Campaigners have launched a sit-in at Kibble Palace in opposition to entry charges being brought in by Glasgow City Council.
The local authority announced plans to introduce a fee to enter the venue in a bid to raise £185,000 for the city as part of their budget for the upcoming year.
The move has sparked outrage among locals who fear it will unfairly punish low-income households. It's understood that the charges will be £3 or £1.50 for concessions.
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Actor Tam Dean Burn is part of the Keep Kibble Free campaign and will be sitting inside the Kibble Palace every weekend to raise awareness of the 'barbaric' charges.
The group is in the process of creating a song to inspire the movement with the help of Andy Alston of Del Amitri fame.
Tam told Glasgow Live: "It's totally personal to me as an older dad. It is such a blessing to be able to take my kids there. We were continually going through the place. It's great to have the indoor space and there's so much variety for kids.
"It's been 150 years since it was brought to Glasgow and installed and has always been free since 1891. Glasgow City Council has a duty to maintain it as a public place.
"It's about the kids too. They've been through a lot in the last few years. The council should be doing everything it can to help them, especially kids from deprived backgrounds.
"Kibble Palace is one of the few free public spaces left and getting rid of that is quite barbaric."
A petition to save the venue has attracted nearly 1,000 signatures with opposition coming from various groups including Friends of the Botanic Gardens.
The group said they are "implacably opposed" to the plans, pointing out the vital nature of Glasgow's parks, both for public health and environmental awareness.
They added that there has been no consultation with the Friends, who are major supporters of the Botanic Gardens and had recently reached an agreement to contribute financially to its upgrading.
Tam added: "Kibble Palace is a place that allows those with mobility issues to still have time in green space like older people, those who cannot walk distances, people with young children - the council has already taken away so many community spaces. Community centres are still not open post-covid - they are one of the few public places you can keep warm.
"While they introduce charges, the operating budget for the Botanics has also been cut. So these funds are not even helping to maintain the current standard of care and maintenance.
"We'll be sitting in raising awareness of the campaign between 10am-12pm every Saturday and Sunday. Last weekend we saw just how busy the place is with people of all ages passing through, as well as visitors to the city.
"It's such a gem in Glasgow's crown and most people don't realise what's happening.
"We'll be running the campaign for as long as it takes for the plans to be reversed. We're also encouraging people to write to their local councillors to make their feelings on the charges known."
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: "We are working towards implementing the measure to introduce an entry charge for the Kibble Palace, as agreed as part of the council’s budget for 2023/24. A date for the introduction of an entry charge has still to be confirmed.
"This is a measure is intended to support the council-wide effort to identify almost £50m worth savings to cover a funding gap for this year.
“The budget aimed to protect services and jobs where ever possible and has looked to deal with the funding gap by raising revenue where we can.”
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