At a Queenstown Lakes District Council hearing on Thursday, Queenstown and Southern Lakes Highland Pipe Band member Dave MacLeod called for a larger footprint to busk in the city and greater effort from the council to clamp down on bad behaviour from "fly-by-night" buskers.
Mr MacLeod, who is also a solo busker, was making an oral submission to a council public hearing of proposed amendments to the Activities in Public Places Bylaw 2016, at council’s chambers.
For more than 15 years the pipe band had assembled every Thursday night in its regular spot on the downtown waterfront to give public performances, he said.
However, frequent intimidation from other buskers has recently forced the band to shift its performances to the Memorial Gates, a part of town not frequented by street performers "where we don’t get challenged anymore".
"We are a membership of 14 and 15 in the pipe band, mostly pensioners, and we were often abused by buskers for taking their space," Mr MacLeod told the panel of councillors.
"One example, a big guy with shorts on, he’d been out in the sun all day and was very sunburnt, he was about 6 foot 5, he picked on the eldest member of our band who’s 84, and told us to bugger off. We took offence to that and there was a bit of toing and froing."
A lot of these buskers did not have permits, he said.
"It would be of some reassurance to the pipe band and myself as a solo busker if someone from council was down there checking if licences have been permitted and that people aren’t disobeying the guidelines and rules.
"I would also like to see the size of footprint where you can busk increased to accommodate the increasing number of buskers in town from Memorial Gates through to Ballarat St mall."
Mr MacLeod’s submission was one of four made to a panel comprised of Crs Esther Whitehead (chairwoman), Lyall Cocks and Barry Bruce.
In his oral submission, Queenstown resident Evan Jenkins said he had been "pushed and shoved" by buskers who thought he was from council.
"Busking has changed completely in the last few years with the portability of electricity, so everything’s amplified now; previous to that it was all acoustic," Mr Jenkins said.
"It’s not appropriate for our waterfront where people come from big cities where noise is pollution.
"People used to say it’s ‘wonderful walking around your waterfront, it’s so peaceful’. They haven’t said that for a decade."
The oral submissions follow 15 written submissions. A draft bylaw will be presented to council on August 10 for adoption.
