Penrith City Council will receive up to $500,000 from the Minns Government to make it cheaper, faster and easier to host free-entry street parties, festivals or markets that benefit the Penrith community and local businesses. 

As part of the NSW Government’s cost-of-living focus and crusade against red tape, Penrith City Council is among 16 councils that will receive funding to help lower the cost of putting on a street event, including reducing the prohibitive costs for organisers of gaining new traffic management plans and development applications for each event they host. 

The ‘Permit/Plug/Play’ pilot grant will allow Penrith City Council to turn Penrith’s High Street, Woodriff Street, and Riley Street, as well as St Marys’ Queen Street and Carinya Avenue, into event-ready sites through infrastructure including onsite power and water or safety barriers and bollards in the places their communities gather, thus reducing the need for costly equipment hire. 

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. 

Memeber for Penrith, Karen McKeown OAM said this will provide significant economic, social and cultural benefits to local businesses and communities. 

“Lessons from the Permit/Plug/Play Pilot will be shared to help make street events more sustainable and more regular across the state,” Mrs McKeown said. 

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 the state. These events are all free entry, creating budget busting fun for families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. 

These programs are part of the Minns 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.  

“The Minns Government has just made staging events across Penrith that much easier and cheaper thanks to the NSW Government’s $8 million Permit/Plug/Play pilot program,” Mrs McKeown said.  

“The program will allow Penrith City Council to turn Penrith’s High Street, Woodriff Street, and Riley Street into event-ready sites, transforming our streets into festivals and markets that benefit our local community and businesses.”