Plans submitted for first public park in Manchester city centre for more than 100 years

A planning application has been submitted which includes the creation of the first public park in Manchester city centre for more than 100 years.

The 6.5-acre public space will be created on the banks of the River Medlock as part of the 30-acre Mayfield regeneration scheme adjacent to Piccadilly station.

Work will commence early in 2020, subject to planning consent.

The Mayfield Partnership, which comprises regeneration developer U+I, LCR, Manchester City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester, has a vision to create a £1.4bn mixed-use community over the next 10 to 15 years that will transform a long-forgotten part of the city.

It includes the 6.5-acre park, world-class office space, homes and leisure facilities, alongside further extensive public spaces.

The regeneration of Mayfield will create 1,500 homes, 75,000 sq m of office space, a 650-bedroom hotel, retail and leisure space. It is envisaged that the project will create more than 7,500 office, retail, leisure and construction jobs.

In September, Depot Mayfield opened in the site’s old railway depot. The partnership with Broadwick Live began with a gig by Aphex Twin on Friday and a club night on Saturday curated by the Warehouse Project. Around 5,000 people visited over the weekend for the start of a programme that will run for the next five years.

Depot Mayfield is the latest in a series of activities designed to put Mayfield at heart of Manchester’s cultural life, which has included hosting a weekly GRUB street food fair, a festive pop-up cinema and Dirt Factory, an indoor biking centre.