Council to fund alley garden after clearance mix up

A council has said it will fund a new community alley garden after workers ripped it out by mistake.

Manchester City Council apologised and said contractors had been responding to a report of overgrown vegetation, but instead had destroyed the intentional planting, trellises and wildlife habitats in the passageway.

It blamed an "inexcusable breakdown in communication and on-site judgement" for the clearance.

Tom Marrett, who helped establish the original garden in the Levenshulme area of Manchester, said it was a "relief" the mistake had been acknowledged, and while "you can't build a garden overnight" he hoped more people from the community would get involved in the restoration.

Redgate, which holds the council's passageway-cleansing contract, confirmed it was involved in the work and said it had spoken to residents about reviving the garden.

Marrett said residents hoped to buy mature plants and trees to accelerate the restoration, while increased interest from neighbours could allow more people to become involved.

"Sometimes negative things can have a positive impact," he said.

Marrett said he hoped the community could use the response to help the garden "bounce back stronger".

Residents spent five years transforming the previously fly-tipped passageway between Stanhope Street, Gordon Avenue and Delamere Road.

Fruit trees, flowers, raspberries and a mature grapevine were among the plants cleared on 28 August, although some raised planters survived.

The garden, which received about £1,800 through two council Neighbourhood Investment Fund grants, had also contained picnic tables and hosted street parties, children's events and shared meals.

Councillor Basat Sheikh, the council's executive member for neighbourhoods, said the authority shared residents' "profound distress and anger".

"What happened here was completely unacceptable," he said.

"Community greening projects represent the very best of Manchester's neighbourhood spirit."

Sheikh said an urgent internal review had been launched to overhaul safeguards so contractors and clearance teams checked whether passageways were registered community spaces before beginning work.

He said the council would work closely with residents to ensure the garden was "properly rebuilt and protected".

Redgate said it had a plan to revive the garden and would help bring it back "better than it was before".

Marrett, 37, a designer who runs a community workshop in Stockport, said senior Redgate representatives had accepted full responsibility when they met residents.

"It was a relief to hear them apologise and for them to acknowledge their mistakes," he said.

He said both Redgate and the council had offered workers to help residents restore the garden.

Marrett said the space, which took five years to develop, could be restored, but added: "You can't build a garden overnight."

Council minutes show Redgate was awarded the passageway-cleansing contract in July 2025 after councillors raised questions about how its performance would be monitored.

Officers said the contract required a 95% inspection pass rate and before-and-after photographs of cleansing work, with council staff also carrying out random spot checks.

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