Context of Stockport
The Strategic Regeneration Framework (SRF), spanning 113 hectares, encompasses diverse land uses and topographies, centred around Stockport Town Centre in the north, which includes modern retail (Merseyway, Redrock, Peel Centre) and historic areas like the Underbanks and Market Place featuring the Church of St Mary. Moving south, the area transitions into a mix of mid-century housing, commercial buildings, older industrial structures, and significant historic landmarks like the Grade II* Town Hall and Grade I Church of St Thomas.
Immediately north of the framework area is Lancashire Hill, characterised by 1960s high-rise social housing. Beyond that lie the residential areas of Heaton Moor and Heaton Chapel, recently recognised as one of the best places to live in the North West according to the Sunday Times 2025, and North and South Reddish. To the east is the post-war suburb of Brinnington, currently undergoing regeneration.
South of the framework area, the leafy suburb of Offerton gives way to the communities of Davenport, Bramhall, and Hazel Grove, which offer suburban charm and green spaces, enhancing Stockport's appeal as a commuter town. To the west, across Wellington Road South, is Edgeley, known for its Victorian terraced housing and as the home of Stockport County F.C.
Further west, Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme add to the region's demographic diversity with established residential areas and vibrant local businesses. The southern and eastern parts of the borough become more rural, bordering the High Peak and the Peak District National Park, with Stockport's unique topography offering striking views.
Key Considerations
New developments in Stockport necessitate additional social infrastructure to support both existing and new residents. A significant challenge is affordability, as rising house prices make it difficult for households to acquire quality, well-designed homes, underscoring the need for more affordable housing options.
Active travel is hampered by a lack of dedicated routes for pedestrians and cyclists, especially segregated cycle paths, and the challenging topography. Public transport connectivity is concentrated in the north-east, with poor east-west links.
The public realm varies in quality, with some areas lacking street furniture, having mismatched paving, and limited safe crossing points, leading to a negative perception away from the civic and retail core. There's also a notable absence of high-quality green and blue infrastructure within the framework area itself, despite access to larger parks nearby.
The River Mersey, currently failing ecological standards, is largely culverted beneath Merseyway, limiting its recreational and visual amenity potential.
Stockport faces several environmental risks, including fluvial flooding in the northern part of the framework area due to the Rivers Goyt, Tame, and Mersey, and varying degrees of surface water flooding.
Air quality is a concern, primarily due to road traffic emissions from major routes like the M60, St Mary's Way, and Wellington Road, which bound the Greater Manchester Air Quality Management Area.
The town's long industrial history also presents a legacy of historic land contamination that may require remediation. Furthermore, continuous noise impact from major highways and intermittent rail traffic contributes to a varied noise environment.
Stockport's distinctive, multi-level urban landscape is heavily influenced by the Rivers Valleys. This varied topography creates a visually rich skyline with buildings stepping down hillsides, offering diverse views. However, these differences in elevation present both challenges for new development and improving inclusive connectivity within the town.
Key Opportunities
This framework presents an opportunity to create a network of improved walking, wheeling and segregated cycle routes which will encourage a shift to active travel modes across the town centre. A clear wayfinding strategy will be developed as part of future work to connect transport hubs and key destinations throughout the SRF area.
There is an opportunity to deliver new homes and buildings that are net zero, underpinned by the ongoing roll out of the town centre District Heat Network and untapped potential for renewable energy generation and storage within the framework area. Securing the long-term climate resilience of Town Centre East through prioritising nature-based solutions to address flood risk and overheating, as well as delivering benefits to health and wellbeing and biodiversity.
The unique character of Stockport, with its wealth of historic buildings and cultural assets, offers an opportunity to create characterful new neighbourhoods through the thoughtful integration of old and new. All new development proposals within the framework area will be expected to demonstrate how their design responds to the significance of heritage assets and their settings. Any new development shall preserve or enhance heritage assets.
The framework provides an opportunity to alleviate pressures on the water environment through tackling diffuse pollution by improving water quality through the increased use of sustainable drainage systems, as well as opening up the river through the design of future development and improving access.
The retail core is the shopping and leisure centre in the borough, and since Merseyway came under the custodianship of the council, it has grown into a buzzing, vibrant town centre for residents and visitors to Stockport alike. However, there remains an opportunity to support the town centre through the provision of complementary uses and encourage people to access key amenities and services within the heart of the town centre through improved connectivity.
Connections running from east-west within the SRF area will be improved across all modes of transport including through traffic calming measures and careful management of vehicle movements to improve active travel and pedestrian connections and accommodate reduced traffic levels; prioritising bus, cycle and pedestrian movement. Connectivity to be improved to connect existing and new communities with the retail core.