Upcoming Webinars and Dates
Monday November 9th, 2026 12.30-1.45
Fighting Development with a green alternative! How Ryebank Fields campaigners held back development with an alternative plan for a community woodland
Click HERE for the meeting link in Teams
Ryebank Fields Community Group have lived with the threat of development on the fields for 30 years. They eventually decided to submit their own application and recently an application to preserve Ryebank Fields as a Community Woodland and Meadow was approved by Manchester City Council.
Join us on Monday November 9th to find out how they did it!
Ryebank Fields is a 10-acre community green space in Chorlton, South Manchester. Since it was abandoned as a sports ground in 1996, the land has rewilded into a richly biodiverse natural habitat; home to priority and protected species; rare flowers and trees.
Fighting such a lengthy battle was taking its toll, having to constantly wait for and react to the developers’ next move, which felt negative, exhausting and debilitating. So, rather than focusing on opposing development, Ryebank Fields Community Group (RFCG) decided to adopt a more proactive role and submitted their own planning application: a positive community-led and -funded alternative plan to preserve Ryebank Fields as a Community Woodland and Meadow.
Speakers:
• Introduction: Marj Powner, Joint Chair, Community Planning Alliance
• Julie Ryan and Tom Butler, Ryebank Fields Community Group