IMPORTANT COUNCIL MEETING ON 11TH NOVEMBER

The Central and South West Area Committee (CSWAC) are meeting on Tuesday 11th November, at 5.30 in the Town Hall, to hear Environmental Health's own report of how this summer's busking season has been effected by the new busking code. We are at the point of finishing our own follow-up report which will be submitted to the CSWAC in order to go on that meeting's agenda.

SUMMARY OF FOLLOW-UP REPORT:

1.Introduction

We begin by thanking the Council for the attention they gave to our report back in February before going on to list the improvements and the remaining problems we found during this summer's busking season. This is followed by a short description of our conclusion (that the code was not adequately policed) and our suggestions for improving code enforcement.

2. Nature of the Improvements over the Summer Period, 2008

The major improvements are acknoledged:

• an overall reduction in noise disturbance,
• a reduction in repetitive and tuneless busking, and
• the authorities are now far more engaged with the problem

In particular,we point out that EnvironmentalHealth officers have went to great efforts to attend call-outs, often showing a great willingness to attend calls outside of working hours.
3. Remaining Problems
The remaining problem areas are dealt with in this third section.

• Improvements in noise disturbance relegated to weekdays.
• Code Infractions are widespread at weekends.
• Congestion.
• Inadequate weekend policing.

Relating to our survey taken over the summer, we show that the weekends have degenerated back into a free-for-all, with large bands with amplifiers and the bagpiper causing most of the problems. Volume levels have still been far too intrusive, the bagpiper is incapable of playing without being in breach of the 50 metre rule and has been found in systematic breach of the 'one session per street per day' rule, and congestion in front of the shops has not even been addressed. The fourth section goes on to show that Environmental Health officers, despite their improved engagement, simply are not around enough, especially at weekends, to cope with the problem.
4. Conclusion and suggestions
We conclude that there needs to be realistic coverage over the weekend and out of hours, which is best handled by the police or Community Police Support Officers. In addition, we ask that ANBO has representation on the local Neighbourhood Action Group, which helps to co-ordinate the workload of the police. ANBO members can also help by handing out leaflets to new buskers, who have been turning up during the summer without having any awareness of the code.
November's Meeting of the Central South and West Area Committee
It will be important that there is a good showing at this meeting as there is going to be a full discussion of the busking situation over this summer. The submission of our follow-up report should be in time to go on the agenda alongside Environmental Health's own report, so both reports can be compared. This meeting will also be significant in that the hardest part of a campaign is often to get effective action following a successful first round, where the campaign is vindicated.
An Association of Businesses, Traders and General Organisations for Cornmarket
It has been suggested that all the shops, businesses and organisations on Cornmarket get together and form an association, in order to consolidate against all the various problems that Cornmarket street has suffered from. These include the rouge trader problem (thankfully now largely solved), the general dirtiness of the street, aggressive begging etc. We are also looking into the possible benefits of joining the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and any other organisations which can be helpful, especially for small businesses. If you would be interested in finding out more, we plan to have an open meeting in around three weeks time (date to be released shortly) to discuss this possibility and to prepare for the CSWAC meeting on the 11th November.
And Finally, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone for their Efforts over the Summer!
The action plan that was handed round earlier this Summer (see last posting) was used widely and effectively to report and log complaints with Environmental Health. This has resulted in a lot of pressure being put on Environmental Health and there has been news that their office has been receiving stacks of complaints, and that many of you have been insisting that these complaints are logged. Let's see how this affects the meeting on 11th November.