Petition calls on Port Phillip Council to allow buskers to use speakers

A Port Melbourne street performer has called for a change to a Port Phillip Council busking bylaw, which he says puts vocal health at risk and stifles creative abilities. And his push for a rethink is gaining momentum.

More than 200 people have signed a petition calling on Port Phillip Council to scrap its ban on buskers using speakers.

A ban on buskers’ speakers in Port Phillip could be lifted as a campaign pushing for it to be scrapped gathers momentum.

Councillors this week voted to investigate options for allowing amplified music after more than 270 people signed a petition calling for the ban to be revoked.

Port Melbourne’s Jacob Hapeta, a regular street performer in Port Phillip for more than 25 years, said the ban was a risk to vocalists’ health.

And he said the council’s anti-speaker policy was out-of-step with other municipalities.

“The voice is a fragile instrument that cannot take abuse,” he said.

“A speaker allows the voice to be audible without risk to health.”

“I sing and play guitar and neither of those instruments are loud enough on their own to be heard over background noise.”

Jacob Hapeta wants the council’s ban on speakers lifted.

Hapeta said the “blanket ban” on speakers stifled buskers’ ability to practice their art.

“A busker, by definition, is a street performer practising their art in the informal space of the street,” he said.

“This has been a time-honoured method for artists to practice their art all over the world for centuries.”

Hapeta said allowing speakers at appropriate levels would help balance the needs of performers, who pay $55 a year for a permit, with the amenity expectations of people living and working nearby.

Hapeta urged Port Phillip Council to adopt a similar policy to neighbouring Melbourne City Council, which allows buskers to use battery powered amplification devices, with restrictions on volume levels.

Cr Bernadene Voss said reviewing the bylaw was a “sensible thing” to do.

“Your music really adds … to Bay St and the creativity in this city,” she said.

“At times is does get quite loud and I think that’s what some people have an issue with but I am keen to investigate this.

“Having the opportunity to use amplification and then have limits on it so it’s appropriate means that more people can be heard but that it can be managed.”

The matter will return to the council at a later date.