A Council plan to significantly improve the appearance of Piccadilly Gardens and people’s experience of the prominent city centre space has been unveiled.
This will be the first major step in a two-part journey towards a wider transformation of the busy area in the years to come to make Piccadilly Gardens an attractive world-class space.
The immediate plan will see Manchester City Council lead on a wide-ranging package of improvements to Piccadilly Gardens to make it more colourful, vibrant and inviting in the months ahead. Measures range from improving safety, enhancing CCTV and security, to decluttering and revamping the public realm around the Gardens.
Another priority is making Piccadilly Gardens feel safer, so there will be an increased Greater Manchester Police presence in and around it, along with a multi-agency ‘base’ in Piccadilly Gardens to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Newly-released images show a more vibrant space which will be colourful around the seasons, with more flowers and a larger grassed area, and investment into the much used play equipment – making for a more open Piccadilly Gardens with greater scope for fun – from organised entertainment to picnics and social media photo opportunities.
The images are purely indicative and Manchester residents will be involved in helping to refine them. For example, people will be invited via the Manchester Flower Festival to vote on their favourite blooms to feature.
Beyond this immediate plan, the Council has been working with partners on exciting next steps for Piccadilly Gardens and the wider area in the coming years including a multi-million pound investment by Transport for Greater Manchester to create a new, modern transport interchange.
The immediate package of measures includes:
- Putting the ‘Gardens’ back in Piccadilly Gardens – more trees, planting and floral displays.
- A strengthened police and multi-agency presence – A new police team based in Piccadilly Gardens, building on the successes of operations and providing a reassuring ongoing presence. GMP will announce more details in due course. This element will also include having an enhanced presence of council, police and other agencies in Piccadilly Gardens to improve its management and ensure any issues which arise can be dealt with. In the first instance, the Community Partnership van will be used for this.
- Upgraded CCTV and improved lighting – with more coverage and sharper images to increase the deterrence of crime and anti-social behaviour.
- A new space for family-friendly events – removing the old, unreliable fountains and using the new space created to hold enjoyable events and activities throughout the year. A new, flexible structure will be built on part of the space to help support events.
- Better use of space -Ripping out the unsightly concrete wall and raised planters to create a more open and better functioning space.
- Refreshing the existing children’s play area – transforming the space created by the removal of the wall and raised planters and creating a new playground for younger children. This will be of the same high quality as recently-created new play areas such as those at Mayfield Park and Ancoats Green but designed specifically to suit Piccadilly Gardens.
- Ensuring a constant stream of family-friendly events – building on the success of this summer’s MCR Live 25 celebration and the Christmas Markets, creating a year-round programme of events and activities to animate the area.
The first actions will begin quickly, with physical works which do not require planning permission starting as quickly as possible once the Christmas Markets – which return to Piccadilly Gardens in November – have finished.
Council Leader Cllr Bev Craig said: “We want Piccadilly Gardens to be a space Mancunians are proud of once again – and that’s what we are determined to do.
“Manchester City Centre has grown and changed, and there are lots of exciting things happening in our city. We need Piccadilly Gardens to up its game and play its part in welcoming millions of people into our city every year.
“People tell us they want it cleaned up, brightened up, invested in and made to feel safer. It’s still called Piccadilly Gardens and we’ve heard loud and clear from Manchester people that they want its appearance to do more to reflect that name. We’re going to give them more greenery and more flowers as part of a co-ordinated range of measures to improve the look and feel of the area.
“We know there are aspects of Piccadilly Gardens that no longer work – in the case of the fountains quite literally – and we’re determined to ensure the space looks better and feels better. Ripping out the defunct walls, opening up the Gardens and investing in improvements.
“We’ll also be focused on ensuring the area is lively for all the right reasons with a programme of great, family-friendly events, from this year’s Christmas Markets onwards.
“Crucially, this plan is not just about what the Council can deliver but a multi-agency blueprint to address issues with crime and anti-social behaviour, and in invest in other sustainable improvements. All these elements will work together.
“This plan, getting underway quickly, is the beginning of a bright new chapter for Piccadilly Gardens.”
City centre spokesperson Cllr Pat Karney said: “Piccadilly Gardens isn’t living up to anything like its potential at the moment but it could and should be a great public space for Manchester.
“This plan promises to be a massive leap forward. We’ve already demolished most of the hated wall but this package of improvements will go further to make a real and lasting difference.
“We thank GMP for their support in this plan – its success will be not just in improving the appearance of Piccadilly Gardens but in reassuring people that it’s a safe and welcoming space.”
Chief Superintendent David Meeney, GMP District Commander for the City of Manchester, said “Piccadilly Gardens is a vital part of our city centre, and we know how important it is that people feel safe and confident spending time there.
“We’re working closely with Manchester City Council and partners on planning the physical improvements to Piccadilly Gardens, including the position of lighting and CCTV, intending to deter antisocial behaviour and criminality from occurring, as well as strengthen evidence and intelligence gathering opportunities for our investigative teams.
“This plan builds on our proactive, problem-solving neighbourhood policing model and the recent investment through the Government’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee which has allowed us to uplift and strengthen our existing city centre team with new officers and resources.
“Through initiatives like Safe4Summer, we’re already demonstrating our commitment to making Manchester safer by increasing visibility, listening to community concerns, and tackling issues head-on.”
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, said: “Piccadilly Gardens plays a vital role in connecting people across our city region, with hundreds of thousands of journeys made in and around there every single week. We are working closely with the Council to significantly improve facilities for Bee Network passengers by creating a more accessible, modern and welcoming interchange in the heart of the city centre.
“After successfully bringing buses under local control and backed by £2.5bn funding from government to deliver transport projects through to the early 2030s, we have exciting plans to further transform the Bee Network, helping to keep Greater Manchester moving and growing by connecting people to jobs, education, and opportunity.”
The Council has been working with leading landscape architects LDA Design to explore and envision possibilities for Piccadilly Gardens. This work has helped frame and inform the plans which are being announced today. LDA Design have worked with the Council to produce the newly-issued images which illustrate how some of the improvements described above could look. These interventions will help give the opportunity to assess how well the different elements work which will help shape the long-term vision.
