The City of Ryde has placed an Interim Heritage Order on the 6.2ha TG Millner Fields in Marsfield following the submission of new plans to bulldoze the vital open space and replace it with a 106-dwelling residential development.
The Interim Heritage Order – which came into effect on 26 August 2026 and will be in place for six months – means the land will be protected while Council undertakes the further assessment required to determine the nature and level of the site's heritage significance.
City of Ryde Mayor Trenton Brown said the $142 million Marsfield Common development proposal was a significant new factor that negated Council's decision not to proceed with a previous heritage listing bid in 2020.
"This development proposal, which will have minimal impact on Council's overall housing targets, has introduced an existential threat to TG Millner's longstanding associations with organised rugby, community involvement and local sporting identity," he said.
"Once this vital land is gone, it is gone forever. An assessment will now be undertaken to determine whether TG Millner warrants permanent heritage listing, recognising not only its historic significance but also its ongoing role as an essential part of our City's sporting and recreational fabric.
"There are substantial historical, social, cultural and sporting landscape values at risk and that's why we are taking this action as part of our community's continuing fight to preserve the significance of this place and this land as active open space."
Section 25 of the Heritage Act 1977 allows Council to make an Interim Heritage Order where a place may be of local heritage significance and is being, or is likely to be, harmed.
Heritage NSW has previously indicated that further investigation may identify additional heritage values and Council will now seek to determine whether the site's social significance, community attachment and sporting traditions were fully examined in the 2020 bid.
The Interim Heritage Order comes as Council continues its 'Take the Pledge to save TG Millner Fields' campaign.
The campaign was launched after TGM Developer submitted its DA for the Marsfield Common proposal on 6 August 2026 and the State Government released its wide-ranging Sydney Plan a week later.
The Sydney Plan explicitly identifies Ryde as an area facing a shortage of open space over the next 20 years and states that 'coordinated planning and investment is required to support delivery of new open space in areas of greatest need and highest population growth to improve equity and enhance liveability for all'.
Mayor Brown said there appeared to be an inconsistency with the objectives of the Sydney Plan and the proposed rezoning of TG Millner for housing, which is currently awaiting a final decision by NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully.
"The rezoning of a large, socially and culturally important recreational site for housing development raises questions about whether the proposal aligns with the Sydney Plan's stated objective of improving access to open space in areas experiencing significant population growth," Mayor Brown said.
