Southway/Step Places secures contentious Ryebank Fields
Landowner Manchester Metropolitan University has selected the partnership to deliver around 120 homes on the 10-acre Chorlton site, bringing to an end a drawn-out sales process.
Step Places and Southway Housing Trust beat off competition from other shortlisted bidders Anwyl Homes, Morris Homes and PJ Livesey for the Ryebank Fields opportunity.
“We are delighted to have been chosen by the university as the lead developer for the site, alongside Southway Housing Trust,” said Gareth Smith, development director at Step Places.
“We understand that delivering new homes is about much more than delivering just bricks and mortar. It’s about delivering sustainable neighbourhoods and communities that people love.”
Karen Mitchell, chief executive at Southway Housing Trust added: “We are pleased to have joined Step Places to address Manchester’s desperate housing shortage.
“We are a local community-based organisation and will work in partnership to protect and preserve the environmental value of the site, in line with our values. We are passionate about co-production and will be engaging with local people and stakeholders over the coming months to deliver a high-quality, affordable scheme that responds to local needs.”
The partnership’s plans for the site include:
- 20% affordable provision
- Passvihaus-standard properties
- Protection and retention of the historic Nico Ditch
- Use of around a third of the site as public open space.
Southway has also recently acquired two more sites in Chorlton to redevelop into housing. The housing association bought Chorlton Picture House from Co-op earlier this year and is drawing up plans for a mixed-use scheme with 100% affordable homes. In 2021, Southway took control of Chorlton Irish Club and is progressing proposals to build apartments on the venue’s car park.
“Step Places and Southway Housing have an impressive track record of delivering sustainable developments,” said Karen Moore, chief operating officer at Manchester Metropolitan University. “This reflects the importance that the university attaches to sustainability. We are recognised nationally as a university where sustainability forms an integral part of our teaching, research and campus development.”
In 2020, MMU appointed Cushman & Wakefield to market the site for sale, sparking anger among some local community groups that use the land for recreational purposes.
In May 2020, asbestos was reportedly found at the site, prompting calls for MMU to call off its plan to sell the land. The site has since been fenced off but has been occupied by members of environmental group Extinction Rebellion.
MMU acknowledged the discovery of potentially hazardous material at Ryebank Fields but said it intended to go ahead with the sale.
Campaign group Save Ryebank Fields claims that the land is unfit for redevelopment and that MMU does not have a “moral right to benefit financially from the proposed housing development”.
