The clamour for more city centre green space has been growing for some time.

With a rapidly increasing population, critics accuse Manchester council of not doing enough to prioritise public areas during the current building boom of offices and apartment blocks.

So, ruling Labour councillors were delighted when a planning application was recently submitted to build Mayfield Park, the first in the city centre for 100 years.

The 6.5 acre park is set to take shape on the banks of the River Medlock, behind Piccadilly station.

It is part of a wider, £1.4billion transformation being led by the Mayfield Partnership, a joint venture between the council, Transport for Greater Manchester, regeneration company U+I and LCR, the property company owned by the Government.

The first phase planning application also includes a proposal to build a 545-space, multi-storey car park and a nine-storey office building overlooking the park.

The move has been generally welcomed as a positive way to regenerate the area and bring a new green space to this developing corner of the city.

The developer insists it will be 'clean, well-lit and managed in a sensitive way so it can be enjoyed by all'.

But there's no doubt building a park in the former Mayfield railway station area will come with challenges.

(Image: Joel Goodman)

Welcome to the neighbourhood

Many M.E.N readers have responded to the plans with fears that a city centre park will attract the kind of crime and anti-social behaviour problems that plague Piccadilly Gardens.

Commenting on the Mayfield plans on Facebook, Bev Oxleyshaw wrote: "Fantastic idea in principle but with how our city centre is looking at the moment i don't predict a great future for it."

Gohar Rajok added: "So all the regular crowds of dealers and beggars will be going there. In other words it won't be family friendly."

Meanwhile, John Dow said: "Agree, will this park end up like Piccadilly Gardens? The Authorities need to sort out all the issues in the city centre especially around Piccadilly Gardens and surrounding areas!"

Documents submitted as part of the planning application suggest readers are right to be concerned.

The area is well known as Manchester's red light district and also attracts a high volume of car crime and assaults.

The 'Crime Impact Strategy' report, submitted on behalf of Greater Manchester Police, reveals that in the year March 2018-February 2019 there were: 57 incidents of criminal damage, 11 serious woundings, 144 'less serious' woundings, 76 thefts, 57 robberies, 258 thefts from cars, 36 car thefts and 14 bike thefts in the exact area the park is proposed for.

(Image: Mayfield Partnership)

Most wounding offences are taking place around the Piccadilly and Fairfield Street junction, the report says.

"In most instances, assaults are occurring during the late hours of the evening and into the early hours of the morning during the weekend," it adds.

"In most instances, the victim and offender are intoxicated when the assault takes place.

(Image: Mayfield Partnership)

"The majority of thefts are occurring around Piccadilly approach and Piccadilly train station. The thefts are mostly of personal property, bags and mobile phones.

"Vehicle crime is mostly taking place around Hoyle Street and Fairfield Street which is located east of the proposed site.

"The vehicle crime which is occurring is mostly theft from a motor vehicle, with smashed glazing and sharp instruments to bypass the locks the most common M.O. (modus operandi)."

(Image: Mayfield Partnership)

The report also points out that this neighbourhood 'also contains several streets which are a focal point for the sex trade in Manchester', adding that 'such areas tend to attract criminality with drug dealing and assault not uncommon, many of which are likely to go unreported'.

The report adds: "There have been a significant number of sexual offences, including sexual assault and rape."

Earlier this summer we reported on the horrific case of Peter Timmins who raped one sex worker and brutally attacked another in the red light district area behind Piccadilly Station.

Who owns Mayfield Park?

Given the well-documented strain on resource, having to protect a park in a crime hotspot could be seen as a further headache for Greater Manchester Police.

But it may not be all down to them.

Unlike the city council's public parks, Mayfield will be a privately managed estate, wholly owned by the Mayfield Partnership, a corporate entity in itself.

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The Mayfield Partnership is the public-private joint venture (JV) formed by Manchester Council, TfGM and LCR with developer U+I in 2016.

Under the terms of the JV, it is understood Manchester Council agreed to provide land assets to the Partnership in return for a share of the profits.

It is expected these will 'mature' as the project continues, with two skyscrapers and thousands of offices and homes also planned for the site.

It is understood that the proposed park will be maintained by the Partnership, with U+I likely to seek out a third party security company via a tendering process, if and when planning permission is granted.

This means the cost of maintaining the park will be met by the Partnership, not the city council.

