Manchester City Council backs first new park since 1926

A proposal to create Manchester's first public park for more than 90 years has been approved by the city's executive.

Mayfield Park is being considered for a site near Piccadilly railway station and would cover 6.5 acres (26,000 sq m) or the size of 10 football pitches.

It is included in wider plans to regenerate a run-down area south of Fairfield Street which could see 1,500 new homes and a 650-bed hotel built.

Funding for the project has yet to be obtained.

"There is real potential for this to make a significant contribution to the city," said Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese.

Park historian Dr Ruth Colton said it will Manchester's first public park since Wythenshawe Park was given to the city in 1926 "to be kept forever as an open space for the people of Manchester."

She said the city has been a pioneer for public spaces.

"Manchester had the first publicly funded parks in the country when Queens Park, Phillips Park and Peel Park in Salford opened on the same day in 1846," she explained.

Dr Colton added: "The key to this new park will be its accessibility to people."

According to outline proposals, Mayfield Park will provide a "sequence of interlocking spaces incorporating mature trees along with restored cobbles and footbridges."

The development also provides an "opportunity to improve the course and quality of the River Medlock as it flows through the park, and to provide a new waterside/wetland environment."

A council spokesman said that, subject to a consultation process and funding being secured, work could start in 2019 and be completed by 2022.