'Pure hypocrisy': MMU accused of promoting biodiversity while selling off Chorlton green space for 120 homes
A Green Party councillor says the university's plan to sell Ryebank Fields would cause a 40% net loss in biodiversity and an 81% loss for watercourses, while MMU simultaneously runs a campaign urging people to "make green spaces." A decision is expected on September 24.
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Manchester Metropolitan University has been accused of "pure hypocrisy" over its plans to sell Ryebank Fields in Chorlton for developers to build 120 new homes.
Green Party councillor Chantal Kerr-Sheppard said MMU promoted a biodiversity campaign in May called Make a Metre Matter, which encouraged people to "plant and make green spaces," while at the same time pressing ahead with selling off 46,000 square metres of open fields and rewilded green space.
She said: "According to MMU's own biodiversity consultants, building on the fields will cause a 40% net loss in area habitat biodiversity and an 81% loss for watercourses, forcing them to buy out-of-area credits because no offset sites exist in Greater Manchester."
She added: "A university that insists local urban biodiversity is vital cannot propose a 40% net loss on its own estate and offshore the damage. Using off-site credits to greenwash a massive local habitat reduction directly undermines their sustainability mission. That is pure hypocrisy."
What are the plans?
The planning application, led by MMU alongside Step Places and Southway Housing Trust, proposes 120 homes on the site. These would include 52 for sale on the open market, 42 "age-friendly" affordable apartments for social rent for people aged 55 and over, and specialist accommodation for young adults with autistic needs.
MMU said the development would "retain significant publicly accessible green space" and create new pathways for community use.
What does MMU say?
A university spokesperson said the sale is part of a wider strategy to consolidate into a single campus in the city centre. They added: "The site is privately owned by the university and has a complex industrial legacy containing historic contamination that requires appropriate management and remediation. Any realistic long-term future for the site must address these issues in a way that is safe, responsible and deliverable."
They said they "recognise that there are different views about the future of Ryebank and respect the strength of feeling that the site generates within the local community."
What do campaigners want?
The Ryebank Fields Community Group has been fighting to keep the land as a community woodland and meadow. They have submitted an alternative planning application to protect the fields from development.
Both applications are expected to be decided at a council meeting on September 24.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is planned for Ryebank Fields?
- Manchester Metropolitan University, alongside developers, has submitted a planning application to build 120 homes on the site, including affordable and age-friendly housing.
- Why are people opposing the development?
- Local campaigners and a Green Party councillor argue the project will cause a 40 per cent loss in local habitat biodiversity and want to preserve the land as a community woodland.
- When will a decision be made on the Ryebank Fields development?
- Manchester City Council is expected to decide on the planning applications during a meeting scheduled for 24 September.