Designers have finally been appointed to develop plans that transform Piccadilly Gardens into a “welcoming public space”.
It’s been a long time coming – but Manchester City Council has revealed that a team of designers led by architects LDA Design have now been selected from a shortlist of candidates, and will now be tasked with producing a range of detailed designs and concepts ready for a full planning application to be submitted next year.
The design team has been chosen following an international design competition last year, which was based on initial concept designs that were submitted for the popular city centre space.
As well as Piccadilly Gardens, the 10-acre site covered by the competition also includes Mosley Street, Parker Street, the section of Portland Street which runs alongside Piccadilly Gardens, and the section of Piccadilly which borders the Gardens.
Designers appointed to transform Piccadilly Gardens into a ‘welcoming public space’ / Credit: Manchester City Council
The Council says it envisages Piccadilly Gardens being “a special place with a strong sense of identity” in the future, as well as one that is “welcoming” and “uniquely Mancunian”.
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They want it to become a fully-accessible “place for all”.
Retaining a green space in the heart of the city centre was also central to the Council’s design brief, with competition entrants told to consider Manchester‘s wider environmental goals, yet still recognise the need for the area to accommodate the tens of thousands of people that walk through every day.
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Potential designers were told to ensure their concepts also retain the existing listed monuments, statues, tramlines, and infrastructure, as well as the existing Pavilion structure.
But what exactly do the winner’s design plans entail? Well, according to the Council, competition judges explained that they felt LDA Design’s entry “embraced” and “met” the design brief to a high standard, and praised the elements that proposed the updating of children’s play facilities and improving links to London Road.
What Piccadilly Gardens has looked like through the ages / Credit: LDA Design
Crucially, the Council says that before any final plans are submitted, these designs will be made public so Mancs have the chance say what they think.
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“We know that people have strong views about Piccadilly Gardens,” Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, admitted as the new designers were appointed, “and serious work is continuing to realise its potential a welcoming public space and somewhere people want to linger and enjoy, not just pass through.
“Today is not about us announcing the plan but appointing the experts who will help produce one, taking the views of Mancunians very much into account.”
Featured Image – Manchester City Council
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New endometriosis pill helping hundreds of women with ‘debilitating’ condition to be made available on NHS
Emily Sergeant
A groundbreaking new pill to help women with a ‘debilitating’ condition is set to be made available on the NHS.
The new daily pill for endometriosis – which has been approved for use on the NHS in England by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – is called linzagolix, and will be available for those who have had previous treatment for endometriosis, working to manage any symptoms they may be experiencing.
Around 1.5 million women in the UK are thought to be currently living with endometriosis.
Endometriosis can cause chronic pain, heavy periods, and extreme tiredness when tissue similar to the womb lining grows elsewhere in the body.
A new daily pill for endometriosis has been approved for use on the NHS, and could help over a thousand women in England every year manage the symptoms of the debilitating condition.
As mentioned, linzagolix will be available specifically for patients whose previous medical or surgical treatments for endometriosis have been unsuccessful, and will be given alongside ‘add-back’ hormone therapy – which involves using low-dose hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to prevent menopause-like symptoms and bone loss.
This is the second take-at-home treatment to be approved to treat endometriosis on the NHS, and it’s thought that more than 1,000 women will benefit.
In clinical trials, linzagolix was shown to be successful in reducing painful periods and non-menstrual pelvic pain, compared with placebo, hence why it has been approved on the NHS by NICE.
“This is welcome news for women with endometriosis who haven’t found relief from previous therapies or surgery,” commented Dr Sue Mann, who is the National Clinical Director in Women’s Health for NHS England.
“It’s another treatment option which will help women take control of their health and better manage the symptoms of this often painful and debilitating condition.
“This is a testament to our ongoing commitment to improving treatment, care and quality of life for women.”
Featured Image – Heute
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Wigan woman jailed after hitting pedestrian in Fiat 500 while driving high on nitrous oxide ‘balloons’
Emily Sergeant
A young woman from Wigan has been handed jail time after hitting a pedestrian while driving high on nitrous oxide.
Louisa Tunstall was driving a white Fiat 500 towards the East Lancashire Road in Wigan at around 7pm on Friday 24 May 2024 – a time when traffic conditions were said to be ‘quiet’ – but Tunstall was under the influence of a now-banned drug, nitrous oxide, at the time of the incident, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) confirmed.
While driving under the influence, 19-year-old Tunstall veered to the left onto the pavement and collided with a 51-year-old woman pedestrian.
After striking the woman, the car then overturned and, in the process, caused serious life-changing injuries.
When questioned by police, Tunstall stated that she ‘took her eyes off the road’ to retrieve something in the footwell before knowing the car had flipped, but she also confirmed that she had just been out to purchase nitrous oxide to use that evening.
After obtaining witness accounts, investigating officers were able to track down nearby CCTV footable which showed Tunstall inhaling nitrous oxide through a balloon whilst driving, seconds before the collision occurred.
#JAILED | It's not a laughing matter when you get behind the wheel under the influence of drugs.
Now Louisa Tunstall has to spend over a year behind bars after inhaling nitrous oxide and causing serious injury in #Wigan last year.
— Greater Manchester Police (@gmpolice) May 14, 2025
Further investigation by GMP’s Forensic Vehicle Examination Unit examined the Fiat 500 and confirmed that no defects were found on the car to contribute towards the collision.
Still to this day, the victim says she is trying to recover from the injuries sustained to her leg that will prevent her from continuing life as she did before.
“The incident is still very raw when I think about it,” the victim explained in her impact statement released by GMP. “I become upset when I think at everything which has been taken away from me and the ongoing affect it has had and continues to have on my daily life.”
GMP says it’s seeing the use of nitrous oxide being a factor in incidents they attend increasing year on year.
Nitrous oxide, also known as ‘laughing gas’, is reported to produce euphoria, relaxation, dizziness, giggling or laughing fits, impaired judgement, and occasionally dissociation and hallucinations – which GMP says affects reaction time and and is ‘likely lead to impairment’ in driving performance, particularly when faced with an unexpected or hazardous situation.
Tunstall appeared at Bolton Crown Court this week, and has been sentenced to one year and eight months imprisonment for having possession of a Class C drug, driving under the influence of drugs, and causing serious injury by dangerous driving.
Alongside being jailed, she was also disqualified from driving for two years and eight months, and has been ordered to take an extended test when she is released.
Emily Sergeant -
31st July 2023 
