Questions for the Lord Mayor of Sydney

Of the nine street performers I’ve heard from, only one of them says they received the email about the consultation in June. None of the buskers interviewed in news stories said they heard about the new rules. How can the city explain that most permit holders say they never got the email?

The Lord Mayor’s Instagram account posted, “I’m sorry these changes came as a shock to some buskers.” Is that true? Was it only a shock to “some” buskers? Has the council gotten feedback from a single busker who says they knew what was coming?

Once the council realised that not one of the hundreds of professional musicians in Sydney had objected to their most lucrative busking pitches being closed, did they worry that perhaps they’d failed to get the point across, and was any attempt made to rectify this?

One street performer told me he did get the consultation email in June. He didn’t understand the scope of the new restrictions. This is because they were not highlighted. The Draft Busking Policy had lots of changes highlighted in bold. Point 14.8, for example, highlights the change from “Authorised persons” to “City staff”. And yet, on that same page, the points banning busking on George Street and within 5 meters of a light rail (14.2 and 14.3) were not highlighted. Considering these were the biggest changes, why were they the only ones that were not highlighted?

Sydney sends out emails that inform buskers of upcoming pitch closures. The new restrictions were approved in August. Why not let the buskers know in advance of them being “effective immediately”? Considering this is probably the biggest pitch closure ever in Sydney, why didn’t they notify buskers about it?

If the council had attempted to hide their plans from buskers, it would have had the same effect. The fact that they say that they tried to inform buskers of the changes suggests an impressive level of incompetence. Do they accept full responsibility for this mess? Or do they truly believe that they made a sufficient effort to let buskers know?

A spokesperson for the city told Rolling Stone, “There were no changes to the number of busking pitches in Pitt Street Mall”. That’s not the point, is it. The city has halved the number of pitches that the vast majority of Sydney’s buskers can use. Why did the spokesperson try to obfuscate the issue with that statement?

In the ‘safety’ section of the Draft Busking Policy (point 4) the wording has changed from “a minimum of one meter” to “an adequate perimeter”, to define how much space must be left for pedestrian flow. But, in point 14.1 it says they need “a further 2 metres on at least two sides of their performance area for safe pedestrian flow.” Which is correct: does there have to be adequate space or 2 meters on two sides of their show?

If buskers need 2 metres on at least 2 sides of their show, does that mean they need space for their show + space for their audience + 4 meters of empty space for people to walk by? Or does this measurement not take into account their audience? Does it mean they can’t have their back to a road? Does it mean they can’t have their back to a wall?

If buskers can’t busk within 5 metres of the light rail, does that take into account their audience? Do they need 5 metres of space from the rail, plus space for their audience, plus space for their show, plus 2 metres of space on the other side? i.e. do they need a space that’s approximately 12 metres wide?

Has there been a single recorded incident of a light rail accident caused by a street performer? If so, how many? How many incidents have there been by all causes (not just buskers) on George Street, and what caused them? Have those other causes been shut down as well, or just the buskers? How do light rail incidents compare with traffic fatalities? Has the city considered pedestrianising other roads in the commercial district without putting train tracks on it?

If these changes are about safety, why not try other safety measures, before shutting down pitches? For example, did the city consider metal railings next to the most popular busking pitches, to prevent audiences walking out onto the tracks? If not, why not?

In various pronouncements and social media posts, the City has written language like this: shared use of space / the needs of the broader community / the entire community’s right to use our public spaces / the needs of businesses, and so on. Now that buskers have been banned from these popular pitches, will businesses start being given permits to use those spaces for their own activations?

Also, on social media and everywhere that people can comment (like reddit), residents have universally complained that you’ve targeted the wrong people. Dozens have taken to social media to say how much they hate the preachers on George Street. So, if these restrictions were about the way in which Sydney residents want to share their public spaces, why are the preachers allowed to stay, while the buskers are banned?

Sydney told ABC that one motivation was wanting all buskers to get the opportunity to play without having to compete for noise. The standard distance in busking codes in other cities (worldwide) is to keep pitches about 30 to 50 metres apart. How did the council come up with the 100m restriction? Was it with sound experts? Or was it arbitrarily restrictive, preventing as many buskers as possible from getting a fair whack?

Street Performers Australia (SPA) has worked with councils in Perth, Brisbane, Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne. They’re also working with Placemaking NSW in Sydney, in Circular Quay, The Rocks, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo and soon the Sydney Fish Markets. And yet, Sydney Council has been refusing to have a meeting with them for years. Why doesn’t Sydney want to collaborate with the nation’s established busking organisation, one that has a long history of working with other city administrations?