1. Purpose of Policy
1.1. West Lindsey District Council ('the Council') is the Street Naming and Numbering authority for the administrative area of West Lindsey district. We have a statutory power to name and number streets and to approve and register official property addresses.
1.2. The purpose of this policy is to establish the correct process and procedures for the naming and numbering of streets and properties.
1.3. It covers new developments, re-naming of existing properties, naming and numbering of new properties into existing named streets and renaming and renumbering of existing streets.
1.4. When referring to a street throughout this policy it includes any road, square, court, alley, passage or lane which has on one or both sides houses or other buildings.
2. Reasons for Street Naming and Property Numbering
2.1. Address and street data held in a common standard is used by government, local authorities, businesses and citizens to deliver better services. Correct addressing of properties is very important as it enables:
- Emergency and health care services to find a property quickly;
- Mail, goods and services to be delivered efficiently;
- Service connections by utility companies;
- Occupiers to apply for credit and finance, benefits and pensions, etc.;
- Financial verification of addresses and fraud detection;
- Residents and visitors to find locations and amenities;
- Service provider records to be maintained and kept in an efficient manner;
- Digital processing of addresses without corruption of data.
3. The Street Naming Legislation
3.1. The legislation relating to street naming and numbering is contained within The Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847, Public Health Act 1907, The Local Government Act 1985, and subsequent amendments.
4. Scheme of Delegation
4.1. The Council’s Street Naming and Numbering and LLPG Officer is responsible for the administration of the Street Naming and Numbering function.
4.2. Oversight for this function comes from the Corporate Systems Development Manager.
4.3. Overall responsibility rests with the Director – Change Management, ICT and Regulatory Services as per the Council’s scheme of delegation.
5. Consultation and Notification of postcodes and postal addresses
5.1. Once the Council approves a street name, details will be entered in the Local Land and Property Gazetteer. Statutory Authorities will receive updates via the National Land and Property Gazetteer. Other local authorities may be notified.
5.2. There are no statutory requirements for the Council to provide details of changes to existing property or new developments to any external organisations.
5.3. If the Council rejects a proposed street name, the applicant will be notified and the reasons given for such rejection. The applicant will be invited to submit an alternative proposed name and an alternative may be suggested by the Council.
6. Naming of new streets
6.1. Applicants must, in the first instance, have their proposed street name agreed with the Parish or Town Council at the earliest stage of development.
6.2. Parish or Town Councils are ideally placed to advise on matters of local significance and historical links and may already have a list of names that are considered appropriate.
6.3. All details of the Parish/Town councils and Ward Members are shown on the website West Lindsey Parish councils. For the unparished areas of the district, applicants should contact the District Ward Member.
6.4. It is important to note that the marketing names applicants use to promote their properties may not be agreed as an official address and therefore it is important that any applications for new street names are applied for at the earliest possible date as this may cause difficulties for both the applicant and the purchaser.
6.5. Upon receipt of an application, the proposed name(s) will be checked with the Local Land and Property Gazetteer for duplication or similar spelling or sounding names prior to the application being approved or rejected. If necessary Royal Mail, and adjacent District Councils in boundary situations, will also be consulted in this regard.
6.6. It is standard practice for all new addresses to be placed on Royal Mail’s “not yet built” file to avoid unnecessary deliveries during the construction stage. When the properties are complete and accessible the applicant should contact the Council who will then inform Royal Mail to make the addresses “live”. Alternatively, the applicant is able to activate newly built properties themselves by using this form - online contact form.
7. Choice of street names
7.1. The Council will consider the following:
- an application for a street name that, first and foremost, displays some connection with the locality of the street (e.g. the history, heritage or environment)
- an application to name a street after a deceased individual who had a prominent associations with the district or part of the district; Written permission from the deceased individuals family will be required.
- an application to name a street to mark a historic or political event
- an application to name a street after places or locations, whether within the district, nationally or internationally
7.2. All new street names require the use of a suffix (e.g. “street”, “road”, “park”), although an application for a single name may be considered.
7.3. Any applications for names should be easy to say and spell, so as not to cause confusion, particularly in an emergency situation. It is important to note that in the majority of cases apostrophes or another punctuation will not be held in postal address databases.
