The Piccadilly Gardens Problem - new development proposal (P32)

Good video, you can't fully explain the problems with the area whilst leaving out the obvious, although I can see why he did. For my sins I used to work in the office monstrosity in the middle, and the commute to and from, and having to be around there most days was miserable tbh.
 
Everyone thinks the wall, the grass, the office block, the fountain, the lack of a plan for the areas and the dregs of society that frequent it etc. are the problem at the Gardens… while they all all proper shit, it’s the bus depot that’s the biggest problem.

The bus depot is a dangerous, ugly, dirty, busy shithole with loads of big, dirty, noisy buses constantly moving around. It’s the worst bit of the city centre. It needs fucking off!

Get rid of that and it will transform the area.

Although what that current thing of containers is that’s there at the moment, I have no idea. What a fucking horrible shit show that is. Get it fucked off immediately!
 
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jrb said:
St Peter’s Square has been a great success after it’s refurbishment. Lincoln Square has been another success after it’s recent refurbishment. Albert Square is also looking like a like great success, even though only 1/3rd of it is open currently.

The squares all have similar things in common. No grass, less is more street furniture and lighting, nice paving, a limited amount of landscaping and planting, some trees, and large open spaces. They are also maintained very well.

The city council can get it right when it comes to new public spaces, St Peter’s Square, Lincoln Square, and Albert Square prove that. Hopefully they can finally get it right with latest attempt to refurbish Piccadilly Gardens?

August. More of Albert Square is now open. It won’t be fully open until the town hall redevelopment is complete.

www.manchesterworld.uk

Latest pictures: Albert Square renovation takes shape in Manchester city centre

These exclusive images give a bird’s eye view of how the Albert Square and Town Hall renovations are coming along in Manchester.
www.manchesterworld.uk www.manchesterworld.uk
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A Square should be exactly how you describe it there. Big open spaces with beautiful paving and trees. Maybe the odd statue. With very frequent cleaning.

Nothing else is needed.

All the best squares in Europe are like this. And as you say all our other decent Sqaures are.

Currently, the walk from Piccadilly, through the Gardens, down the first bit of Market Street where the abandoned Debenhams is and the right turn down High Street where the disgusting side of hanging Arndale Centre is, is the worst 1 mile stretch of any city centre in the developed and probably much of the developing world.
 
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BrianW said:
The problem is that even if you plated it with gold and paid the RHS several million quid to turn it into the gardening miracle of the North it would still be full of scrotes.

How do you get rid of the scrotes, that's the real question. And there is no easy answer. Well, there is, but it would lie outwith the boundaries of democracy and the rule of law. We live in a sick society, to which any number of things have contributed. This country started going downhill circa 1979 when - to use a metaphor - we collectively decided that it was too expensive to put poison baits in the sewers in sufficient quantity to control the rats.
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Get rid of the scrotes by making it a big open space where sight lines are 360° so there are no dodgy enclosures, walls, fences, tunnels or dark corners where drug dealing/taking, muggings and dodgy goings on can take place.

Open the space right up.
 
jrb said:
You obviously, if you watched the video?

If you didn’t watch they video why comment?

I really hate posters who add nothing to a thread apart from criticising what people post, that other people my find interesting and informative.

And if you didn’t know Mr ‘honestly who cares’, the initial stage of the competition, which attracted 10 entrants, invited expressions of interest to enable entrants’ credentials and experience to be assessed. The six shortlisted teams will now be asked to develop detailed concept designs setting out their ideas.

They are:
Fira Landscape Ltd
LDA Design
Ove Arup and Partners
PLANit-IE Ltd
Studio Egret West Ltd
West 8

The teams will now have until autumn to bring forward their design proposals. The successful design team will be appointed in 2023 to further develop the design with the Council ahead of the appointment of a contractor to carry out the work.

News Stories | Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council's latest news directory
www.manchester.gov.uk www.manchester.gov.uk

Are you a bit more interested now? If not, don’t bother posting on this thread. You aren’t adding anything positive to it.
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The last sentence about parker st is where my indifference comes from.

as long as they use the area as a bus station no matter what they do it will attract the same people who make it an issue now.

Would love the gateway to our city to be the best there is, but the buses need to go.

I am just fed up with the place and the endless conversation that has been going on for 20+ years on how to imporve it (the old gardens was also a shithole by the end and muggers paradise).

How much money has been wasted on consultations and drawing up plans that never come to anythingnthat makes it better.


Also they have promised so much for the area several times and failed to deliver.
 
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Question: Is it still there...... years ago someone came along with a pair of boots and some white paint. The next morning it appeared to suggest that Queen Victoria had got down from her plinth and walked to the ladies loo 200 yards away. For years those footprints were there. I bet some sad fucker from the council had them removed.
 
?? All the people on here saying get rid if the buses!! Where would they go? It is a major transport hub in the City so where would these people suggest it goes to?
 
When they removed Ancoats retail park, they should have looked into moving the main bus station there, and pedestrianise great swathes of the city centre. Altho green space would have been nice there, it's obvious they were never gonna do that, now it'll just be some shite offices/apartments.

Small electric buses could have operated from there to shuttle people around the city if they couldn't mooch over from there. City is just clogged with buses now, dirty, noisy and unattractive. Pedestrianise, more green space, just be a much nicer place all round.

I'm sure there's many flaws to this plan, but, was just an idea...
 
babyape said:
When they removed Ancoats retail park, they should have looked into moving the main bus station there, and pedestrianise great swathes of the city centre. Altho green space would have been nice there, it's obvious they were never gonna do that, now it'll just be some shite offices/apartments.

