Article below from the Manchester Evening News on Tuesday 19th April:

A disused railway line could be turned into a city centre park.

Residents want to transform the former Castlefield line into a Viaduct Park after being inspired by the New York High Line where a disused track in Manhattan has been reclaimed as a community park.

And the scheme has already won high-profile backing.

Former prime minister’s wife Sarah Brown contacted city centre campaigner Kevin Peel on the micro-blogging site Twitter saying ‘good idea, a High Line for Manchester would be great’.

The Castlefield plans are part of the Manchester Garden City project to create more green space in the city centre where residents and workers can relax and grow their own produce.

Pioneered by BDP Architects, the project has come up with a string of innovative ideas to transform unused land.

Work on the city’s first Garden City scheme, to grow herbs and wild flowers on the banks of Piccadilly basin, began earlier this month.

City centre resident and Labour candidate Kevin Peel said:

“There isn’t a lot of land available to develop into green space where residents can just go to sit and enjoy so this is doing something innovative about that.

“Manchester’s a world-beating city in terms of thinking outside the box and innovative projects and this would surely be one of the first, if not the first, in the UK.”

Northern Quarter resident and Labour campaigner Kevin Peel joined members of the Northern Quarter Green Group over the weekend for a gardening session to green the area.

The group weeded the planters along Church Street and planted some lobelias and marigolds outside the Craft Centre.

Kevin said:

“The Northern Quarter Green Group have done some fantastic work greening our neighbourhood and it is always a pleasure to give them a hand. It helped that the weather was excellent and there was a cake sale on at MadLab on Edge Street to buy some treats afterwards!”

One of Kevin’s key pledges to local residents is to secure more green space in the City Centre. Kevin set up a Green Taskforce for the City Centre to consult on new and innovative ways to develop green space in the city. Contribute your ideas by posting a comment below.

City Centre resident and Labour campaigner Kevin Peel has secured a wholesale review of the residents parking permit scheme.

Kevin said:

“The current scheme is not fit for purpose. It is poorly advertised, inflexible and expensive.

“I asked the council to set up a working party to consult with residents on a new scheme and this will now be taking place.”

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