BUSKERS will have to pass an audition to perform in Bourke St Mall as live performances are increased.

But Lord Mayor Robert Doyle has backed away from plans to force performers elsewhere in the city to meet a minimum standard.

Buskers will have to follow strict rules or risk being banned from the city.

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City councillors tonight will discuss tightening rules for buskers, charity fund-raising, spruiking and horse-drawn carriages.

A council survey found a high level of opposition to plans to audition buskers.

But a panel of council officials, and an experienced busker, will decide who can get a mall permit.

Bourke St buskers will need to be entertaining and engaging, polished, and have a wide repertoire. "The performer (must possess) a unique quality, subtle or dramatic, that gives them an interesting edge and makes them unlike other performers," the draft says.

The number of mall sites would be expanded to six, and spaces would be allocated by a weekly ballot.

For the rest of the city, buskers must perform in front of an assessment panel. But they will be judged only to make sure their performance is safe and not offensive, and not on artistic merit.

Only 5 per cent of people surveyed said the standard of busking in Melbourne in the past year had been poor, with 74 per cent giving a positive assessment.

Busker Des Kennedy, who was playing his harmonica at Flinders St station yesterday, said there should be a cap on busker numbers.

"They should . . . curtail the number of buskers, and if a busker doesn't renew their permit, someone else gets it," he said.

"Only two or three people in every 100 give money, so we need to be able to work at busy thoroughfares, like Flinders St station."

The council plans to clamp down on harassment from charity workers. Fund-raising would be permitted only if "passive in nature".

Horse-drawn carriages, would be capped at 10.

Alex MacDonald, from A Classic Carriage Hire, operates six carriages, more than the proposed cap of three per operator. "It might put me out of business," Mr MacDonald said.

Originally published as Bourke St buskers risk being banned