When Does Artistic Licence Become Noise Nuisance?

Close-up of a guitar fretboard
An unholy row is brewing in the gentile heartland of Bath, which is not exactly known for fermenting anarchy and dissent.

Residents and visitors to the historic town have been complaining about the noise nuisance created by street musicians in and around the ancient Bath Abbey. The local council is also stepping in, but why?

MUSIC HALTS SERVICE

It all began when the ancient tradition of the choral evensong service was halted. Buskers playing in the squares around the magnificent abbey could be heard above the the Bible reading, even threatening to disrupt the choir.

The rector of Bath Abbey, the Rev Edward Mason, said buskers and their battery-powered amplifiers had been infringing the rights, not only of worshippers but of the entire city, to a bit of peace and quiet. The council then joined in and is now threatening to use new laws coming into force to try to ban amplified music about the abbey.

NEW LAWS COMING INTO EFFECT

Bath and North East Somerset Council now believe the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act, which comes into force later this year, may assist. Officers have been “proactively monitoring” around Abbey and David Dixon, the council’s cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “Clearly the powers previously provided to regional authorities have not been helpful enough to deal with this form of nuisance. Therefore with new powers supplied by the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, we will be searching to ban all amplification within the instant vicinity of Bath Abbey.”

THE RESPONSE FROM BUSKERS

Buskers are now re-jigging their set lists to include some more poignant protest numbers, such as Art Garfunkel’s “Sound of Silence”. The war of words is ongoing. Letters are being sent to newspapers. Not-so-silent protests are taking place. The busking battle lines are being drawn but who and how can you decide if the love of one type of music should take precedence over another?

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Jaymee-lee Tolliday

Marketing Executive at Cirrus Research plc

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