Manchester Metropolitan University owns the area of land known as Ryebank Fields, which borders Longford Park and is located at the end of Ryebank Road, Chorlton, and the end of Rye Bank Road, Firswood.
We have owned this piece of land since the 1970s. It is one of a number of sites around the city that were brought together to form the then Manchester Polytechnic, later Manchester Metropolitan University.
As part of a wider strategy of consolidating the University into a single campus site in Manchester city centre, Manchester Metropolitan considered the future of Ryebank Fields and decided to begin the process of selling the land. It is the last piece of University land to be sold under this plan.
Working with Manchester City Council, the University identified Ryebank Fields as a suitable site to meet the need for high quality and affordable housing as part of the Council’s wider development plans for the Chorlton area.
A suitable development was sought and after careful consideration of a number of proposals, the University selected Step Places and Southway Housing Trust as preferred developers for the site in July 2022.
- Step Places is a privately owned residential developer that delivers design-led homes and creates sustainable neighbourhoods across the North West.
- Southway Housing Trust is a not-for-profit local housing company that provides affordable homes for around 6000 households around south Manchester. Most of these are in Burnage, Chorlton, Didsbury and Withington.
The University has charitable status and we are required to achieve value for money from the disposal of any assets. Our plan is to invest any proceeds from the sale of the site into our core purpose of providing high quality teaching and research.
Before we owned it, Ryebank Fields was a clay pit for a nearby brickworks. When this use stopped, it was backfilled. Surveys conducted for us indicate that some of the backfill materials are potentially hazardous.
Initially, they appeared to be at a depth that would not pose an immediate risk to the public. However, surface level asbestos was found in different locations across the whole site. The vast majority of this asbestos has been unearthed due to surface erosion.
Due to potential health and safety risks linked to contact with asbestos we have revoked permission for the public to enter the site. It is very important that members of the public do not enter the site until further notice.
As Ryebank Fields is private land, any unauthorised access constitutes an act of trespass.