Asian man ‘forced to hide’ after street preacher’s ‘anti-Muslim …

26/11/2023

An Asian man was forced to hide in a shop after a street preacher’s ‘anti-Muslim comments’ in a North Staffordshire town, a councillor has said. The revelation came as Staffordshire Moorlands District Council [1] approved a new code of conduct for buskers and street preachers in Leek and Cheadle. It was drawn up following complaints about loud music and hateful comments.

Anyone performing or preaching will be limited to 30 minutes in any one location, including breaks, and will not be able to return to the same spot within two hours. There must also be a gap of at least 50m between performing or preaching groups – and they are banned from behaving in a way that could cause alarm, distress or offence to the public. They will also be asked to take regular breaks to enable crowds to disperse.

READ: ‘Can someone turn the lights off?’ Civic centre beams bright as council GBP8m in red | There are fears cash-strapped Stoke-on-Trent City Council is also limiting the amount of soap in the men’s toilets [2] READ: New-style speed camera on Potteries Way as police target drivers in GBP640k blitz | Staffordshire Police are upgrading the technology in mobile vans and fixed cameras [3] The new code of conduct was backed by members of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council [4] ‘s licensing committee at a meeting on Friday (November 24).

Last year the authority agreed to work with police to challenge the activities of street preachers who had sparked outrage and complaints of homophobic and misogynistic comments [5] in Leek town centre.

One of the street preachers who’s been talking about the Bible in Leek

Councillor Bill Cawley, cabinet member for communities, said: “Most people performing in our towns are welcome and not intrusive. But there are street preachers who make life difficult for residents with their confrontational attitude and inflammatory language; similarly there are buskers whose loudness has been complained about. “This policy is not an attempt to shut down free speech or expression.

But it cannot be right when we have reports of people weeping behind closed doors because of things said by preachers, or an Asian man forced to hide in a shop as a result of anti-Muslim comments.” Councillor Philip Barks said he thought the 30-minute limit was “quite severe” however. And he added that an order not to dress in a manner that could cause alarm or distress could be considered “subjective and ambiguous.”

But committee vice chair Mark Deaville welcomed the new policy. He said: “As a council we are duty-bound ro make and retain a welcoming atmosphere in all our towns and villages. “The Staffordshire Moorlands is a welcoming and beautiful place for people to visit and we want people to continue to visit and feel safe when they visit.

We don’t want to spoil it for people who wish to make the Moorlands a better place by providing street entertainment or frighten them off but we need guidelines and I think this is about right.”

The spot on Derby Street in Leek where the preachers can often be seen on a Tuesday morning

A report to the committee said a number of shop owners in the district had raised concerns to the council’s licensing and environmental health team in relation to buskers and street entertainers outside their premises “causing a nuisance to their customers, and on occasions refusing to move away from the premises”. It added: “Reports have included performers playing music, sometimes all day, often from one location in the street and some repeating a short playlist of songs over and over again; if other performers appeared, on occasions the performer would try to perform close to the other performer increasing the volume of amplification to try and mask the other performer. “The proposed Code of Conduct will not only allow the council to manage buskers and street entertainers but will also assist the police with their duties.

It will also support the busker/street entertainers by having a clear and concise Code of Conduct, setting out the council’s approach, which in turn will make Staffordshire Moorlands a safe and enjoyable place to live and visit.”

References

^ Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ ‘Can someone turn the lights off?’ Civic centre beams bright as council GBP8m in red | There are fears cash-strapped Stoke-on-Trent City Council is also limiting the amount of soap in the men’s toilets (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ New-style speed camera on Potteries Way as police target drivers in GBP640k blitz | Staffordshire Police are upgrading the technology in mobile vans and fixed cameras (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ complaints of homophobic and misogynistic comments (www.stokesentinel.co.uk)
^ Sign up to our main daily newsletter here and get all the latest news straight to your inbox for FREE (data.reachplc.com)