It’s the latest chapter in a long saga
Controversial plans to build 120 homes on south Manchester fields have been submitted — as campaigners vow to block the project.
The future of Ryebank Fields, in Chorlton, has been subject to fierce debate since it was identified as an area for housing development in a 2019 Manchester council masterplan. The five-hectare green space is owned by Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU), which used it as playing fields until 1996.
However, these closed in 2020 ‘following the discovery of hazardous materials on the surface of the land’. But campaign group Friends of Ryebank Fields (FORF) hit out at potential development, and a separate protest camp was established in April 2021.
Initially comprising tents, the camp stayed in place for more than a year and eventually included an ‘eco house’ constructed from materials ‘out of a skip’. Now, following the formal submission of a planning application to build 120 homes on the fields, campaigners have vowed to keep on fighting the development.
“Manchester has 8,000 empty homes and several years’ worth of brownfield land which already has planning permission for housing,” said Sarah Benjamins, from FORF.
“The majority of houses proposed on Ryebank Fields would not be affordable – there is no justification for building on this greenfield land.”
Fellow campaigner Debbie Jordan added: “The chance to connect with wildlife on the fields is really important to our local communities.
“Manchester’s Biodiversity Strategy states that 98 percent of people who responded to its consultation said they were concerned about the loss of wildlife in Manchester. We want the council to listen to its residents and take action.”
The planning application said just over a third of the proposed homes will be affordable. Of the 120, 42 will be affordable flats, 20 will be open-market flats, and 58 will be open-market houses.
There will be 122 parking spaces in the scheme developed by Step Places, Southway Housing Trust, and MMU. The university said selling the unused land will help fund ‘excellent education and research’ in the future.
A statement in the application said: “As part of a wider strategy of consolidating into a single campus site in Manchester city centre, MMU considered the future of various pieces of land it owned around Greater Manchester and Cheshire.
“The trustees of MMU decided the best option was to sell them and re-invest the proceeds into the charitable purposes of the University to deliver excellent education and research. The trustees of MMU are under an obligation to obtain best value for any assets they dispose of. Ryebank is the last piece of land to be sold under this plan.”
Other ongoing MMU redevelopment plans are focused on its city centre All Saints campus, which will soon have a landmark new library by Mancunian Way, and bosses hope to also build 30 and 24-storey halls of residence towers to replace ageing accommodation.
You can view and comment on the plans online until April 2 here.
