Heritage Assessment that complies with the requirements of paragraph 207 of the NPPF and the guidance within HEAN 12 on ‘Statements of Heritage Significance: Analysing Significance in Heritage Assets’ wherever required by the site-specific requirements in policies HOM 2a or BUS 3b. Where specified by HOM 2a or BUS 3b, the required Heritage Assessment shall have regard to the cumulative impact of new development on all allocated sites within the area.
Explanation
- Our Stockport of today is the legacy of diverse traditional building styles, materials and settlement patterns resulting from the borough's varied geology and topography. Key features include:
- dispersed small medieval hamlets, scattered farms, cottages and halls that, even where surrounded by later suburban development, remain readily identifiable within district and local centres;
- strong local identities and character, particularly associated with the historic centres, recognisable through surviving historic buildings, street patterns and place names;
- historic parklands and estates, including Bruntwood and Torkington, Chadkirk, Vernon, Woodbank, Cheadle Royal and Bramhall;
- settlement distribution, form, townscape and early industrial development shaped and informed by river valleys and transport routes (including roads, canals and railways);
- associated transport Infrastructure, such as Stockport Viaduct and the Peak Forest and Macclesfield Canals;
- industrial heritage, including mills, related in particular to the development of silk, cotton and hatting industries, and associated urban development from the late 18th century onwards including Houldsworth, Compstall and Mellor Mill;
- early (19^{th} century onwards) development related to railway commuter suburbs such as Heaton Moor, Davenport, Cheadle Hulme, Cheadle and Bramhall: and
- the enduring presence of a large rural area with a strong urban/rural edge, with the legacy of field enclosure from the 18th century onwards that remains evident.
- Stockport's heritage assets include:
- around 400 statutory Listed Buildings designated under the planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990, of which 7 are Grade 1 listed and 24 are Grade 2*;
- more than 450 non-designated assets of local architectural or historic interest included on the Stockport Local List, also known as "Locally Listed Buildings";
- 37 Conservation Areas designated under the planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990;