Additional permissions and licences
If your event has licensable activities, you will need to apply for a license to permit these through the licensing authority. Please note this is separate from your land hire licence and some may incur a charge. Please see full information on the licenses and application details here https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/business-and-licensing
Please note that this is not an exhaustive list and that your event may require additional permissions depending on its nature.
What are 'licensable activities'? Toggle accordion
Licensable activities include:
- the retail sale of alcohol
- the supply of alcohol in clubs
- the provision of late night refreshment
- the provision of regulated entertainment
For any enquiries please email the Licensing Authority direct at licensing@stalbans.gov.uk or phone 01727 819264
Some of the licences that might be relevant Toggle accordion
- Temporary Events Notice (TEN) - https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/alcohol-and-entertainment-licences
- Premises licence - https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/alcohol-and-entertainment-licences
- Charity collection licence - https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/charity-collections
- Music or performance licence PPL/PRS - https://pplprs.co.uk/themusiclicence/
Filming - Filming on council owned land requires a filming licence. Please see more information here. https://www.stalbans.gov.uk/filming-district
Road closures Toggle accordion
If your event is taking place on a public road or highway, you may need to consider a temporary road closure for the safety of the event attendees and staff.
You can apply to make a temporary change to your road (Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders TTRO) through Herts County Council here This needs to be done at least eight weeks before your event.
If your event is to allow children to play out on a street, then you can apply for a Play Street Order via https://sustainablestalbans.org/playing-out/. This process will usually take six weeks. You are also required to inform the Herts County Council Highways about your road closure so please allow plenty of time to do so.
Please note that both of the above applications also require you to inform the local Police as they may be needed to provide personnel to support the road closure. It cannot be guaranteed that staff will be available for this, therefore please discuss your requirements with the relevant bodies as soon as possible.
Do I need permission for a family picnic in the park? Toggle accordion
Probably not, because this would be considered 'normal enjoyment' of the space. Just don't bring too much with you in the way of infrastructure (gazebos, etc) as once you do that it might start to be considered an event. See here for details.
Planning Permission vs Permitted Development Toggle accordion
See the section on 'Permitted Development' here.
Scheduled Monument Consent Toggle accordion
Consult Historic England's website to find out whether the land you are proposing to use for your event is Scheduled or not (this will determine what you can do on the land and the kinds of structures you can put in place). If it is Scheduled, you will need to apply to Historic England for Scheduled Monument Consent to carry out any work, including installing temporary structures.
Events that include traders Toggle accordion
If your event has five or more traders, is open to the public (free of charge) and is within 6⅔ of St Albans Market, Harpenden Market, or Redbourn Market please contact the Markets team to find out if you need a licence from them to operate a market.