PAUL SPOONER, Byron Shire Council Deputy Mayor and mayoral candidate, has called for a review of the Byron Shire Council Busking Policy.
Cr Spooner was recently was sitting at The Coffee Box on Jonson Street Byron Bay when he saw a guy with pink coloured hair walking around with a plastic bucket begging for money. Cr Spooner recognised him as well known identity Busker Dave, who has over 2,000 followers on Facebook.
“I asked Busker Dave what he was doing begging for money rather than playing his music on his ukulele and he told me a strange tale that involved falling foul of the council bureaucracy, being issued with a penalty notice by police, receiving a court attendance notice and having to resort to begging to survive on the streets of Byron Bay,” he said.
“It seems Busker Dave has fallen out of favour with the Byron Shire Council Busking Policy. The policy is a complex and detailed 17-page document outlining who, where, when and how buskers can perform on the streets of Byron Bay and other localities around the Shire. It includes a Statutory Declaration and a Code of Practice. It details 25 conditions that buskers must adhere to when busking on the streets and comes complete with maps and a detailed description of designated areas.
“It costs you $25 dollars to apply for a busking licence that must be displayed when performing. The licence has to be renewed annually.
Busker Dave was without a licence when a policeman approached him on Jonson Street and issued him a $220 penalty notice.
When Busker Dave questioned the police officer he was informed he could not legally busk on the streets of Byron Bay without a licence.
Busker Dave then asked, ‘How can I get money to pay for some food?’ He was informed it was legal for him to beg for money but not to busk, so that’s exactly what he did.
Busker Dave said, “I had no real choice, man. I went down the street to a shop and asked for a plastic bucket, put a sticker on it and started begging. It’s crazy man, I just wanted to play my music. What’s happening to Byron Bay?”
That’s not the Byron Bay way
Cr. Spooner says, “There is clearly something wrong with our local laws when street performers are being fined for not having a licence and have to resort to begging on the streets. That’s not the Byron Bay way.”
“I don’t believe that people should be regulated to the point where they fall foul of the law, face large fines, have to attend court, tie up legal resources and are forced to beg for money on the streets of our town.”
“The system is clearly over regulated, over complicated and needs to be reviewed. Let’s review what is in place and let buskers busk, and not clog up the streets of Byron Bay with more beggars.”
that guy was rattling his bucket the other day while walking down jonson st saying ” kill the whales , kill the whales , money to kill the whales” while passer bys looked at him in shock, disgust and confusion. his energy was very erratic.
I applied for a busking license. It was issued without any problems and very quickly by a helpful lady and it even allows us to even be amplified. The process was extremely straight forward. This article is wakkk 🙂
Hmm, eye witness accounts have him walking up the street saying, ‘give me some money for drugs’ and when a group of women ignored him he accosted them all the way up to the beach from Woolies. I know of a man who followed just to make sure they were okay but felt his behaviour too erratic and unpredictable to approach.
He didn’t look that glum last week when he was skipping through woolies asking for money to take a girl on a date and saying he already had $70. The day prior he got $200. Rules are boring but its anarchy if we all choose not to follow them.
I have never seen anarchy on the streets when its music amd entertainment! Dosnt need to be regulated and policed!
Disgusting! Happy go lucky fellow who wouldn’t harm a fly. Degrading.