The Stage

Covent Garden buskers claim victory as site owner backs down on plans to cut performances

Published Tuesday 1 April 2008 at 16:35 by Matthew Hemley

Buskers in Covent Garden have claimed victory over the market’s owner, saying proposals to halve the number of performances allowed on the site have been withdrawn following huge public outcry.

Capco, which owns the famous covered market in London, had threatened to reduce the playing time available to street performers in certain areas of the site, amid claims that some shopkeepers and stall holders have been annoyed by the constant music and noise coming from the shows.

Buskers also claim management told them they wanted to attract more up-market businesses into the area and the noise was putting new tenants off renting property on the site.

But since the plans were made public, more than 10,000 people from around the world have signed petitions to express their anger at the proposed cuts.

The buskers claim the majority of stall holders are happy for them to continue with their performances.

At a meeting held on Monday, the entertainers met with Capco to discuss the plans and are now claiming Capco has withdrawn its initial proposals to slash the slots available.

Instead, the entertainers have been asked to come up with their own suggestions to tackle Capco’s concerns about noise levels in the market and the general appearance of buskers.

Mark Rothman, a juggler who performs in the North Hall of the market, said: “From our point of view, it all sounds very good. They said they realised they had made a blunder and asked us to go away and come up with proposals to address their issues to do with sound. We have said we would do anything to resolve issues. We just didn’t want people to be stopped from working - that was our main concern.”

Rothman said Capco had been unable to give assurances in writing that the initial proposals would not still be pushed through, leaving a question mark over the long term future of performers on the site.

Doubts have also been raised over the future of the classical musicians who perform in the Lower Courtyard pitch in the market.

Although they acknowledge the management has withdrawn initial proposals to cut the number of slots available, they claim they now face being forced out of their patch because of plans to rent out a previously empty unit that is directly behind their performance space.

Bertie Anderson, a viola player who represents classical musicians on the site, said: “In the light of press interest and overwhelming public outcry over the proposed cuts, they have withdrawn their initial proposal. However, in the next breath they admitted a shop would open on our pitch in the courtyard and that we would most likely not be able to perform there when this happens. In many ways our plight has become more serious.”

Beverley Churchill, Capco’s brand director at Covent Garden, confirmed a meeting had taken place to “discuss resolutions to the issues of sound clashing that have been raised by members of the Covent Garden community”

She added: “We have asked the street performers to devise some workable solutions that will benefit everyone within the Covent Garden community.”

Both the Musicians’ Union and Equity have pledged their support to the campaign to protect performances in Covent Garden.