Past and Present — The History of Ryebank Fields

Past and Present

The History of Ryebank Fields

The illustration on this page is used with the kind permission of local artist Anna Violet ©

The land now known as Ryebank Fields served as deep clay pits for Jackson's Brickworks until the 1930's. Following the brickworks' closure, the abandoned, water filled pits were used as an unregulated landfill for roughly 30 years. Manchester City Council (MCC) purchased the land around 1967 to protect its "amenity value" and provide open space. A central government initiative called Operation Eyesore provided funds to remediate the site and groundworks to backfill and level the surface were completed in 1972. The land then became known as Ryebank Playing Fields.

Ownership

Manchester City Council allocated Ryebank Playing Fields to Manchester Polytechnic for sports and recreation in the mid-1970's as the polytechnic was run by the local authority at that time. The council formally transferred ownership on the 2nd of March 1992 after the polytechnic became Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU).

The transfer was triggered by the 1988 Education Reform Act, which required councils to surrender surplus land to independent higher education organisations.

Planning Applications

MMU stopped using Ryebank Fields for sports and recreational activities in 1996 when they moved their sporting facilities to Carrington. A planning application by MMU to build 90 houses was refused in 1996 due to the loss of open space. Another approach was made to MCC to dispose of the land for housing in 2004 and the council refused. MMU in partnership with Step Places, Southway Housing and Manchester Intergenerational CoHousing (MICO) submitted the latest planning application to build 120 houses to MCC (Ref: 142223/FO/2025) in February 2025.

Greenfield Site: Ryebank Fields is officially classed as a Greenfield site and MCC prioritises a "Brownfield first" approach to development, maintaining a published Brownfield Land Register that identifies sites suitable for development.

Since MMU abandoned Ryebank Fields in 1996 it has extensively rewilded and now has over 1400 trees. Community groups and residents are continuing to campaign to save the land from development, citing the environmental impact, loss of green space, and contamination issues, while seeking to designate it a Local Green Space in Manchester City Council's Local Plan. Ryebank Fields Community Group submitted a community-led and funded planning application (Ref: 143413/FO/2025) to Manchester City Council in July 2025. If this application is approved Ryebank Fields will be retained as a community woodland and meadow.