The Senior Licensing Officer
introduced the report with the draft voluntary Busking Guidelines
shown in Appendix 1. It was noted that whilst the guidelines were
voluntary, the Council were obligated by law to reduce noise
obstruction and anti-social behaviour. The Licensing Team often
received enquiries concerning Busking Guidelines and it was felt
that by creating voluntary guidelines, the document would be viewed
by potential buskers before the Licensing Team were
contacted.
The Senior Licensing Officer
confirmed that the draft guidelines included provision for three
types of action; verbal, written and enforcement, should buskers
choose to act against the guidelines given. Any enforcement actions
would be undertaken under Environmental Health concerns. If the
document was approved an 8-week consultation would be
undertaken.
It was noted that there were
some contradictions within the guidelines that concerned the use of
amplified music. In addition, the hours of operation were
questioned, due to the prevalence of buskers outside the hours of 8
a.m. to 11 p.m. The Senior Licensing Officer confirmed that
provisions would be made, if necessary, to the Covid-19 pandemic
should the guidelines be agreed at a later
date.
RESOLVED: That
1.
Subject to the document being amended to include the
feedback given by the Committee, it be agreed for consultation;
and
2.
Following the consultation period, the Busking
Guidelines together with a summary of key consultation comments, be
brought back to the Committee for consideration be
agreed.