The council say “2026 promises to be the beginning of a bright new start for Piccadilly Gardens” with plans for more greenery, a new play area more like Mayfield Park, and the removal of the “unreliable” fountains and unsightly walls
12:37, 09 Mar 2026Updated 12:38, 09 Mar 2026
The ‘unreliable’ fountains will be removed as part of the major transformation works now underway at Piccadilly Gardens(Image: MEN)
The long-awaited transformation of Piccadilly Gardens finally gets underway in Manchester this week – with a number of big plans to improve the much-maligned public space at the heart of the city centre.
Council bosses say the first signs of the transformation will be evident from this week – with hoardings beginning to go up on part of the space from Monday.
A wide-ranging package of improvements was announced in the autumn to enhance both the appearance of the prominent city centre space and people’s experience of it. The vision behind it – to make Piccadilly Gardens more colourful, more vibrant, safer and more inviting – was illustrated in indicative images released by the Council at the time.
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Around half of the Gardens – centring on the area around the fountains – will begin to be hoarded off to enable preliminary works including surveys and excavations. The remainder of the Gardens will remain open while these are carried out.
The vision for Piccadilly Gardens’ revamp, set to open in summer 2027(Image: Manchester City Council)
The full scope of the project includes putting the ‘Gardens’ back in Piccadilly Gardens – with more trees, planting and floral displays. When it was initially announced, the hope was for the changes to be visible by Summer 2027
A new space for family-friendly events will be made by removing the old, “unreliable” fountains and using the new space created to hold “enjoyable events and activities throughout the year”. Council bosses say a new, flexible structure will be built on part of the space to help support events.
They aim to make better overall use of the space by also ripping out what are described as “the unsightly low concrete wall and raised planters” along the edge of Piccadilly Gardens, close to the Queen Victoria statue.
The view north, towards the existing fountain plaza, in CGI form(Image: LDA Design/Manchester City Council)
In more good news for families, the council is to “refresh” 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.
They say it 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”.
The Council is in the process of selecting a contractor and delivery team for the works and will announce who has been appointed in the coming weeks.
Improvements to the appearance and functionality of the space are being complemented by a range of other multi-agency initiatives to help restore pride and confidence in Piccadilly Gardens.
The exising play area – and wall (pictured) – are to make way for a new high quality children’s play area(Image: MEN)
These include a strengthened police presence through GMP’s dedicated neighbourhood policing team, set up to tackle issues and concerns in Piccadilly Gardens, and planned improvements to CCTV.
Once the work is completed, the Council aims to ensure a regular stream of bespoke family-friendly events, building on the success of popular events held in Piccadilly Gardens such as last summer’s MCR Live 25 celebration to create a year-round programme of events.
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.
Council Leader Bev Craig said: “2026 promises to be the beginning of a bright new start for Piccadilly Gardens. We’re determined to see it become an attractive world-class public space which makes a positive contribution to the city centre – somewhere Mancunians can be proud of again. That’s what we’re cracking on with investing in.
“We recognise that the success of this project doesn’t just rest on making the Piccadilly Gardens look better but also on improving people’s experience of the space – whether that’s through tackling crime and anti-social behaviour or putting on exciting events and activities.
“While there’s a lot we can do as a council, and we’re getting on with doing it, we can’t transform Piccadilly Gardens on our own and I’m grateful for the strong commitment to ongoing improvements which GMP, Transport for Greater Manchester and other agencies have also shown.”
The council has also pointed out that new turf, only planted at the start of the year after the Manchester Christmas Markets were held there, is to be dug up and donated to local community initatives.
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