Peterloo: Efforts to create disabled access to memorial fail

The memorial features inscriptions designed to be read as people walk up and down its tiered design

There is "no viable solution" to disabled access problems at the memorial to the 1819 Peterloo massacre, Manchester City Council has said.

The memorial was unveiled in 2019 before Peterloo's 200th anniversary, but the circular-stepped feature came under fire from disability campaigners.

The council said it had failed to come up with a way to make it fully accessible despite two years working with campaigners.

Ramp and lift proposals were rejected.

Several options for various ramp or lift designs have been explored in detail but "none have proved feasible" the council said.

They either obscured too much, would look overbearing, or posed a range of technical and maintenance difficulties, it said.

In the absence of any prospect of a "workable and satisfactory permanent remodel solution" the memorial will remain as it is.

The memorial was designed by Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller

Deputy council leader councillor Luthfur Rahman said: "We have held our hands up that some mistakes were made in developing the Peterloo Memorial and that insignificant consideration was given to access issues as thinking around the design evolved.

"It's a matter of regret that despite working together over almost two years we haven't been able to come up with a viable solution.

"If we could go back and start right at the beginning again we would do things differently.

The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field in Manchester in 1819, when crowds arrived to hear radical speaker Henry Hunt campaign for parliamentary reform.

At least 11 people were killed and 400 were injured when a troop of sabre-wielding cavalrymen charged into the crowds.

The memorial, designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Jeremy Deller, features inscriptions designed to be read as people walk up and down its tiered design.