7.4. Any street name that has a royal family name or the word ‘Royal’ can be applied for, but permission must be obtained from HM King Charles llI or the relevant royal family member via the Lord Chamberlain’s Office.
7.5. The following suggested names will not be acceptable:
- Inaccurate use of words, for example, the use of the word “Mews” when a street is not a Mews, or “The Beeches”, where the applicant has felled all the beech trees in the area;
- Inappropriate or offensive names;
- An application to name a street after any living individual;
- Aesthetically unsuitable name or names that is capable of deliberate misinterpretation;
- Names that duplicate or conflict with any other streets in the area.
- A variation in the terminal word, e.g. Street, Road or Avenue should not be used but may be considered if they lead off each other.
Whilst this is not an exhaustive list, this guidance should be noted.
8. Street Naming Conventions
8.1. All new street names should end with a suffix which reflects the nature, history and/or location:
- Avenue - for residential roads (usually lined with trees)
- Circus - for a large roundabout
- Close - for a cul-de-sac only
- Crescent - for a crescent shaped road
- Drive - for residential roads
- Gardens - for residential roads subject to there being no confusion with any local open space
- Grove - for residential roads (usually relating to an area of trees)
- Hill - for a hillside road only
- Lane - for residential roads
- Mews - for residential roads
- Place - for a road that has no throughway or leads to a dead end
- Rise - for residential roads (usually relates to upward rising thoroughfare)
- Road - for any thoroughfare
- Row - a group of attached properties not a thoroughfare
- Square - for a square only
- Street - for any thoroughfare
- Terrace - a group of attached properties not a thoroughfare
- Vale - for residential roads (usually relating to low land or near a river/stream)
- Way - for any thoroughfare
- Wharf - for residential roads which are near water
9. Numbering sequence
9.1. Roads, streets, drives or similar shall be numbered as follows:
- Odd numbers on left hand side and even numbers on right hand side;
- Cul-de-sacs may be numbered consecutively in a clockwise direction up to and including a maximum of 12 properties;
- Number 13 and all other such like numbers to be included unless requested otherwise by the applicant;
- Building names or numbers shall be allocated to the road serving the principal entrance.
9.2. Addresses can be issued to the majority of buildings. However, for properties to be deliverable and held on Royal Mail’s database they do need to have a secure delivery point with a residential or commercial requirement.
9.3. If a property is numbered in a numbered street then that number must be displayed and used.
9.4. When infilling takes place within a street, if any unused numbers are available they should be used.
9.5. Should the infilling create a large number of flats or similar units, the development may be named, (as described elsewhere), and clearly identified by private signage attached to the building erected and thereafter maintained by the applicant, owner or occupier.
9.6. When unused numbers are not available, then the identification by suffix (a, b, c, etc.), would be acceptable.
9.7. The Council is responsible for numbering the properties and will confirm the numbering when requested by the applicant. However, we would advise that numbers are allocated as and when properties are at foundation level or above to avoid the issue surrounding point 8.8 below.
9.8. If an applicant returns to the council to re-number a newly numbered housing development there will be a charge for this based upon the fee set for renaming and renumbering properties.
9.9. If new development takes place within a street, prior to the start of the numbering then the new properties/development should be named.
9.10. Premises that are holiday properties as a rule will not be registered as delivery addresses if they are only for short-term occupation, unless there is some form of Site Management to deal with incoming mail etc.
9.11. Individual premises will be considered on their merit, but if considered suitable as a delivery address, will be required to meet the criteria of having a secure delivery point and a properly displayed name and/or number.
9.12. New Dwellings in existing unnumbered roads will need to have their property names officially registered.
10. Re-numbering existing properties / buildings or Re-naming a street
10.1. Renaming/renumbering existing streets and buildings is normally only considered when changes occur which give rise (or are likely to give rise) to problems for the occupiers who are experiencing problems with their location from Royal Mail, emergency services, utility companies and deliveries.
10.2. Under the legislation the Council must consult with all those affected by the potential change. Only if a majority of two thirds of occupiers (Council Tax Payers) are in favour of the proposed change is the next phase undertaken. This involves a legal notice displayed at the street giving aggrieved persons 21 days to make representation to the Magistrates Court.
