Belfast City Council launches investigation into consultation over amplification permits for preachers, protestors and buskers

The council proposals mean that anyone using an amplification device to protest, preach or busk in the main shopping district will have to buy a permit.

The same applies if someone - a campaign group or political party - wants to set up a stall to hand out leaflets.

The cost of the permits has not been determined yet. It is also not known if councillors or officials will be the ones to issue them.

The proposals were initially mooted by some councillors in response to street preachers using amplification systems in the city centre - in particular those preaching on LBGT issues.

While preachers and some councillors emphasised their human rights in terms of freedom of religion and speech, other councillors expressed concerns that they were engaging in hate speech.

The plans are currently out for public consultation.

However, on Monday night, DUP councillor Dean McCullough successfully had the process referred back to the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee (SP&R).

He told the chamber: "On the consultation on the city centre bylaws, I have raised some concerns including with the city solicitor just in terms of process, so just a very humble request to bring that back to the next SP&R committee meeting, please. I am aware that issues have been raised with the city solicitor and the solicitor will be happy to deal with those."

His request was granted.

His reasoning, he told the News Letter, is due to a flaw in the online consultation process.

"This is an issue that's been raised by several concerned constituents that the consultation can be filled with without any verification repeatedly, maybe indefinitely," he said.

"So I highlighted a number of serious concerns to our city solicitor and raised it at city council. I have requested an immediate investigation and a subsequent update at the next SP&R committee."

"This matters because the consultation is a precursor to the decision making process and the consultation in theory will help to shape and form those decisions on what are serious human rights issues that are quite obviously contentious in the city. So the consultation, it appears, is open to exploitation.

“For us, this is a human rights issue. It's an equality issue, and therefore we want to protect the integrity of the process. The current system is potentially open to one person submitting many responses and therefore that would not be a reflective representation of the views of citizens and visitors alike.

"I completed a consultation for the record in front of our city solicitor and I then flagged this with our chief executive because in theory, an activist or activist groups - that do exist - could complete 1000 consultations, and that then could outweigh one hundred and independent individual consultations of concerned citizens."

The council solicitor has acknowledged that this is a problem, he said.

It will be up to the committee members to decide the next source of action after a report is made to them, he added.