Residents have complained to Dartmouth Town Council about buskers playing loud amplified music in Royal Avenue Gardens and breaking the council’s own code of practice.

At this month’s full council meeting in the Guildhall Cllr Cathy Campos said they’d been approached by residents to tackle the issue with Environmental Health officials.

Before the meeting Cllr Campos said: “Busking is allowed in the gardens but there are guidelines for how long they can play in one spot, especially loud amplified music. We’ve been asked to make an official request to Environmental Health to monitor the noise levels in there.”

At the meeting she said: “We need to make it clear we’re not looking to ban buskers, just ask them to turn the volume down. As a council we need to be careful here as events such as the music festival clearly break all noise level restrictions in the gardens.”

She told councillors she’d explained to concerned residents the council had no resources to monitor the noise levels in Royal Avenue Gardens. She asked councillors to consider putting a complaint to Environmental Health officers at South Hams Council, backed up by a diary from the concerned residents of dates and times when noise levels were excessive.

She said: “I propose the council collects evidence from residents and makes a formal complaint to Environmental Health. We need to make it clear we’re not looking to ban buskers, just ask them to turn the volume down.”

Cllr Martin McGowan-Scanlon suggested the council speak to the buskers directly. He proposed the council write to complainants and suggest they contact Environmental Health themselves.

Councillors voted in favour of Cllr Campos’ proposal and it was resolved that, if the town council is given enough evidence from the resident in question, then they would send an official complaint to Environmental Health at South Hams Council

Cllr Campos asked for a recorded vote. Cllrs Campos, Evans, Webber and Yardy voted in favour of the proposal. Cllrs Cates, Davies, Howard, Matthews, McGowan-Scanlon, Rennie, Rowley, Rushton, Shepherd and Webb all abstained. The vote was carried in favour of the proposal.

Dartmouth Town Council agreed a Buskers’ Code of Conduct at a Finance and General Purposes Committee in March 2021

The code states: “Dartmouth Town Council welcomes all types of music and entertainment to the Royal Avenue Gardens, the Old Market, Coronation Park and The Castle Estate but we politely ask you to respect other people and adhere to guidelines.”

The guidelines state music or voices should not be loud enough to be heard at a distance of 50 metres; busking must not be intrusive or a nuisance in nearby premises; entertainment should be restricted to a maximum of one hour in any one place and should not be repeated in that place or within 50 metres of it within two hours. Particularly noisy entertainment, including bagpipes and drums, should be restricted to a maximum of 30 minutes in any one place. The code states that entertainers must not obstruct the highway or pavement or entrances on Dartmouth Town Council property and they are also responsible for ensuring that are not obstructed by people gathering to listen or watch the performance.

The code also states entertainers should not make use of public seats; pitches should not be within 50 metres of another busker; no signs to be displayed inviting payment, except for charity donations; and the council does not condone anyone busking in the town under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It concludes: “Entertainers must stop performing immediately if requested to do so by a police officer, Dartmouth Town Councillor or council officer. Dartmouth Town Council supports the police in their policing of the town, and in dealing with any buskers who are behaving in an antisocial manner or ignoring the guidelines of the Buskers Code of Practice. The police and the council will not normally institute legal action where the code is observed. However, breaches may make a person liable to prosecution.”