Deansgate Labour Your voice in Manchester City Centre
A new park for Manchester City Centre has gained planning permission and is well on its way to being created with the support of your local Labour Councillors in Manchester City Centre.
The 6.5 acre park will be located next to Piccadilly Train Station, and will involve opening up the River Medlock which is currently culverted as it passes by the old Mayfield Train Station which has been closed since 1986 and will also be brought back to life as part of wider plans.
Work on our new city centre park is planned to start in the Autumn, and will take some time as the river will need to be opened up, the site landscaped, and new trees and greenery planted before it can be opened.
Councillor Marcus Johns said: “I’m really excited about our new city centre park and I’ve been arguing for this together with my city centre Labour colleagues Joan, Jon-Connor, William, Sam and Adele. I know it was one of Joan’s proudest moments as a Councillor to vote for these proposals at the Planning Committee.
“We know residents want more green space in our city centre and 6.5 acres is a large amount of space—almost 3 times as big as St Peter’s Square, so I’m delighted this is going to happen. As a resident in the city centre, I’m looking forward to more green spaces to relax and enjoy, as well as more greenery to help with our air quality.”
But, a new city centre park is just part of our work to green our city centre. All three of your Deansgate Labour Councillors voted to declare a Climate Emergency in July 2019. Cllr Marcus Johns signed the motion and gave a rousing speech in its favour at Council.
Our task is large—we need at least a 13% drop in emissions across our city every year for the next 5 years to become net zero by 2038 at the latest.
Cutting emissions won’t just help save our planet, it will be good for our city too—making it greener, cleaner and ready for the future.
We’re taking action & seeing progress now. We are:
- improving recycling & have seen city centre recycling rates increase by 30% since Marcus, Joan & William were elected in 2018
- planting more trees & protecting existing ones— including surveying all tree pits
- upgrading and pedestrianising public spaces like Albert Square, Victoria Street by Manchester Cathedral, and in First Street
- improving cycling & walking in the city centre, with new CYCLOPs junctions, new routes through the Northern Quarter, and junction upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists in town
- building the Civic Quarter Heat Network to provide low-carbon heat & power in the Civic Quarter
- demanding further action on improving city centre air quality. Last month, Marcus proposed new Council policy to investigate an Ultra Low Emissions Zone, prohibiting unnecessary through-traffic, and enforcing 20mph speed around the city centre
Marcus added: “Our task is not just to make sure Manchester plays its part in avoiding global climate breakdown, but also embracing a vision of a greener city centre of the future and the opportunities this brings. By playing our role in solving the climate crisis, we’ll build a better city centre for living in.”