10.3. Once this stage is completed the Council will make a new order, officially changing the name of the road.
11. Allocation of house numbers to properties with house names
11.1. The Council will consider requests from emergency services, town or parish councils or members of the general public to allocate numbers to properties which only have names. Numbering is carried out on receipt of such a representation for public safety reasons.
11.2. Consultation is carried out with town or parish councils and ward members and occupiers. The Council will make the final decision under the scheme of delegation as described on page 8.
11.3. After the numbering has been completed, occupiers will be sent a formal notice. The council will normally allow eight weeks for the number to be displayed.
12. Changing an existing house name to properties with no house number
12.1. Whilst the council will always seek to number properties, there are properties in the district that have not been numbered and are known officially by their property name. The Council will allow occupiers to change the property name providing that there is no conflict with any other address.
12.2. The occupier must apply to change the name and the naming and numbering procedure must be followed.
12.3. For premises used for business, the name of the property must be different from the name of the business.
13. Add house name/ change an existing house name with a house number
13.1. A name can be added to the official postal address. The occupier must apply to change or add the name and the relevant procedure must be followed.
13.2. Although the Council has no jurisdiction over the building names, in the case of new build, all new building names require to end with an appropriate suffix, for example:
- Lodge
- Apartments
- Mansions
- House
- Court
13.3. For private houses it is sufficient that the name should not repeat or be similar to the name of the road or that of any other house or building in the locality.
13.4. As with new developments, the Council will supply the new name to Royal Mail and the statutory bodies.
13.5. To make an application to add a house name to an existing property or to rename a property or site the applicant must be the owner of the property.
13.6. Renaming of an existing building or site can be applied for through the submission of a Street Naming and Numbering application. When making a request to change the name of a building or site, the proposed name must follow the building naming requirements detailed in the ‘Application Process for Naming Buildings and Sites’ section of the procedure on page 8.
13.7. If an owner wishes to change the name of a registered building or site, the request must be made to the Council using the online form Street naming and numbering application form.
13.8. Should an owner wish to use a name it must be used in conjunction with the existing number. It is important to realise that house names do not replace numbers in any circumstances.
13.9. The Council can register this name with Royal Mail as an alias (this can take up to one month for their records to be updated). This means that Royal Mail will hold the address details for the property in two formats. Firstly, just making reference to the postal number and secondly with the house name and the postal number (alias address).
13.10. Please note postal address data is purchasable and so not all companies will purchase the alias information for their records.
13.11. The Local Land and Property Gazetteer will be used to check for address duplications and to ensure that your preferred name is acceptable.
13.12. A public interest test will be applied to all naming and renaming of buildings and sites.
13.13. Where no public interest is found in the renaming of a building or site, these will be considered and determined by the Director – Change Management, ICT and Regulatory Services in line with the Council’s scheme of delegation within the constitution.
14. Public Interest Test
14.1. In cases of applications for the renaming of a building or site which is considered of public interest due for example, it has historical/social importance or is considered a prominent or significant landmark in the area, the Council will reserve the right to follow the process detailed below.
14.2. Once a renaming application is submitted that the Council considers to be in public interest in line with the paragraph above, the Council will:
- Display a notice of the proposal in a prominent and publicly accessible position at the building/site or part to which the change application relates; and
- Consult relevant and appropriate stakeholders pertinent to the building/site in question.
14.3. The notice under the paragraph above shall state the new name proposed and that representations may be made in writing to the Council by the deadline specified in the notice, not earlier than 28 days after the posting of the notice.
14.4. The Council shall consider all representations made as provided. A report will be created which will detail the number of representations submitted to the Council, provide a summary of the representations, including those raised by key stakeholders and detail the key issues to be considered.
14.5. This report will be presented to Planning Committee where members will consider the key issues raised.
14.6. The Committee will give weight to the views of those considered key stakeholders relative to the reason the application was considered to be in the public interest initially.
14.7. The Committee will make a decision on the application, whether to support or refuse the name change. The Committee’s decision will be final.
14.8. Where an application to rename a building or site is approved the Council will notify any necessary statutory consultees of the update to the address details and place the information on the website.
