‘Rare trees are being battered’
STAFF working at Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens have raised concerns about a rise in public entertainment events in one of the city’s most heavily protected parks.
In recent years the West End park has hosted a dinosaur experience and successive GlasGLOW Halloween light displays, organised by Itison, who were responsible for the heavily criticised Elfingrove event at Kelvingrove Art Gallery.
According to sources there is a “rich vein of disaffection” among workers about the environmental impact of events in a park that houses rare and endangered plants and trees.
The council say there is a balance to be struck between protecting the city’s public parks and hosting events that “add to the cultural fabric of the city”, accusations public spaces”.
Event organisers are also now required to pay a parks levy, which brings in revenue for the council.
A source said: “There is a rich vein of disaffection among the higher-minded staff of Glasgow Botanics, who are none too happy that the site, which is basically a living museum, is now a regular home to and it is has dismissed “privatising animatronic dinosaurs battering their tails off rare trees and heavy lorries churning up ground, damaging drains etc. Particularly as Glasgow has some other parks that could cope much better, albeit with less atmosphere.”
We told how Itison were hit with major restrictions before being given permission to host the Elfingrove event at Kelvingrove Museum including a ban on pyro, gas or chemicals such as dry ice and helium and flaring or flashing lights.
The resulting event was then heavily criticised by ticket holders who said it was little more than a tour round Kelvingrove with the lights out.
A spokesman for the council said: “Events staged in our parks are hugely popular and add greatly to the cultural life of the city.
“Event organisers routinely approach us with a range of proposals for our parks and these proposals are always looked at on their own individual merits.
“We work closely with organisers to ensure events are well-managed and that any issues that may arise are dealt with appropriately.
“The larger events recently held within the Botanic Gardens, such as GlasGLOW, have been family focused and have helped to encourage people into the park at otherwise quiet times of the year.
“As shown by the introduction of the environmental levy, we always seek to strike an appropriate balance between parks hosting large, commercial events and generating income that can support our green spaces for wider public benefit.”