Buskers to be banned from playing amplified music on Swanston Street

CBD buskers have been ordered to tone down the music along Swanston Street.

Performers who use amplified music will be banned on the busy strip from August 1 as part of a three month trial that could be made permanent.

The ban follows complaints about noise.

Lord Mayor Robert Doyle insisted there will still be the sound of music in the city’s streets. 

Cr Doyle said the council is reacting to hundreds of formal complaints from traders and the public.

‘When you get 260 complaints from traders and the public, I think you’ve got to at least trial a ban of amplified busking, not all busking, just amplified,’ he told Neil Mitchell.

Click PLAY to hear the full interview with Cr Doyle: