You Don’t Gotta Fight For Your Right To Party

By Marcus Braid on December 3, 2015 in

Randwick City Council has targeted street parties as a way to bring the municipality’s diverse community together in a spirit of inclusiveness.

The move will continue Council’s tradition of funding and facilitating traffic control and temporary road closures for one-off neighbourhood events as part of its community-building ‘street party’ initiative.

Mayor Noel D’Souza said Council is committed to making it easier for residents to commune and connect in authentic, safe and creative ways.

“Street parties are wholesome and enriching events that bring together a wide cross section of people in the spirit of generosity and inclusion,” he said.

The street parties program illustrates Randwick Council’s overarching goals of fostering a vibrant and diverse community and creating strong partnerships between Council, community groups and government.

Of the ten or so applications for street parties submitted to Council each year, the majority of requests are for the month of December.

Council has removed the red tape and expensive costs that have traditionally discouraged residents from applying for street closures for their Christmas parties.

“Offering road closures and public liability insurance ensures they are as safe and enjoyable as possible,” Cr D’Souza said.
Councillor Tony Bowen also labelled the move as a “great idea”.

“A lot of people have been having street parties informally, but it’s obviously better to do it as safely as we can, especially when you’re talking about traffic and things like that,” he said.

“It’s particularly good for Randwick, because large parts of it are low-density suburban areas that are well-suited to a street party.”
Cr Bowen said street parties were an appropriate way to celebrate Randwick’s rich diversity.

“There’s diversity in terms of the socioeconomic side of things; for example around South Coogee and Maroubra you can have housing estates alongside very expensive private properties,” he said.

“You also have cultural diversity, from well-established migrant communities to more recent communities. We’ve got a very large Indigenous population as well. I think that’s the biggest strength of Randwick.”