A Manchester City Council plan to 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 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.

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 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: “This plan, getting underway quickly, is the beginning of a bright new chapter for Piccadilly Gardens.”  

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. 

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 have been announced. LDA Design has 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.