Noisy cornmarket busker told to pipe down

By Jack Farchy
Oxford is divided as a petition is being drawn up to silence a nuisance bagpipe busker.
Heath Richardson, a bagpiper who has been busking in Oxford for 14 years, is the one of the targets of a petition to Oxford City Council from aggrieved shopkeepers, office workers, and university students, who want him and other irritating buskers to stop causing so much noise.
Oxford City Council has published a code of practice for buskers, which states that “busking must not be intrusive or a nuisance in nearby premises”, and that buskers must move on after one hour’s busking.
 
However, the code is currently voluntary, and its critics want the council to bring in laws to restrict buskers who cause irritation. Jo Reid, verger at St Michael at the North Gate Church, says that buskers are not adhering to the code. “Noise levels affect people’s working environment. Bagpipes and other loud instruments do carry. People who have shops on Cornmarket often can’t hear the customer they are serving. All we are asking for is a few hours when we can get some work done and make some phone calls,” she said.
She recalls one incident in particular involving a concert given by group of German schoolchildren from Bonn, during which Mr Richardson started playing outside. “I went out and said, ‘Would you mind taking a break for half and hour and having a cup of coffee, or perhaps moving a hundred yards down the street?’
He told me, ‘This is my fucking job. Fuck off.’ And he went on playing throughout the children’s concert.”
Mr Richardson usually plays on the corner of Cornmarket and Ship Street, near Jesus College student accommodation. One Jesus student, who had a room on Ship Street last year, said, “I could hear him all day – it was impossible to work. The bagpipes are such an annoying instrument. I would definitely support the petition against him.”
But the bagpipes are not as unpopular with everyone. The petition against Mr Richardson has prompted the creation of a Facebook group entitled ‘Oxford bagpipe man LOVER group’. One contributor wrote, “He is better than those rubbish pan pipe people who always hang around near the Westgate. And he makes a nice change from bloody animal rights protestors!”
Jean Fooks, Lib Dem councillor for Summertown, investigated the allegations against Mr Richardson. She said, “Mr Richardson is conforming to the city council’s voluntary Code for Busking. This is clearly one of those situations where we need to find a compromise between those who enjoy the bagpipes and those who find them irritating. I do think that busking of various kinds adds life to the city centre and that a certain amount of noise is to be expected there.”