Cornmarket’s bagpiping busker is flying back to his native Australia after the council banned him from playing in Oxford City centre.
The bagpiper, Heath Richardson, had breached the rules of his contract by playing for too long at his favourite Cornmarket pitch.
Richardson, 33, who has been busking in Oxford for 14 years, sparked a petition war last year after 400 traders signed a petition to have him expelled from the street. He returned the challenge with his own petition of over 1000 names.
The Council compromised by allowing Richardson to remain, but restricting all buskers to playing for only one hour in one place.
Richardson has protested against the ban, saying, “I was following the rules but the people complaining kept complaining. The council interprets everything I say like its a lie.”
But local traders have expressed their joy at the news that Richardson will be leaving at the end of the month.
One manager of a Cornmarket shop said, “I am very very pleased he is leaving because the noise is so overwhelming and so loud we have to keep the doors closed.
“When the doors are closed, it looks like the shop is closed and so customers don’t come in”, she remarked that while she enjoys listening to other buskers play, he “wasn’t making music, but making noise”.
She added, “he corrupted sales with his incessant noise and gave the shopkeepers horrible headaches.”
On top of this, the manager argued that “the most frustrating thing is that the council won’t regulate it”.
She explains that after Mr. Richardson had his licence revoked, he continued to play and traders were told, on reporting this to the Environmental Health department, that he does not actually need a licence to play and so the department were unable to do anything.
A shop assistant at Moss Bros commented that the bagpipes are “really annoying” as Mr. Richardson would play them “all the time” and continued to say that though his playing has in no way affected customers, he and his colleagues are “happy he’s leaving”.
A spokesman for Oxford City Council, said, “Oxford City Council welcomes most street entertainers and feels they add to the street scene in Oxford. Mr Richardson has had his busking permit revoked as a result of persistent breaches of the voluntary code of practice.”
The Busker’s Code of Practice states that the council must intervene if the busking becomes “intrusive, annoying or disturbing.”
Richardson said it will be a relief to be rid of the Council’s interference, “it’s needless stress and there’s no reason for them to do it.”
Richardson complained that despite the fact that he had told the council he was going home to Australia, they have continued to harrass him.
Richardson also hit out at the new busking restrictions. He said, “They’ve killed off busking in Oxford. They’ve run the buskers out of town.”
Some students have expressed regret that the piper will be leaving. Olivia Wakefield at St. Anne’s college said, “I’m really disappointed, I thought his music was individual and unusual.”
However, students at Jesus College living in college accommodation on Ship Lane had previously complained about the noise made by Richardson’s bagpipe playing, saying that his busking made it impossible for them to work in their rooms.
