Marsfield
Common

Marsfield Common is a planning proposal and development application to provide low-rise housing for 106 families and a new park – no apartments and no high-rise – on the privately-owned TG Millner Field.

This proposal includes community benefits such as:

• Delivery of a new 10,000m² publicly accessible park.
• A community garden which includes edible gardens, flexible gathering areas with seating and event spaces, and native planting.
• The planting of over 500 new trees, providing a total canopy cover of 50% on the site and significant greening outcomes for the area.

Marsfield Common is a development proposal initiated in 2022 by two community-based organisations, North Ryde RSL Community Club and Eastwood Rugby Club, to renew the privately-owned TG Millner Field through a low-rise housing development which includes 1-hectare of publicly accessible open space and the planting of 500 new trees.

Despite being the home of Eastwood Rugby since the late 1950’s, the changing demographics within the Ryde LGA have led to a significant decline in Rugby participation since the 1990’s, threatening the survival of both Eastwood Rugby Club and North Ryde RSL Club – who in 2000 took a long-term lease of the land (and subsequently acquired the site in 2017) in an effort to save both Eastwood Rugby Club and TG Millner Field.

In 2017, Eastwood Rugby made a decision to relocate to a new, purpose-built facility at Castle Hill and TG Millner Field has been largely unused for many years. The Marsfield Common proposal was developed in 2022 to secure the future of these longstanding community Clubs, with a combined c.30,000 mainly local members, while delivering a legacy to the local community through a low-rise housing development that is in keeping with the characteristics of the surrounding area.

The Marsfield Common proposal is unique in the Sydney Metropolitan Area in that it does not seek to develop high-rise apartments on the 6-hectare site. The Clubs intentionally chose to pursue a low-density development, while also proposing a $27M Voluntary Planning Agreement (VPA) to Ryde Council, which involved a range of community benefits including a 1-hectare fully embellished public park and significant financial contributions towards affordable housing and the improvement of other Council parks and infrastructure.

Unfortunately, Ryde Council has chosen to oppose the Marsfield Common proposal at every stage, which culminated in the rejection of the $27M VPA offer in April 2026 – at a significant cost to ratepayers.

In December 2025, the NSW Government made a Gateway Determination for the Marsfield Common planning proposal, which endorsed the June 2025 decision of the independent Sydney North Planning Panel that the proposal has strategic and site-specific merit and should proceed. The rezoning of TG Millner Field is anticipated to be finalised in October 2026.

In August 2026, the new owners of the site, Winston Langley and Abadeen, submitted a development application to Ryde Council for 106 houses, 1-hectare of publicly accessible open space and the planting of 500 new trees.