Galliford Try to lead Piccadilly Gardens transformation

The council are ‘cracking on’ seemingly without having carried out any meaningful public consultation or a planning application.

The assertion that the public want ‘the gardens put pack into Piccadilly Gardens’ is just rhetoric and sounds like certain councillors trying to put their stamp on the design and retrofitting an imaginary public consultation for whatever they deem to be the way forward.

They has the potential to be another waste of money and a failed design if they don’t think about it and carry out the process properly. Nobody, apart from certain councillors, thinks introducing a carpet of flowers and more turf is the way to go in such a heavily trafficked space.

If “gardens” implies daffodils and lawns then the old adage “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” applies.

@Flowerwatch – Couldn’t agree more – its like they’ve not even tendered the work, or if they have they’ve done it on a design with no planning permission, meaning the design could change radically then GT will make a killing in variations with a 20% markup! Poor, poor, poor!!!

Doesn’t matter what they do because the people of this city / country are becoming increasingly feral and bone idle – the amount of littering is absolutely embarrassing. What use is a flower bed if it is carpeted with booze cans and wrappers? We just simply cannot have nice things..

Well it won’t be hard to be a significant improvement on what EDAW did back in the early 2000s. Every landscape architect is watching if Planit can deliver on this landmark scheme.

The council are bonkers if they think traditional flower beds and turf are a good idea in this location – it is going to look dreadful within weeks of reopening. They should make it into a proper open European-style plaza and rename it Piccadilly Square – take a look at Nottingham’s Old Market Square for some inspiration.

I hope the MEN will own this mess, they’ve lobbied for this kind of thing for years and now they’re going to see why lots of plants and grass in a busy city centre does not work.

100% agree with Joe Stafford, and most of the other comments on this story. The “gardens” do not work, and this should be a large plaza.

Joe Strafford is absolutely right coz I’ve been in Nottingham last summer it full of concrete floors in old market Square. You’re right 👍🏻

Two major things need to happen before anywhere else. No1 Piccadilly building needs to go. It’s bang in the middle and takes away from nicer buildings surrounding it. Will open up the space too. And get rid of the bust station.

Anyone in the building already just offer them a good deal to move. That building needs to go and watch the space naturally improve

Have to agree with most others here everybody knows we will talk about what a planning disaster this was within a few weeks of opening and some bad weather. Completely nuts to think this is suitable for a citys main space

Will you ever learn? What do you think the grassy areas will look like, six months after it opens? Let me answer that for you. It will look like a badly maintained football pitch in January.

By all means go traditional with lawns, trees and flowerbeds, but make sure there are proper paths where people want them, and ,for pity’s sake, maintain it properly!

It feels like they’re trying to do too much with this. Play parks, event spaces, lawns and flowerbeds are all great but you wouldn’t put them in Trafalgar Square for the same reasons I’m sceptical it’ll make sense here. Wishing them all the best but can’t help feeling this might need redoing again in 10 years.

£15m! Good grief! This looney left council waste our money as if it’s going out of fashion and it’s their own…..it’s ours! 😡😓🤦🏻

They say the definition of madness is doing the same thing again and expecting a different result – so here we go again.
We often look back on the 1960s Gardens with rose‑tinted glasses but they too had their problems (and I remember them). The issues we face today – crime and anti‑social behaviour, poor design, safety concerns, homelessness tensions, failing infrastructure, and a long‑neglected public realm – will not simply disappear.
What should be done? A comprehensive redesign, stronger policing, enhanced lighting and CCTV, more greenery, the removal of problematic structures, greater community involvement, and regular events to bring life back into the space. Will betterment happen? In small, incremental ways, yes. But in any meaningful, transformative sense? No – not until the police fully enforce the law and clear the streets of the behaviour that is undermining the social contract.

Tell them to try harder

MCC listen to Joe Stafford “They should make it into a proper open European-style plaza and rename it Piccadilly Square – take a look at Nottingham’s Old Market Square for some inspiration.”

He’s not wrong

This is absurd. This will not work. The garden, Judging by the images above, looks more a nouvelle cuisine dish – a few tulips here, a few daffodils there, one or two trees here, one or two bushes there etc. but nothing substantial. The place is notorious for anti-social behaviour, drugs etc. After a week the garden will ressemble a rugby field after an intense match. And not a single daffodil or tulip will be left standing. Here in Paris where I live all public green spaces in the centre of the city are closed to the public after 7pm. Parks are protected by wrought iron fencing. The idea I have is to recreate the beautiful sunken rose garden I knew in the 80s. It was magnificent. To protect and preserve the garden and to fight against anti socail behaviour, a 6 meter iron fencing would need to be erected. Landscape architects should be inspired by that lovely sunken rose garden I once knew that was a Haven of peace and tranquiliy

The problem with this open space,is it attracts the lowest common denominator, and it could be the greatest garden on the planet and those people would ruin it. I was in Valetta last week and they have a magnificent sculpture and lovely arches, in a square as you enter the city, with a clean, functioning water feature.The biggest difference there, was you weren’t standing on cigarette ends, half-eaten kebabs, and dodging unsavoury people on bikes, with their faces covered, . Until MCC get a grip of the clientele, it will not improve. As people have already said, the lack of pride in this country is very depressing.

Why are all these comments so negative? While I don’t agree with every proposal at least something is being done to get rid of the horrible concrete wall etc so why would we want more concrete! A children’s playground does seem weird, why would you take your child into the centre of a city when a park is much better. The real problem is there are actually no wardens to fine people for littering, dog fouling etc so these things will still happen. A sad state of affairs.

As I grew up with the old sunken Piccadilly Gardens, which I loved, I agree with many comments and know this is unlikely to work now, however I do feel landscape gardeners could do a better job of transforming the sterile concreted area by considering vertical green walls and planting structures to bring some much needed greenery back into the area, without spending on areas that others quite rightly point out will be walked over & destroyed. Consider what the likes of Singapore & Paris have done.

Also consider putting shoots to large underground rubbish recycling containers which can be accessed at night for removal (done in other cities) to keep areas free from rubbish & have a night team to do this across the city, who can act as a watch for any other nefarious actively working alongside the PCSOs & local Police.

Perhaps also consider in the design areas to create a refuge whether permanent or temporary from the mancunian rain/sun – perhaps an awning like structure. See Malaga sea front, where a meandering walk-way goes above with planting & seating (below eateries & walkways), so both people wanting a little down time can be catered for along with commuters needing direct pathways.

Needs some proper thought in the planning.

And Number1 Piccadilly has to go. It’s a real eyesore.

All the money they have spent refurbishing these gardens over the years when they was nothing wrong with the original sunken gardens in the first place . Money that could have been spent elsewhere. Concrete is ugly . Now they are going to spend more money for something else that I think will not enhance Piccadilly Gardens