Plans for a new sculpture park along the River Irwell are set to be approved by the town hall on Wednesday.

The council’s vision for the ‘medieval quarter’ surrounding Victoria Station, Chetham’s School of Music and Manchester Cathedral would see the Irwell finally opened up 20 years after the idea was first suggested following the IRA bomb.

That plan has been updated, however, to include waterfront statues of ‘iconic Manchester figures’.

The masterplan – designed by Ian Simpson’s architects Simpson Haugh – would also create a new park between Chets and the cathedral, known under its historical name of the ‘Apple Market’.

That would include a water feature and a historic pedestrian route through the middle, directly linking the two iconic buildings.

The space would be in addition to the existing Cathedral Gardens around the corner and improved public space at the station entrance.

However some concerns have been raised as part of the council’s consultation on its vision.

Residents asked for more trees and questioned whether the area would now become a magnet for litter and rough sleepers, amid more general worries about the upkeep of other parts of the city centre such as Piccadilly Gardens.

Chet’s queried whether the new path through the Apple Market should be called ‘Hunt’s Bank’, as suggested in the masterplan, since the existing Hunt’s Bank – leading up to the station – will continue to exist and does not feature at all in the plan.

And Friends of Manchester Peace Garden argue the sculpture park should also double up as an official memorial space.

However the council says a peace garden would be better located in Lincoln Square, arguing the new park is ‘not the most appropriate area’ due to its proximity to a busy station.

It says regular maintenance will be carried out to the green space – and highlights its homelessness strategy, which it says is currently being ‘reviewed’ in the light of rising levels of rough sleeping. Officers have agreed to re-consider the name ‘Hunt’s Bank’ and say there will be a 20pc increase in trees.

Council bosses will discuss the plan in detail at their executive meeting on Wednesday, October 19.