If Mr Rattenbury's move is supported by the Liberals, Labor will be outnumbered in the ACT Parliament.

Mr Rattenbury wrote to Chief Minister Andrew Barr last week asking him to set up a community consultation group, and to develop a new masterplan taking in Manuka Oval, the adjacent shopping area and the Stuart Flats.

After a lukewarm response from Mr Barr, Mr Rattenbury is now moving to force the issue in the Assembly.

He will put a motion on Thursday calling on the government to set up a community group including sports groups, heritage experts, local traders and others to settle on broad objectives for the Manuka Oval, if the Grocon and Giants bid proceeds to the next stage.

His motion also calls on the government to develop a master plan to "define parameters" for future development.

The Giants and Grocon bid has attracted strong community opposition. The proponents want the right to redevelop the Manuka Oval precinct with 1000 apartments, commercial and retail space, in return for spending $100 million upgrading the sportsground.

The unsolicited bid is being considered by the government but has run into trouble not only with community opposition, but with revelations about the involvement of former Labor deputy chief minister David Lamont and Pierre Huetter, who is the husband of government minister Meegan Fitzharris, in the Giants bid.

Mr Huetter resigns his position this week as a result of the controversy.

Mr Rattenbury said there had been considerable community reaction to the Giants bid, which involved a heritage area and would change the "dynamic" of Manuka. It would also affect traffic and parking.

"There's clearly a high level of community concern about the proposal," Mr Rattenbury said.

"For me there's two elements to it. Creating a framework for if the unsolicited bid continues to proceed, as we need a level of community input. We need an opportunity for all of the views to come and be considered, like the Yarralumla process.

"If it doesn't proceed, we should do a Manuka master plan for the whole precinct. It's clear that even if this process doesn't go ahead, people will have ideas for Manuka so let's use that opportunity to do some planning."

Mr Rattenbury conceded there would be a political cost from his intervention but said it was necessary to see the issue effectively dealt with.

He said community consultation on the Giants bid was continuing and the formal plan was yet to come before cabinet.

"We have to get this right," he said.

"It's an area that will continue to be of interest to people. It's a great part of Canberra, it's got a lot of history, but at the same time, there's a lot of new ideas coming into the area."

The motion will be debated on Thursday.