Small electric buses could have operated from there to shuttle people around the city if they couldn't mooch over from there. City is just clogged wmkbith buses now, dirty, noisy and unattractive. Pedestrianise, more green space, just be a much nicer place all round.

I'm sure there's many flaws to this plan, but, was just an idea...
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on one of the other threads we have had on the gardens I said the same, but suggested a new southern/eastern terminal on store street linked to the station, then pedestrianise piccadilly aproach, portland and mosley street and create a piazza style square in the gardens knocking down that awful office block and trying to bring a cafe culture to the entrance to the city.

the state of debenhams and the waldorf side of the aproach with run down buidings it a terrible thing to see upon arrival
 
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Picadilly is great as a transport hub for rail, metrolink, and busses, but sadly the whole retail set up is obsolete as department stores are largely a thing of the past and the arndale has always looked like a massive 1960's public toilet. The whole thing needs a rethink and I agree with @Psychedelic Casual that the gardens need opened up to make them less scrote/smackhead friendly.
 
urban genie said:
on one of the other threads we have had on the gardens I said the same, but suggested a new southern/eastern terminal on store street linked to the station, then pedestrianise piccadilly aproach, portland and mosley street and create a piazza style square in the gardens knocking down that awful office block and tryimg to bring a cafe culture to the entrance to tge city.

the state of debenhams and the waldorf side of the aproach with run down buidings it a terrible thing to see upon arrival
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Bang on cue.

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.

Designed by Jeffrey Bell Architects, the scheme will see the property completely refurbished. The upper floors will be converted into workspace, while the ground floor will comprise a shopping arcade.

1668424002399.jpeg

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

Contractor appointed as Debenhams office conversion advances - Place North West

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.
www.placenorthwest.co.uk www.placenorthwest.co.uk
 
jrb said:
Bang on cue.

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.

Designed by Jeffrey Bell Architects, the scheme will see the property completely refurbished. The upper floors will be converted into workspace, while the ground floor will comprise a shopping arcade.

View attachment 60902

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

Contractor appointed as Debenhams office conversion advances - Place North West

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.
www.placenorthwest.co.uk www.placenorthwest.co.uk
Click to expand...
That building seems to be a problem. The walk on the right hand side along the Met stop is my least favourite part of the city centre. It’s hanging.

All those buildings you can see in that picture, plus the High Street side of the Arndale just off to the left of the picture, are all full of graffiti at footfall level n’all.

Hopefully, doing up that into offices does something to the area, because I think it’s arguably as much of a shithole as PiccGdns.
 
jrb said:
Bang on cue.

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.

Designed by Jeffrey Bell Architects, the scheme will see the property completely refurbished. The upper floors will be converted into workspace, while the ground floor will comprise a shopping arcade.

View attachment 60902

www.placenorthwest.co.uk

Contractor appointed as Debenhams office conversion advances - Place North West

AM Alpha has hired Russell WBHO to convert the historic Rylands building in Manchester into 300,000 sq ft of workspace, having opted not to sell the Market Street property.
www.placenorthwest.co.uk www.placenorthwest.co.uk
Click to expand...
Spot the tree
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
That building seems to be a problem. The walk on the right hand side along the Met stop is my least favourite part of the city centre. It’s hanging.

All those buildings you can see in that picture, plus the High Street side of the Arndale just off to the left of the picture, are all full of graffiti at footfall level n’all.

Hopefully, doing up that into offices does something to the area, because I think it’s arguably as much of a shithole as PiccGdns.
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20-36 High street still isn’t dead yet, but it has gone quiet since the last discharge of conditions app in August.(strip out of the buildings, pre-demolition) Nothing has happened yet.

22 stories. One of the best, if not the best looking proposals I can remember. The original developer sold it on. The developer that bought the site looked at the proposal and decided to take it forward. Bar the above, nothing has happened yet, so the proposal is still waiting to begin, has stalled or could be dead?

Sadly it still doesn’t distract the eye from the horrible Manchester Arndale and horrible Manchester Arndale car park across the road.(2nd CGI) As you say, it’s one of the worst looking and depressing streets in the city centre.

FD9-B6-F16-AAEB-477-D-B45-B-A3-A84-D5-F086-F.webp


2B5EA2A9-138E-4985-8B08-D2FAD04A44AF.jpeg

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Christ I just read this thread and couldn’t believe it. I’ve not been to town since our leaving do at the Whaldorf in 2006. The council need stringing up for letting it become such a shithole.
 
jrb said:
20-36 High street still isn’t dead yet, but it has gone quiet since the last discharge of conditions app in August.(strip out of the buildings, pre-demolition) Nothing has happened yet.

22 stories. One of the best, if not the best looking proposals I can remember. The original developer sold it on. The developer that bought the site looked at the proposal and decided to take it forward. Bar the above, nothing has happened yet, so the proposal is still waiting to begin, has stalled or could be dead?

Sadly it still doesn’t distract the eye from the horrible Manchester Arndale and horrible Manchester Arndale car park across the road.(2nd CGI) As you say, it’s one of the worst looking and depressing streets in the city centre.

FD9-B6-F16-AAEB-477-D-B45-B-A3-A84-D5-F086-F.webp


View attachment 60965

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View attachment 60964
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Yeah that’s nice. Looks like Sunlight House’s younger brother.

What can be done about the Arndale though?
 
blueju said:
Christ I just read this thread and couldn’t believe it. I’ve not been to town since our leaving do at the Whaldorf in 2006. The council need stringing up for letting it become such a shithole.
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But if they sold the land at a discount to a developer who invests and makes it a far more pleasant place to live and visit, which in turn attracts other investment, then the council is accused of selling its "Crown Jewels"
Just as it has been for selling all that derelict and contaminated land to ADUG
 
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