Local Green Space Designation — Ryebank Fields

Campaign

Local Green Space

Local Green Space proposals for Ryebank Fields were submitted in 2020 and again in 2024 by Friends of Ryebank Fields, setting out why the site meets the criteria for designation under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).

Despite the evidence demonstrating the site's importance to the local community, Manchester City Council's Executive Committee voted in July 2026 to exclude Ryebank Fields from the list of proposed Local Green Space sites in the draft Local Plan.

RFCG considers that the Council's decision to exclude Ryebank Fields is unsound and that the assessment does not provide a sufficiently robust or policy-compliant basis for rejecting Local Green Space designation.

We are therefore preparing a substantive Regulation 19 representation to the Planning Inspectorate, setting out the evidence and planning reasons why we consider the exclusion of Ryebank Fields should be reconsidered as part of the examination of the Manchester Local Plan.

Please see below our recent correspondence to Manchester City Council's Planning Strategy team outlining our concerns about the justifications used to exclude Ryebank Fields from the list of proposed Local Green Space sites.