Mayfield is intended to be open to the public 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

How will a private security firm keep rough sleepers, drug users and sex workers out of the park at all times?

Could apartment renters and businesses end up paying a service charge which goes towards maintaining Mayfield - and if so, would they be entitled to demand conditions on its use?

For example, what if a group wants to hold a noisy protest in Mayfield just a few metres from new homes, would they be permitted?

All of these questions and more will be debated and resolved as the plans for the park go through the planning process and beyond.

For its part, Greater Manchester Police believes the propose park will improve 'vitality' across the wider area, simply by increasing footfall which provides 'additional natural surveillance' and promotes 'a greater sense of safety on the street'.

However, the force makes a number of recommendations including careful choice of trees to prevent people being easily concealed, street furniture that prevents unwanted parking, a lighting scheme that provides even illumination without areas of shadowing, and considering of creating a 'Friends of' group.

Crucially, GMP adds: "Any public open space or amenity areas not under the ownership of residents should be subject to an effective maintenance contract."

There have been similar public-private arrangements elsewhere in the city - most notably in Spinningfields, where developer Allied London provides extensive security arrangements.

But that area of public realm is significantly smaller and is surrounded by upmarket bars and shops off Deansgate.

Mayfield Park will be in the middle of an area which has become known for dereliction and social problems.

'We want people to love and value the Park - to be proud of it'

In the meantime, the debate about how best to approach Mayfield Park is already sparking a political row.

For some critics, the private-public partnership is troubling.

The opposition Lib Dems say they would prefer Mayfield to be wholly public-owned and are 'cautious' about the implications of privatising control over public space.

Addressing the question of putting police and council resource into managing the park, the Lib Dems position is that 'extra policing is one of the costs of a growing city' and that the council could do more to collect 'millions of pounds' in developer contributions.

(Image: Joel Goodman)

"We welcome the Mayfield proposals that add much needed green space in the city centre, but we retain one or two concerns about the operation of the park," said John Bridges, Lib Dem candidate for Manchester Central.

"This privately-owned and privately-managed park must be kept open for the public 24/7, 7 days a week and be accessible for all in Manchester to enjoy.

"Mayfield cannot become just another privately owned public space where freedoms of visitors are eroded over time by restrictive rules that forbid perfectly legal activities such as kicking a football, or drinking a can of beer.

"For example, will organisations like ParkRun need permission to set up a City Centre ParkRun?”

He added: "Neither the Council nor the Mayfield private owners have yet addressed how they will prevent the promise of Mayfield being undermined by criminal and anti-social activity that blights Piccadilly Gardens and forced the closure of the Chinatown Pagoda last year.

"We need to green our growing city, but we have to do it in the right way that benefits our community for decades to come."

Sam Wheeler, Labour councillor for the Piccadilly ward, pointed out that many of Manchester's public parks started life as private grounds and were later sold, given or bequeathed to the city.

He said: "Manchester is getting a new park that will be available to everyone living in or visiting our city.

"This has been delivered because of extensive work between local councillors, the town hall and the private sector through the joint Mayfield Partnership.

"Anchoring developers into areas, so they have to make a long-term commitment to our city if they want to make money here, is essential to ensure our growing city gets a fairer deal."

(Image: Manchester Evening News)

"While I would instinctively prefer a wholly public-owned project from the outset, it is worth remembering that many of our current public parks began life as private grounds.

"It will be interesting to see how this partnership delivers over time, and I look forward to the discussions in the coming months and years about the use of this space and how it is cared for."

Meanwhile, developer U+I, which is leading the Mayfield regeneration project, said plans for how the park will be managed remain at 'a very early stage.'

James Heather, Development Director at U+I, said: "As development partner for Mayfield, U+I is passionate about delivering a vibrant, world-class and accessible place to live, work and visit.

"Along with our partners, Manchester City Council, LCR and TfGM, our vision includes creating Mayfield Park – a beautiful 6.5 acre urban oasis around the River Medlock, in the heart of the city centre’s newest neighbourhood.

"It will be open and accessible to people from all walks of life as a place to play, exercise, feed the birds, ride a bike, enjoy a picnic, or simply take time out to think.

"Safety and accessibility are our key priorities, and the park will be clean, well-lit and managed in a sensitive way so that it can be enjoyed by all.

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"Importantly, we want people to love and value the Park – to be proud of it.

"In time, we will appoint a company to manage the Park, but we’re still at a very early stage in this process."