NCA 55: Manchester Conurbation; and
NCA 61: Shropshire, Cheshire and Staffordshire Plain.
Planning policies should contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment by protecting and enhancing valued landscapes and recognise the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside, and the wider benefits from natural capital and ecosystem services.
National Planning Practice Guidance44 advises that where landscapes have a particular local value, it is important for policies to identify their special characteristics and be supported by proportionate evidence. Policies may set out criteria against which proposals for development affecting these areas will be assessed.
The European Landscape Convention (ELC)45 definition of ‘landscape’ recognises that all landscapes matter, be they ordinary, degraded or outstanding: “Landscape means an area, as perceived by people, whose character is the result of the action and interaction of natural and/or human factors.”
Landscape character is the distinct, recognisable and consistent pattern of elements that occurs consistently in a particular landscape and how these are perceived. It reflects particular combinations of geology, landform, soils, vegetation, land use and human settlement.
The Landscape Character and Sensitivity Assessment (LCSA) for Stockport46 sets out a framework of 12 geographically unique Landscape Character Areas:
Woodford;
Heald Green Fringe;
Ladybrook Valley;
River Mersey;
Tame Valley and Brinnington East;
Etherow Parklands;
Goyt Valley;
Offerton - Poise Brook;
Hazel Grove- High Lane;
Marple Bridge;
Mellor Moor; and