Manchester Arena Memorial gets the go-ahead

The planning committee at Manchester City Council has endorsed the Glade of Light, designed to be a living memorial to the 2017 Manchester Arena attack - a tranquil garden space for remembrance and reflection.

The memorial will be located between Manchester Cathedral and Chetham's School of Music, at the foot of Fennel Street where it meets Victoria Street. Construction work is now due to start at the beginning of March and complete in November this year.

The centrepiece of the memorial is a white stone ring 'halo' which will bear the names of the 22 who lost their lives set in bronze, with personalised memory capsules - containing memories and mementos to be provided by their loved ones- held within the stone. Families of those who lost loved ones in the attack have been consulted and kept informed during the memorial process, including on the appointment of designers BCA Landscape and Smiling Wolf.

Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, said: "This memorial at the heart of our city promises to be a beautiful tribute to those whose lives were so cruelly cut short on 22 May 2017. Their memories will endure and Manchester will never forget them. The Glade of Light will become part of the fabric of our city, a calm and peaceful place which will blend seamlessly with the regeneration of the wider Medieval Quarter in which it sits.”

Joanne Roney, chief executive of Manchester City Council, said: “Reaching this point has involved a long and meticulous journey. We made a solemn commitment to honour the 22 people who were killed in that heinous attack and it was important that we took great care to deliver something moving and appropriate.”