St George’s Street business owners protest against proposed cycle lanes
The owner of a snooker club on St George’s Street is petitioning against proposed cycle lanes on the road.
Lake Sharma is the owner of The Q Club, which has been family-owned for 43 years.
He feels that not enough consideration has been given by Glasgow City Council for the impact it will have, saying: “It’s going to be a major issue.
“It’s difficult parking here already, so if they take away any parking it’s going to cause more congestion, hassle for our members and hassle for people to come into the local area to socialise.
The council plans to introduce the lanes to promote “active travel”.
A spokesman said: “Plans to create a safer, segregated cycle along St George’s Road are due to go forward to public consultation in the near future.
“As part of this process, we have undertaken two rounds of engagement with local residents and businesses on these proposals and have been taking on board any feedback.”
However, business owners on the street claim that no communications have been made with them.
Tattoo parlour owner Frank McCabe is unimpressed with council action, saying: “They don’t listen to us, they don’t come to speak to us, they don’t ask us any questions.
“We just get notification letters on lamppoles to tell us what’s happening.”
Lake agrees that the communication has been lacking: “I’ve spoken to 20 businesses in the last day or so, and every one of them didn’t know a thing about this.
“Apparently they’ve done their surveys on this and contacted local businesses, but even people who live here didn’t know about it.”
The petition against the lanes has reached almost 200 signatures and states that the proposal threatens local trade.
Lake says of the next steps to be taken: “We need to keep on protesting.
“We need to get locals, businesses and people who are passing by and use this route to get to work or come to the gym to all sign the petition, it’s paramount.”
