"What for example would be the situation for anyone now just turning up and playing or dancing on areas where these permissions apply?"

I haven't established this and with good reason. What I can say is that you need permisssion to turn up and play. Nothing has changed - you always did. You can't turn up and play on the streets of Sheffield without permission any more than you can in a pub. Not before the Licensing Act and not after.As far as I am aware this applies to anywhere.

However, some people do just turn up and play. The Chilean/Peruvian bands with amplification do so, buskers do so, and so do all sorts of street performers including morris dancers. Sheffield has been tolerant of this sort of thing for many years. To be honest I don't see this changing.

There is no doubt in my own mind that the licensing people went down this route of licensing the whole of the city centre because they were fed up of being lobbied about events that were taking place in that area without licences and then having to explain to people who contacted them, why their own Outdoor Events Team had failed to apply for one. The effect of this is for it to apply to anyone. They might prosecute the Chilean Folk Groups for playing - but not using the Licensing Act they can't.

The effect has been for example that the Lord Mayor's Parade could go ahead without any further permissions, for the streets themselves are licensed not just pavements and pedestrian areas. That is why I suggested it as a solution to West Wiltshire's problems.

What can be worrying is that I believe other local authorities are charging for using areas which have been given permissions.

I have no chance to establish the full facts of this and as we are in the middle of the Folk Festival season my time is limited and so is those of my correspondents. Before publishing anything along those lines I need to check the facts. Once these are known and checked I shall publish the results in my "blog" here .
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