Those contravening the byelaws would be fined up to £500 for an offence.
New Belfast City Centre draft byelaws concerning busker and preacher noise have been agreed at City Hall, and will mean people could be fined if they go over 70 decibels.
The draft byelaws, which have been years in the making after substantial public consultation, have been put together to address the problem of amplified noise made by buskers and street preachers in the city centre over the last 10 years. Those contravening the byelaws would be fined up to £500 for an offence.
The byelaws, if they go to statute, will effectively end loud amplification for individuals in the city centre. Examples of 70 dB sound would be a noisy vacuum cleaner, a dishwasher, or a loud conversation.
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Elected representatives at a Belfast City Council committee meeting on Friday (November 11) agreed the revised draft city centre byelaws, which will now be sent to Stormont for approval, before being implemented.
All the parties at City Hall agreed to the draft byelaws, but Alliance and the SDLP aired their disappointment that the document did not include new proposals on the display of graphic imagery and preacher hate speech against minority groups in the city centre. An earlier version of the draft byelaws had proposals that buskers, preachers and other public speakers would have to ask the council for a permit, but this proposal was dropped.
A public consultation was launched by the council on the first version of the draft byelaws in November 2023, and ended in March 2024. Further workshops were held with stakeholders in May 2025, and political party briefings were carried out in the past few months.
Workshops involved contributions from the Committee on the Administration of Justice, the Belfast Chamber, the Linen Quarter BID, Crown Jesus Ministries, the Socialist Party NI, the PSNI, Belfast One and the Free Presbyterian Church.
The council received a total of 3,571 responses to the online survey, with a combined total of 14,878 written comments sent to City Hall.
A report for the council S,P and R committee states: “Members will be aware of ongoing issues caused by noise and the display of graphic imagery in the city centre and the negative effect that this can have on social and economic activity. This primarily impacts the primary retail core but also extends more widely to those who work, live in and visit Belfast.”
It adds: “There was an extremely high level of engagement from varied sections of the public, who had a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives and opinions. Many of the written responses were nuanced, thoughtful, detailed, reasoned and complex.
“Respondents stated in detail how amplified noise and /or the content of that amplified noise, as well as the display of graphic imagery have affected them personally, whether positively, negatively or both.”
The report also contains reasons for proposed changes to draft byelaws following the consultation. It states: “Feedback from the public survey and further engagement has indicated that whilst most respondents are in favour of regulating amplification in the city centre, a permit system is not considered to be the optimal way to achieve such regulation.
“Reasons for disagreement with a permit system ranged from concerns around any fee to be charged, potential interference with freedom of expression and the ability to undertake spontaneous performances, and the administration and enforcement of such a scheme. Officers have therefore removed a permit system from the draft byelaws.”
It adds: “The revised byelaws now provide for a maximum decibel limit of 70dB for performers wishing to play music or operate amplifiers and similar devices in the city centre. This decibel limit is slightly louder than the ambient street noise and should ensure that performers can be heard, whilst not being excessively loud or intrusive.”
It states: “Penalties for the contravention of byelaws shall be in the form of a fine payable on summary conviction. The draft byelaws contain a provision whereby an authorised officer may issue a fixed penalty notice for an offence committed under the byelaws.
“Whilst the issuance of a fixed penalty notice via byelaws is not usual practice, the Department has indicated that it will consider the fixed penalty enforcement mechanism currently included in the draft byelaws.”
The revised byelaws state: “No person shall, after being requested to desist by an authorised officer, cause or permit any noise to be made above 70 decibels by 1. playing a musical instrument, and/or 2. operating or permitting to be operated any audio device, speaker, amplifier, or similar equipment of a similar type.”
They state: “Where there are two or more performers within 100 metres of each other, and it appears to an authorised officer that there is a cumulative effect of the noise, which is so loud or continuous as to give reasonable cause for annoyance to other persons either within places of work or in a public place, an authorised officer may ask the performers to reduce their volume and/or to relocate to another place to perform.”
They add: “A performer must not obstruct the public’s access to and egress from any premises or interfere with the free and safe movement of pedestrians (and) a performer must comply with any code of conduct issued by the council, which may be amended from time to time.”
The byelaws will not apply to activities taking place in a public place with an entertainment licence or with consent of the Stormont Department of Infrastructure, or the relevant landowner. They will also not apply to any procession which has been authorised by the Parades Commission, a cash collection in a public place which has been authorised by PSNI pursuant to The Charities Act (NI) 2008, and an official picket.
The draft adds: “The council may restrict or prohibit the use of amplification by performers in certain areas of the city centre when there is a special event due to take place in the city, but only where it is considered necessary to do so for the purposes of facilitating or delivering the event. Any such restriction or prohibition may only be for the duration of the special event.”
The draft byelaws also contain provisions for the surrender of alcohol in designated places in the city centre. The draft states: “If an authorised officer reasonably believes that a person is, or has been, consuming intoxicating liquor in a designated public place or intends to consume intoxicating liquor in such a place the(y) may require the person concerned (a) not to consume in that place anything which is intoxicating liquor, and (b) to surrender anything in his possession which is intoxicating liquor or a container for such liquor.”
Elected representatives approved the revised byelaws, to be sent to the Department for Communities at Stormont. Councillors also agreed for a report to be returned by council officers as to how the byelaws would be enforced at the railings around City Hall, and a further report to be returned on how the council intends to deal with the display of graphic imagery in public.
The chamber also agreed to write to the Stormont Department of Justice and the Chief Constable of the PSNI on how to deal with hate speech against minority groups by public speakers in the city centre.
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