The Common

If you would like updates on the project, please sign up here.

    Marsfield Common is a proposal by two community-based organisations, Eastwood Rugby and North Ryde RSL, to renew the TG Millner Field site by creating 132 low-rise, diverse homes and a new public park for the local community.

    Regrettably, the TG Millner rugby fields are now largely unused. The privately-owned site is at risk of either overdevelopment or decline. Marsfield Common seeks to best reconnect today’s community to the site through new neighbours, new local access, new opportunities, and new ideas.

    The proposal included community benefits such as:

    • 132 low-rise terrace homes. No apartments and no high rise. There will only be site-appropriate terrace houses of no more than 2 storeys;
    • Delivery of a new 10,000m² public park including full-sized basketball/multi-purpose sports court, an all-abilities play space, pedestrian paths, seating and fitness equipment. The value of this new public park exceeds $20million;
    • An allocation of $6 million towards affordable housing and enhancement of local sporting facilities in Ryde;
    • More green space and habitats with the planting of 570 new trees providing total canopy cover of 65% – considerably higher than Council’s 40% targets;
    • The ability for Eastwood Rugby to contribute towards the creation of three (3) new publicly owned modern rugby fields in Castle Hill.

    The Marsfield Common proposal was first submitted to Council on 18 May 2022, addressing all the matters raised by Council officers in pre-lodgement discussions and was supported and praised by Ryde Council officers in the original planning stages. The proposal was subsequently submitted to the NSW Government via the Department of Planning and Environment for consideration by the relevant Sydney District Planning Panel in December 2022. The Panel refused the application on the basis of advice from Council that the site was likely to be acquired for public open space purposes in the near future. In November 2022, Ryde Council initiated a non-exclusive negotiation process to purchase the TG Millner site from the North Ryde RSL, before seeking permission from the state government to compulsory acquire the site.

    On 12 April 2024, the NSW Government refused Ryde Council’s request to seek to compulsorily acquire TG Millner Field. The NSW Government’s decision was made because Ryde Council, despite being provided with every opportunity to do so, could not provide any strategic justification for the proposed acquisition of the site, nor does it have the monies required to acquire and regenerate TG Millner Field. In this regard, the Minister for Local Government noted that Council’s flagship Ryde Central project has stalled and is a hole in the ground, while Council officers identified a $224M shortfall in Council’s capital budget in November 2023.

    Ryde Council’s attempt to compulsorily acquire TG Millner Field had the potential to expose ratepayers to a cost approaching $80million in terms of acquiring the site and improving its facilities for public use.

    The privately-owned TG Millner site cannot stay as it is. The decision to relodge Marsfield Common will provide some certainty to the future of both the North Ryde RSL and Eastwood Rugby. This proposal is identical to the proposal NRRSL and Eastwood Rugby submitted to Ryde Council in May 2022. We truly believe that this is the best plan to regenerate TG Millner Fields for the community.

    A successful outcome will provide funding to allow Eastwood Rugby to build its state-of-the-art rugby facility, and will allow NRRSL to continue to provide financial support to numerous sporting and charitable bodies within the Ryde LGA, as well as their 27,000 members.

    Key
    Features

    132 low-rise terrace homes. No apartments and no high rise.

    New 10,000m2 public park on 15% of the site.

    Over 2,000m2 of varied play space for all ages and abilities.

    700m2 + of multi-purpose sports and leisure courts.

    An additional 570 trees to be planted and 65% canopy cover over the site.

    A $6 million contribution to affordable housing & enhancement of local sporting facilities.

    Affordable
    Housing

    To boost the supply of affordable housing in the City of Ryde, a $5million contribution was proposed to be made to Council to be applied towards key worker affordable housing.

    It was also planned to dedicate to the City of Ryde and the local community a 1 hectare public park, containing over 2,000m2 of varied play space for all ages and abilities and 700m2 of multi-purpose sports and leisure courts for sports such as volleyball, soccer, tennis, basketball, badminton and table tennis. The park would have made up 15% of the site.

    Greening Our City

    For a cooler canopy and to protect the environment, Marsfield Common planned to plant at least 570 new trees throughout the site. That meant that 65% of the site would have been be covered by tree canopy, providing shared comfort, habitat and ‘better lungs’ for the district.

    An Update on the TG Millner site

    At the last Ryde Council meeting on August 27th, Mayor Trenton Brown tabled a Mayoral Minute against TG Millner that would destroy the value of this privately-owned asset and put North Ryde RSL’s members' services at risk.

    Unfortunately, a large portion of the privately-owned TG Millner complex has fallen into disuse and is now at risk of further deterioration. The Marsfield Common planning proposal that was lodged in July 2024 to Ryde Council would have provided low-rise housing for 132+ families as well as $27 million in community and Council contributions, including a new 10,000m² public park, and an allocation of $6 million towards affordable housing and enhancement of local sporting facilities in Ryde. It was a community-minded proposal.

    Instead, this land grab by stealth will make TG Millner close to worthless and will place North Ryde RSL Community Club in a perilous financial position.

    Effective immediately, and after 75 years of continuous operation, all bookings from local and regional sports clubs have been cancelled, and the fields are now closed. The club cannot afford to continue the upkeep of a now financially unviable asset in the face of this threat to our future from Council and Mayor Brown.

    The impacts of the Mayoral Minute stretch far beyond Marsfield Common. For the community, the impacts will be massive, particularly so during a cost-of-living crisis, and could mean an end to North Ryde RSL’s subsidised meals and entertainment, member services, ClubGrants – which totalled close to $700,000 this year, and ongoing support of local schools and community, charity and sporting organisations.

    It has been made abundantly clear that Ryde Council does not have the funds or State-Government support to compulsorily acquire TG Millner. Mayor Brown - who has made no secret of his intention to compulsorily acquire TG Millner at whatever the cost to Council, the community and our Clubs - is using his position to seize our private land.

    As the owners of TG Millner, North Ryde RSL is now in a position where the future of the Club and the vast contribution that we have made to the community since the 1950s is in serious jeopardy due to the political actions of one man – potentially bankrupting the very Club that has kept TG Millner alive for so many years.

    We urge you to contact Ryde Councillors in regard to this decision and the future of TG Millner and North Ryde RSL; their details are available on the Ryde Council website.

    Close X