You should submit an application if your event will:
- Take place on council land or the highway
- Impact on traffic or parking
- Require road closures or ‘no waiting’
- Have loud music
- Provide entertainment
- Sell food or drink
- Require licences, such as street trading or sale of alcohol
If your event is on private land and doesn’t fall into one of the above categories, you do not need to let us know.
Checklist - what you need to apply
You need to have several forms and documents ready when you apply:
- Collection permit - you may need a collection permit if you're collecting money for charity. We'll contact you if this is the case.
- Event Management Plan - you need to provide this for all large or complex events. Please contact us if you're not sure whether you need to complete this for your event.
- Event site plan - you need to provide this for all events. It must show the layout of your event and a list of any individual fairground rides or stalls, if applicable.
- Food Safety Form - any food vendors at your event need to submit this form to us at least 2 weeks before the event. View the Food Safety Form.
- For third party companies providing things like fairground rides, inflatables or fireworks:
- Evidence of their Public Liability Insurance with a minimum cover of £10 million
- For fairground ride providers, a copy of their ADIPS document
- For inflatables providers, a copy of their PIPA document
- Land Use Agreement - sign and return the Land Use Agreement if your event will take place on council land. Download the Land Use Agreement document.
- Licences - you may need a licence if you're planning to sell alcohol, provide entertainment or play live music. We'll contact you if this is the case.
- List of traders - you need to give us a list of the traders and the products they're planning to sell if you're planning to have any stalls or street traders at your event,
- Public Liability Insurance evidence - you need to provide evidence of public liability insurance. If your event takes place on council land, we ask for a minimum cover level of £5 million. We're not able to provide advice on your insurance policy or the levels of indemnity you'll need. We may contact your insurance provider directly if we have any questions.
- Risk Assessment - you need to complete a risk assessment for all events. If you need help filling this form in, you can view our example. View the risk assessment documents.
- Road closure process - our highways team will handle the legal process of applying for your road closure and this will cost £200. Once your route/site and traffic management plan are agreed upon, our highways team will contact you to progress your road closure.
- Route map - contact us if you'd like guidance on your proposed route before you apply.
- Traffic Management Plan - you need this if there needs to be any road closures for your event. You'll need to employ a traffic management specialist to create an appropriate traffic management plan to send to us for consideration.
We cannot process your application until we receive all your documents. If you don't have all the documents ready when you apply, you can email them to EventApplications@rochdale.gov.uk after you've completed the form.
How much notice you need to give
As a guide, the following timescales are required:
- 1 month notice – for events where there are no requirements to use the highway, for example, small events in a park or green space.
- 4 months notice – for events where there is a requirement to use the roads or pavements, for larger static events where a road closure would be required or large scale events in a park or green space.
How to apply
To apply to hold a public event:
- Read the checklist to make sure you have everything you need to apply. We cannot process your application until we receive all your documents.
- Complete the application form below.
- We aim to make a decision within 14 working days of receiving your completed application and all the required documents.
Inflatables
We're waiting for guidance following an incident in Southport involving a child using a ‘body zorb’ inflatable before considering applications held on council-owned land. This means any existing or new applications will be put on hold. We'll keep this page updated with the latest information and recommend you check this page before submitting an application.
Fireworks and bonfire events
After you apply to hold an event, we'll contact you if you need to complete the fireworks display form or the bonfire risk assessment.
Useful templates for your event
You can download and use the following templates for your event.
Guidance for planning an event
Here are some guidelines that you may find useful for planning your event.