SHOP owners today hit out at plans to bring in parking charges to dozens of streets in the west of Glasgow.

The council wants to introduce a restricted parking zone in Partick, which affects about 50 streets.

Among the streets in the zone are Highburgh Road, Hyndland Road, Peel Street, Thurso Street and Meadow Road.

A notice pinned on lampposts in the area by the council says: “This area has been identified as being negatively affected by commuter parking and general parking practices.”

Under the proposals, resident parking permits would cost £50 per year or £15 quarterly, while residents’ visitors parking permits would cost £2 for a set six hour period.

Business parking permits would cost £700 per year.

Motorists visiting the area would have to pay to park during chargeable hours. It would cost 20p for the first 30 minutes then 20p for every 10 minutes thereafter.

There are also plans to introduce speed bumps to slow down traffic in Fortrose Street.

A Facebook page called G11/G12 Free Parking Group has been set up to oppose the plans.

Owen Bisset, who owns a boutique in Hyndland Street, said the move could force shop owners out of business.

He said: “This will kill our businesses

“£700 for a permit is a lot of money. If you have three members of staff who drive then that’s over £2000 for permits.

“This is just not sustainable for small independent businesses.

“I use my car because our company offers a special delivery service, that’s what sets us apart from other gift shops.

“But we also have customers visiting us from further afield who come here because they don’t have to pay to park.”

Simon Shepherd, owner of Allander Framing, a family business in Hyndland Street, said: “A lot of our customers come from outwith the West End to get their pictures framed.

“But even for people who live locally - sometimes items can be quite large and they need to take their car to pick framed pictures up.

“The West End is being taken over by parking meters.

“Partick is one of the last places you can shop locally.

“I don’t think anybody here - residents or businesses - are supporting this.”

Kevin Smith, pharmacy manager at Gilbride Pharmacy in Hyndland Street, said: “It’s a struggle for small businesses as it is.

“It will have quite an impact on us and we think we’ll lose a lot of patients.

“This pharmacy has been here 90 years so it’s very much a part of the community.”

A city council spokeswoman said: “These proposals are designed to protect residents and local businesses from the indiscriminate and all day commuter parking occurring in the area.

“These measure prioritise residential parking and will also improve the availability of parking for visitors to the area and customers to local businesses.

“We are at the stage where people can influence the proposals by making their views known.”

It came after council bosses pulled out of a legal challenge against new parking restrictions in another part of the West End.

Hillhead Community Council lodged an appeal against plans to change the system of residents parking in the area.

The court case, which was due to start in November last year, would have been the first in the West of Scotland since the introduction of the Road Traffic Regulations Act in 1984.