A NEW buskers’ guide has been launched in York, aimed at fostering harmonious relationships between street entertainers, businesses and shoppers.

The Guide To Busking in York was drawn up over several months by a group including local and visiting buskers, business representatives, Equity and the Musicians Union, along with City of York Council and Make It York officers.

It makes a series of recommendations to buskers on matters such as choosing a pitch, liaising with businesses around them, considering how long they perform, performing at an appropriate volume, selecting a varied repertoire and sharing the space with other street entertainers.

It advises businesses and other city centre users on how they should approach a busker if they feel they are causing a disturbance or an obstruction, saying a polite, good-natured conversation is the first step. However, if a problem cannot be resolved, the city centre team will be on hand to mediate and, in the last resort, the council may take enforcement action.

The guide, which has been formally adopted by the council, has been hailed by street musician Jonny Walker, who accused council officials of behaving heavy-handedly in 2013 when his licence busking permit was suspended amid allegations – which he denied – that he had been illegally street trading CDs of his music.

He said the new policy safeguarded the spontaneity and informality that were key to the busking tradition and would help to attract high quality busking acts from all over the world by removing unnecessary and costly bureaucracy.

“By setting out a clear framework for resolving issues that sometimes arise from busking, the guidance promotes harmonious relationships between buskers and those who live, work and visit the city, without being heavy-handed or unduly restrictive.”

Hanus Wolf, director of Burgins Perfumery in St Helen’s Square, said street performers were an essential ingredient to York and contributed to the city centre’s ambience, and the new guidelines would ensure businesses’ interests as well as buskers’ would be served.

Charlie Croft, the council’s assistant director – public realm, said the authority wanted to welcome buskers from across the country and beyond to add to the city centre’s lively atmosphere and the guidelines would help foster a culture of co-operation and mutual respect.

He added that the old buskers’ permits had been scrapped some time ago and said the guidelines said that if buskers made CDs available, they must make it clear they’re not for sale and suggest a voluntary contribution to comply with street trading legislation.