Council pledges to make Piccadilly Gardens less depressing after 20,000 sign petition

Manchester council has unanimously backed the campaign to restore Piccadilly Gardens to it’s former glory

The petition called for the council to transform the gardens from a depressing, crime-ridden area into a green space that should be celebrated.

For the first time ever all 96 councillors met to discuss the future of Piccadilly Gardens and they have vowed to pull down the eyesore that is the grey concrete wall.

Backbench councillor Mike Amesbury, representing Fallowfield, said: “This petition, backed by more than 20,000 people from Manchester and beyond… is not born just out of frustration, but out of love for our city.

“I would argue it should be a civic space that marks your arrival to one of the greatest cities in the world, and says ‘this is Manchester’.”

He also added that the wall has “all of the charm of an abandoned second world war bunker, with none of the utility”. Amesbury said the council’s action plan must now have clear and deliverable timescales.

Even city centre chief Coun Pat Karney admits the maintenance of the gardens has been “poor, inadequate and bureaucratic”.

“I want the public to know that we have heard them loud clear and that we will work our socks off to maintain Piccadilly Gardens as an area to be proud of.”

He said a new manager would be appointed to oversee the improved maintenance of the gardens and that the council would like to hear the public’s opinion on what flowers to plant in the gardens.

However council leader Sir Richard Leese pointed out we can’t simply return to how the gardens were in the 70s, unless we make it a no-go zone at night.

He said “Let’s not get conned by a myth of what Piccadilly Gardens looked like 30 to 40 years ago. Let’s recognise that we ought to be able to improve that space in all sorts of ways.”