Sixteen local councils across Sydney and NSW are being supported to develop ways to make it cheaper, faster and easier to host free-entry street parties, pop-up activations, festivals or markets that benefit community life.
As part of the Minns Labor Government’s cost-of-living focus and crusade against red tape, councils will be assisted to lower the cost of putting on a street event, including reducing the prohibitive costs for organisers of gaining traffic management plans for each event they host.
The ‘Permit/Plug/Play’ pilot grants of up to $500,000 will allow councils to provide permanent onsite power, water, safety barriers and/or bollards in the places their communities gather. This will reduce the need for equipment hire and make events more of a routine exercise across 16 NSW local government areas.
The councils taking part in the $8 million pilot program are: Bayside, Burwood, City of Canada Bay, City of Canterbury-Bankstown, City of Parramatta, Georges River, Inner West, Liverpool City, Northern Beaches, Penrith City, Randwick City, Waverley, City of Newcastle, Port Macquarie Hastings Council, Wagga Wagga City, and Wollongong City.
For example, in Canterbury-Bankstown the pilot will help make the month-long Ramadan Nights event financially sustainable by installing infrastructure including meridian barriers, hostile vehicle mitigation and power outlets for stalls. It will also find ways to save money on processes and approvals through the development of a stallholder policy and a new stall holder operational model.
NSW Minister for Roads John Graham said “Ramadan Nights is an incredible event which demonstrates the amazing diversity of our state. I am very pleased to state government can help the council make the event more financially sustainable.”
“When I first came to office and was briefed on the cost of opening a street for an event, I was told it could cost up to $122,000 on each occasion. I couldn’t believe it. We are now fixing this,” Mr Graham added.
“We want to make these events cheaper and easier for councils to run, so they can host them more often. These events bring communities together, having fun and supporting local businesses without blowing the family budget.
“Whether it’s a Ramadan Nights in Lakemba, the Festival of W in Wagga Wagga, or a Spring Fair in Drummoyne these events speak to the local personality of their communities, they bring people together and support local businesses.”
In the City of Canada Bay there will be provisions for electricity and water along Rodd Road in Five Dock, in Wagga Wagga permanent retractable bollards will be installed at Baylis Street and in Burwood there will be pre-defined traffic management arrangements on Burwood Road.
The grants will also support councils to develop 46 global transport management plans and 21 global development applications that can be pre-approved rather than reinvented for each event.
By helping turn over 65 local streets into event-ready sites, the pilot program aims to transform them into more activated, vibrant and thriving shared spaces for communities to enjoy. This will provide significant economic, social and cultural benefits to local communities.
As part of Transport for NSW’s $19.7 million Vibrant Streets Package, this program works in combination with the Open Streets program which is providing grants for 130 street events across NSW. These events are all free entry, creating budget busting fun for families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Lessons from the Permit/Plug/Play Pilot will be shared to help make street events more sustainable and more regular across the state.
These programs are part of the Minns Labor government’s wider vibrancy agenda to cut red tape and support communities and businesses to bring people together and have fun in their local areas.
For more information on the Permit/Plug/Play pilot program, click here.
