Manchester’s first new city-centre park in 100 years has been given the green light

The government has announced it will be contributing tens of millions towards a new park being built as part of the Mayfield development.

The new park is set to become the city centre’s first park in over 100 years, and is part of a series of investments into outdoor spaces due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Mayfield development is said to deliver 14 acres of new public space, including the six and a half-acre park, as well as 1,500 new homes, 1.7m sq ft of office space, shops, a 650-bed hotel and a car park opposite Manchester Piccadilly Station.

The scheme is set to cost £1.4billion and has been brought forward by a public-private venture comprising of U+I, Manchester City Council, Transport for Greater Manchester and LCR, called the Mayfield Partnership.

The development will also create 10,000 office, retail, leisure and construction jobs. 

The government has pledged £23m for the project, from the ‘£900m Getting Building’ fund that has been designed to increase jobs, skills and infrastructure in England in the light of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the importance of outdoor spaces for communities and pressured the government to increase resources for existing parks, following a decade of local authority budget squeezes.

Unison obtained figures from UK councils in 2018 to find that more than £15m had been cut from the parks and green spaces budget between the period from 2016 to 2019. 

The chair of the National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces, Dave Morris, said: “Under the current public health restrictions, there’s been a massive increase in the usage of public green spaces, but there hasn’t been a comparable increase in the resources that is put into managing and maintaining these spaces.”

He added: “We need to ensure that the whole population have access to a quality local public green space within walking distance of where they live. In many areas there’s a need for additional green spaces.”

Aimee Stimpson, the national lead for healthy places for Public Health England, said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has made many of us more aware of how much we value and rely on our outdoor spaces to support our health and wellbeing.

“Spending time in green spaces such as public parks can help us maintain a healthier weight, reduce our risk of conditions such as cardiovascular disease and boost our mental health.”

Historic England’s national landscape advisor, Jenifer White, said many councils have attempted to diversify their incomes to increase funding for park maintenance and management through events, but social distancing measures brought this to a dramatic halt. 

White said: “The Manchester park is wonderful because I think we only really get a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create new parks. 

“What we desperately now need to do is make sure that the funding for public parks is adequate and secure to make sure they’re well looked after and are still providing that public service.”

A study from Public Health England found that £2.1 billion a year’s worth of public health costs could be saved if everyone in England had access to green spaces.

Furthermore, an average of £2,500 is added to the price of houses and flats that are within 100 metres of public parks and green spaces in England and Wales.

White adds that public parks and green spaces were recognised as improving living conditions in densely populated towns back in the 1840s, following the industrial revolution. 

“There was a really clear association early on that parks were there for the health and wellbeing of the community,” she said.

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