Busking in London: update

Busking in London: update
Post Date February 16, 2023
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Category Camden, Kensington, law, licensing, London, PSPOs

  • Reams of red tape and a myriad of confusing rules could force talented buskers off London’s streets, the Mayor Boris Johnson has warned as he launched a new campaign to nurture the capital’s street musicians.

  • There is no doubt that live music on our streets adds to the city’s vibrancy, but I fear some parts of the capital could become no-go areas for buskers. Rather than shackling our musicians with unnecessary bureaucracy, we should treasure the spontaneity they bring to our high streets and town centres.

Since Boris Johnson launched his campaign to make London the most busker-friendly city in the world in 2014, a lot has happened.

As we feared at the time what has happened has been entirely the opposite. What has been supported and nurtured is a sanitised, regulated, corporate  version of street performance, whilst genuine grassroots busking has been systematically marginalised and  criminalised.

The sad fact now is that there is virtually nowhere viable and open to busk in central London.

Barking and Dagenham no restrictions.

Barnet

Bexley  Claim that busking is licensed. We are unaware if legislation has been passed and need to follow this up.

Brent

Bromley

Camden license now only applies to louder acts, circle shows and groups

Croydon

Ealing

Enfield

Greenwich has now introduced licensing in Greenwich and Woolwich town centres. Other areas open as normal.

Hackney

Hammersmith and Fulham- PSPOs banning amplification in Hammersmith and Shepherd’s Bush 

Haringey

Harrow seems to have a PSPO in place requiring permission from the BID to either busk or use amplification (not clear which) and only in Harrow town centre area.Clarifiaction requested but not received.

Havering open. Successful campaign against PSPO in Romford.

Hillingdon Licensed with only 4 locations available.

Hounslow “If a busker or a group of buskers act in such a way as to cause a nuisance to Passers by, then they will be asked to cease and leave the area.”

Islington

Kensington and Chelsea operate an extremely complex PSPO regime.

Kingston upon Thames Guidelines

Lambeth

Lewisham

Merton

Newham

Redbridge 3 ‘designated” pitches in Ilford town centre. Otherwise uncontrolled.

Richmond upon Thames

Southwark

Sutton

Tower Hamlets PSPO in Brick Lane prohibiting busking after 9pm. Possibly rescinded.

Waltham Forest

Wandsworth

Westminster

 

Westminster: Joint Statement

Westminster: Joint Statement
Post Date October 05, 2020
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Category campaigns, licensing, London, Updates

Joint Statement on Westminster City Council’s new proposals for the licensing of busking

 

We stand firmly against the proposals to criminalise unlicensed busking in the Westminster area, including Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Oxford Street and Trafalgar Square. 

 

We have attempted to engage with the council throughout the process and suggested proven, viable alternatives. It will have a devastating impact on the livelihoods of street entertainers in the area and their families if the proposed licensing scheme is introduced.

 

When people think of Covent Garden, they immediately think of the world-class levels of entertainment that are on offer in the form of street performers. When people think of the West End, they think of the amazing artistic and cultural scene that exists here. But these restrictions will make the West End essentially a “no-go zone” for buskers.

 

Anti-social busking benefits nobody, and we are not suggesting a free-for-all. But current legislation can easily be used against buskers causing a genuine nuisance. There are laws in place against amplification being used late at night, for example. The council claim a lack of resources and yet are setting aside over £200,000 over the next three years to implement a licence scheme that could be better spent on implementing the laws they’re currently ignoring.

 

During the worst crisis for the arts in living memory, we call on Westminster Council to scrap their plans for licensing and work with street performers to create a system that works for everyone. 

 

Signed by:

  • The Musicians’ Union
  • Equity
  • Keep Streets Live
  • Covent Garden Street Performers Association
  • Westminster Street Performer Association
  • The Busking Project

London: Concern at Christmas

London: Concern at Christmas
Post Date December 07, 2019
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Category Kensington, licensing, London, Updates

Buskers in London this Christmas are facing an uncertain future with continuing crackdowns on licences, closure of pitches, bans on amplification, and seizures of CD’s and equipment.

If proposed restrictions in Westminster go ahead there will be virtually no viable and publicly accessible locations for performers almost anywhere across central London, with an area from Hammersmith & Fulham across to Tower Hamlets and up to Camden effectively off-limits.

In an effort to combat this, Westminster Street Performer Association have held meetings to encourage more efficient self-regulation and show that it is the Council’s inaction and inability to deal with issues that is causing friction in popular busking locations such as Leicester and Trafalgar Squares. They can be contacted at LondonWSPA@gmail.com

Keep Streets Live has been looking a developing a City-wide strategy towards street performance, recognising that whatever happens in one place has a knock-on effect in others. Busking bans in Shepherds Bush for example several years ago pushed performers into Kensington causing over saturation and complaints, leading to similar bans in RBKC. We are now seeing many of those buskers pushed into the already busy pitches in the West End. Inevitably reducing available space increases pressure and conflict for both buskers and other stakeholders.

“I feel here we now have the bones of a London-wide grassroots performers group, which will be able to take a more co-ordinated and holistic approach to busking across the capital rather than seeing pitches and issues in isolation. If this is something which you’d like to be part of please check out the Keep Streets Live in London Facebook group.”-Chester Bingley (Director)

Our petition against the busking bans in Kensington has now attracted around 2,000 signatures so please Sign Here