Byron councillors have stepped back from endorsing a controversial new busking policy that would require local buskers to fork out for public liability insurance.
The policy is now open for public submissions, and contains a clause requiring that buskers ‘provide documentary evidence that the applicant has obtained public liability insurance of a minimum $20 million’.
However, no councillor moved a motion to amend staff’s draft policy.
Instead, councillors removed their endorsement of the policy, and removed a line that stated it would automatically be adopted if no public submissions were received.
Regarding insurance, Independent Byron Councillor, Cate Coorey, told last week’s meeting that she could not find any other councils, including the City of Sydney, which had a similar requirement.
‘It’s punitive,’ Cr Coorey said.
‘We’re at a time now where many of the people busking on our streets are already strapped for cash, and if other Councils aren’t doing it, there’s presumably some other mechanism to indemnify them or find a way to manage it.’
Pushed by insurers
When questioned on the decision to include the insurance requirement in the policy, an unidentified staff member said it had been a requirement from Council’s insurance officer and insurer.
The following revealing exchange then took place:
Mayor: ‘Has it [the requirement] been in there in the past?
Staff member: ‘In the past, it was meant to be enforced, and we weren’t enforcing it.’
Mayor: ‘But it has been in the policy?’
Staff: ‘I don’t know if it was in the policy, but it was recommended… The insurance officer advised us that our insurer would advise it, which would suggest to me that our neighbouring councils would also advise it because they have the same insurer…’
Other items within staff’s draft policy include the requirement for passport-sized identification photographs to be displayed while busking, limiting busking groups ‘to a maximum of four performers’, and that ‘busking must not be repetitive in nature and must not result in offensive noise’.
‘I don’t want to say that we endorse the draft policy, because I certainly don’t do that,’ Cr Coorey said.
The matter will return to Council for a final decision after the public submission period has been completed.
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