that you obtain the minimum of 90% of signatures agreeing to a street closure let us know promptly using the contact details below, but hold on to the Signature Sheet.

3.          When completing the Signature Sheet enter the house and flat numbers of every household in the street in the first column, and secure either a signature for the second column or write the letter ‘A’ in the column to indicate that the family is not in favour.  Put a tick in the third column if the person is willing to help organise your party, and use the fourth column for your own notes.  If, after a second visit you have been unable to contact a household write UNAVAILABLE across vacant columns. 

4.          Use the data on the Signature Sheet  to form a team to organise the Lunch.

5.                  Begin planning, bearing in mind that at this stage a closure order will not have been obtained. 6.                  Some councils require streets to insure their Lunch but so far Enfield has not done so.  The choice is therefore yours.  We understand that it’s not expensive.

 7.                  A Temporary Events Licence is unlikely to be needed, but should you plan to advertise bands or sell tickets or alcohol you should contact the Council for advice.  These Licences have to be applied for at least a fortnight in advance.

Organising

1.         At some stage before a street closure order is agreed there will be a meeting       between applicants, Council representatives and, possibly, the police.  Last year these were held in the individual streets, but it’s possible there will be a joint meeting involving street representatives from several streets – each with different pressures on their time – so it would be a good idea to nominate several people who could represent you depending on the date and time chosen.  You’ll need to have your signature list to hand.

     2.        It’s self-evident that you’ll need to buy or make food and drink for your Lunch,

              that you’ll need tables and chairs and all the paraphernalia of a street party, but

              worth suggesting that there’s merit in starting your planning early.

Making it happen

1.           If a number of streets apply for a street closure and are successful Improving

                Our Place may organise a joint meeting to share ideas and resolve problems.

2.           Improving Our Place is keen to improve quality of life in and around Palmers Green, and we would urge you to support local businesses for your Big Lunch needs.  Meanwhile we are pressing the Council and the businesses to do more to make the town an attractive place to shop.  Together we can make Palmers Green a better place.

Contacting Us

Using e-mail for communication speeds and records the process, so we ask that you do that if you can.  Our email address is: improvingourplace@gmail.com, but by all means contact us by phoning Zahir Anwar or Bill Yates on: 020 8886 0646 or 07957518981 respectively if you prefer.

Track the latest news at: www.improvingourplace.co.uk .