Locals slam plans to charge entry fees for Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens

Plans to charge entry fees for Glasgow‘s Botanic Gardens were slammed as the beauty spot was praised for being a ‘Natural Health Service’.
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Kibble Palace, which was moved to the West End site in 1873, is a magnet for visitors and city residents, and has been free to enter for 180 years.

Free entry to museums and galleries has been an enshrined right for both citizens and visitors to Glasgow for centuries.

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But Glasgow City Council wants to introduce a fee for the Kibble Palace to help plug a £40 million budget black hole.

The local authority estimates charges raise £185,000 annually for the council coffers.

Chairman of the Friends of Botanic Gardens, Brian Atkinson, said: “To date, there has been absolutely no consultation with the Friends, who are major supporters of the Botanic Gardens including a very recent agreement to contribute financially to the upgrading of facilities in the Gardens.

“The Friends are implacably opposed to the introduction of any charges to this internationally recognised centre of botanical and environmental excellence.

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“Only recently Glasgow‘s Greenspaces were being described as ‘the Natural Health Service’ due to the value placed on open spaces during the pandemic.

“To exclude unfettered access to the valuable plant collections and the demonstration of their globally economic value will strike a major blow to Glasgow‘s promotion of environmental awareness and climate change information.”

Donny McIntyre, who lives in the west end, added: “Free entry to Glasgow museums and public buildings should be sacrosanct.

“It’s part of Glasgow’s identity, a bit like the parking cone on the Wellington’s statue.

“Like it or not it’s who we are.

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“The money raised from the glasshouse entry will be a spit in the ocean within the massive black hole of debt the city is in.

“There are many other ways to raise cash.

“Big business being one of them or how about a Citizen’s lottery?

“Free entry is a citizen’s right. Let Glasgow flourish.”

However, others expressed support for the idea, saying entry charges could help safeguard cultural assets such as the Peoples’ Palace, which is currently closed.

While galleries and museums are free to enter, charges for leading exhibitions have been in place for a number of years.

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The Botanic Gardens looks after more than 9,000 plants, with the majority growing in the temperate and tropical glasshouses.

Thomas Hopkirk, a distinguished Glasgow botanist, founded the Gardens in 1817 with the support of a number of local dignitaries and the University of Glasgow.

Research by Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens found they were originally laid out on an eight acre site at Sandyford at the western end of Sauchiehall Street.

The Gardens flourished to such an extent that in 1839 a new site, to the west of the city on the banks of the River Kelvin, was purchased to house the rapidly expanding collections.

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In 1842, the new Gardens opened on their present site.The Kibble Palace moved to its present site in 1873 and was first used as a concert hall and meeting place, hosting celebrated speakers such as Gladstone and Disraeli.

A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “This is a measure agreed by councillors as part of the council’s budget for 2023/24, which has required the council to identify almost £50m worth savings to cover a funding gap for this year.

“Further details on what this measure will mean in practice will be announced in due course.”

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