Petition against Liverpool City Council's over-regulation of Street performance

Sign the petition here or at http:// www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/keep-spontaneous-street-performance-alive  :

The policy stipulates where, when and whether performances can happen. It states how long they can happen for, and that even approved performances can be stopped for any reason at the whim of a council official or police officer.  It removes all spontaneity from street life, and may empty the major streets of all but a few, officially sanctioned performers. It will make it much harder to earn a living from street art and performance in Liverpool and will discourage good acts from performing in the city. If this policy had been in place in 2006 then people like George Samson, the street dancer who was 14 when he won Britain's Got Talent, would not have been allowed to perform in the city.  Instead, he would have been served a trespass notice and threatened with arrest.

Street entertainment is an activity that happens organically and costs nothing.  It is free, and provides a cultural and communal dimension to city centre life at a time when many of our high streets are under threat from internet shopping and the economic downturn.  After all, you cannot buy street performing online! You need to go to town to experience it.  Most of the problems caused for councils by street performers relate to a very small minority of people and can be dealt with adequately using existing polices without the need for another layer of bureaucracy.

So if you value impromptu performances in public spaces, if your spirits have been lifted by a good busking experience, and if you think spontaneity in city life is important, please sign this petition!

Sign the petition here or at http:// www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/keep-spontaneous-street-performance-alive