With the Coronation of His Majesty The King and Her Majesty The Queen Consort taking place in four weeks, we wanted to remind you of the deadlines for road closure and event applications to be processed in time for Coronation weekend.
Communities are starting to plan their events and we have already received around 40 road closure applications.
Guidance around events and any licences/applications required is available on www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-special-event-road-closures. We had previously asked for applications to be sent in by 31 March; however, the application window has been extended and the final deadline for applications is 12 April. This date is the latest we can allow in order to assess the applications with the required legal consultation periods. As a reminder, road closures cannot be granted for main roads/bus routes/emergency vehicle priority routes.
More local information, FAQs and approved road closures can be found at https://www.wiltshire.gov.uk/highways-king-charles-coronation
Small community events such as fetes and garden parties do not normally require a licence as they are deemed to be of benefit of their neighbours or a local school. Locations that do not require road closures (such as local parks, green spaces, village halls, private gardens) would be preferential as they would simply require permission from any landowner – Kevin Oliver can provide details, so please just email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please can we ask that you encourage any applications of this type to be sent in by 28 April to enable them to be processed in time for the following weekend’s festivities. Applications received after 28 April may not be considered.
Further information on the Coronation is available at https://coronation.gov.uk/
There are two main events where community participation is being encouraged – Coronation Big Lunch on Sunday 7 May and The Big Help Out on Monday 8 May.
The Big Lunch is an idea from the Eden Project made possible by The National Lottery, that brings millions of people together annually in June (but this year moved to coincide with the Coronation), boosting community spirit, reducing loneliness and supporting charities and good causes, with £22m raised last year. Whether it’s a full-blown street party, a picnic or a small gathering over a cup of tea and something to eat, the idea is simply to meet and have fun together over food. Event holders are encouraged to register their events and claim a free Big Lunch Pack containing invites, posters and digital resources, as well as entertainment ideas at Organise a Big Lunch | Eden Project Communities and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/your-guide-to-organising-a-street-party. Please share information about the Coronation Big Lunch and The Big Help Out within your communities to help encourage participation from as many people as possible.
Further resources for councils, including a comms toolkit and shareable media and logos, can be found at the_big_lunch_and_coronation_big_lunch_2023_comms_toolkit.docx | Eden Project Communities
There is an interactive event map on the main coronation webpage (Put your event on the map – Coronation of His Majesty The King & Her Majesty The Queen Consort), whereby event hosts are encouraged to share and promote their events.
We will be looking to do a round up of all the local events taking place nearer to the time, so please also share them with us and we can help to advertise the events.
Thank you for your support.