Kent town council bosses forced to take down bunting put up to celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

Town hall chiefs have been forced to take down patriotic bunting ahead of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee after residents complained it was too noisy.

The red, white and blue decorations put up in the town centre of Sheerness in Kent to mark Her Majesty’s 70-year reign were claimed to be causing a racket when it was windy. 

Sheerness Town Council said it wanted something ‘different’ this year so opted for a plastic material but after residents complained the ‘nuisance’ was taken down. 

The bunting will now not be there to mark the Jubilee celebrations which kick off on June 2 to celebrate The Queen‘s 70 years on the Throne. 

Sheerness will also not have celebrations by its iconic 120-year-old Royal clock that was unveiled during the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. 

Engineers hurried to revamp the clock, at a cost of £160,000, for the Jubilee but the council decided the concrete would be ‘too hard to sit on’ so are having their street party in a park. 

The Kent town are not the only Jubilee killjoys. Up and down the country, street parties have been cancelled due to bus route diversions, roadworks not finished in time, red tape and the expense of public liability insurance.

While street lamps have been tested to see if they are strong enough to hold festive bunting and councils have asked residents to hold their parties quietly. 

The red, white and blue decorations (seen in 2018) put up in the town centre of Sheerness in Kent to mark Her Majesty’s 70-year reign were claimed to be causing a racket when it was windy

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Sheerness Town Council said it wanted something ‘different’ this year so opted for a plastic material but after residents complained the ‘nuisance’ was taken down (the bunting now gone)

Town council chairman Matt Bromley admitted the plastic union bunting hanging across the High Street and Broadway had been removed.

He told KentOnline: ‘We wanted something different this year so we went for a plastic material.

‘But when the wind blew, it made such a racket residents living above the shops complained.

‘Rather than cause a nuisance, we have taken it down and are intending to donate it to the shops so they can use it to decorate their windows.’

He added: ‘It’s been a learning curve. We will be going back to material next time.’

In further blow to the town, plans for celebrations around the newly restored 120 year old clock tower have also been shelved.

The tower has just returned after a seven-month £160,000 facelift. Engineers pulled out all the stops to ensure it was back in time for the jubilee celebrations.

The Grade-II listed clock was first unveiled on June 26, 1902, to mark the coronation of King Edward VII and and Queen Alexandra.

Cllr Bromley said: ‘The concrete around the clock would have been too hard to have sat on.’ 

Instead, the council is organising a free picnic with entertainment in nearby Beachfields Park by the sandpit on the seafront Sunday, June 5. 

By contrast, Isle of Sheppey’s other town, Queenborough, has taken the bull by the horns and will be lighting its jubilee beacon at Crundall’s Wharf at 9pm next Thursday. 

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The Kent town are not the only Jubilee killjoys. Up and down the country, street parties have been cancelled due to bus route diversions, roadworks not finished in time, red tape and the expense of public liability insurance. Pictured: No bunting in Sheerness 

The people of Kent are also likely to have quiet celebrations after its county council ruled street parties must not ‘disrupt local residents with music or other noise’. Pictured: Crowds on the Mall during The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

The people of Kent are also likely to have quiet celebrations after its county council ruled street parties must not ‘disrupt local residents with music or other noise’. 

But residents should be thankful that they are not cancelled like Barnes High Street in Richmond. 

Traders there had to put a stop to a ‘packed calendar’ of events because residents of Nassau Road, where the average house price is £3.5 million, complained about buses being diverted past their homes for the event. 

The objection of BBC World Service’s Richard Preston due to it interfering with his work and health and safety made Brent Council ‘downsize’ its street party.

Newtown’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations planned for its High Street next month have had also been scuppered by roadworks, according to My Newtown. 

Lancashire County Council is also insisting that parish and town councils shell out £55 to test any lighting column that is more than seven years old.

If they don’t pass the inspection, the council said it can’t be used to hang decorations such as bunting, baskets and lights. 

Pensioner Gloria Odell faced with having to do a ‘counter-terrorism plan’, a security plan, a severe weather management plan and a Covid risk assessment cancelled her June 5 event for just 15 houses on her street in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire which was going to raise money for her local hospice.

Binstead residents on the Isle of Wight said the cost of public liability insurance put paid to their event, the Telegraph reported. 

They also would have had to hire traffic management company to draw up traffic plans and supply all signage to close their street. 

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove, in a letter seen by the Mail on Sunday, wrote  to every local authority earlier this week to urge them to ‘cut red tape’ and be ‘completely flexible’ over road closures. 

Mr Gove added: ‘Your residents should be made aware of all the support that is available and no one should be put off by needless red tape’. 

He also hints at permanent cuts to suffocating bureaucracy, saying: ‘National celebrations like this mean a lot to our communities and the fabric of our society.’