15. Listed Buildings
15.1. If the building to be renamed is a listed building it may be necessary for consultation with relevant parties to be completed before a decision can be made.
15.2. These will typically include the Council’s Conservation Officer, Historic England and other heritage groups known to the Council at the time of the application, as well as the Ward Member for the area.
15.3. The Council shall consider the representations made by key stakeholders as provided in paragraph 14.1. A report will be created which will, provide a summary of the representations made, including the detail of the key issues to be considered.
15.4. In cases where there are objections to the proposed name change this report will be presented to Planning Committee where members will consider the key issues raised.
15.5. The Committee will give weight to the views of key stakeholders and particularly the buildings prominence and linkages to the area’s broader history and distinction.
15.6. Not all applications to rename Listed Buildings will go to Committee, however where they do the Committee will make decision on the application, whether to support or refuse the name change. The Committee’s decision will be final.
15.7. There is no right of appeal against the renaming of a property for third parties. Therefore, a neighbour cannot object to the naming of a neighbouring property.
16. Fees and Charges
16.1. Section 93 of The Local Government Act 2003 gives the authority the power to charge for providing the street naming and numbering services.
16.2. Details of the current fees can be found at Street naming and numbering
16.3. How to pay
- Online application
- Telephone – 01427 676676
- Cheque – Make payable to West Lindsey District Council and send to:
Street Naming and Numbering
West Lindsey District Council
Gainsborough
Lincolnshire
DN21 2NA - Invoice – Contact us to request this service (process will take around two weeks) llpg@west-lindsey.gov.uk
17. Claims for compensation
17.1. The Council is not liable for any claims for compensation arising directly or indirectly from the naming of streets, re-naming of streets, numbering or renumbering of properties, naming, or renaming of properties.
17.2. Individuals and developers must not give any postal addresses, including the postcode, to potential occupiers, either directly or indirectly (for example via solicitors or estate agents) before the official naming and numbering scheme has been issued for it by the Council.
17.3. The Council will not be liable for any costs of damages caused by failure to comply with this requirement.
18. Decision and Discretion
18.1. The council's decision is final for the naming of roads, renaming of roads, numbering or renumbering of properties and it is at the discretion of the Director - Change Management, ICT and Regulatory Services.
18.2. However, in cases where the objections have been logged with the magistrates’ court then the decision of the court will be upheld.
19. The Council is not responsible for
19.1. Correspondence and deliveries not delivered to the correct address. Any complaints should be directed to Royal Mail’s customer services.
19.2. The address being unavailable on databases used by third parties, such as retail outlets (including internet based ones).
20. Street name plates
20.1. Upon approval of a street name, the Council will provide details of the design specification and positioning for the street name plate in conjunction with the Highway Authority’s requirements. This information is also on the website. See Appendix B.
20.2. The Council is responsible for the repair and maintenance of existing street name plates within the district when this becomes necessary either due to accidental damage, vandalism or normal wear and tear.
20.3. Individual names for cul-de-sacs accessed via no-through roads could give rise to excessive use of “leading to” name plates at the entrance to estates and should be avoided by treating the estate as a single entity.
20.4. Applicants are required to erect nameplates prior to occupation. Once roads are adopted the maintenance and replacement of nameplates becomes the duty of the Council
Appendix A – Legislation
Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847
Local Government Act 2003, Section 93
Appendix B – Street Name Plate Specification
- Non- Reflective Street name plate, die pressed aluminium;
- 11 gauge, 3½” Kindersley om 7” plate;
- ½” border, black on white, radiused corners, grey back, drilled for post mounting;
- Mounted on 2 No 80MM X 80MM uprights, bevelled tops, 30mm backing board;
- All in recycled plastic bolted through, name plate fixed with security screws, frame to include base rods.
Positioning Guidelines
- Where possible, name plates should be positioned at 45 degrees to the “main” road, so that it can be read by approaching traffic.
- If there is a wall immediately to the rear of the path, mount the name plate on a suitable backing board, and fix to the wall.
- If the road has equal amounts of traffic from both directions, two signs are to be used. If traffic only comes from one direction, only one sign need be used.
- If the name plate is to be post mounted, position the posts in the back of the footpath, not behind it. The reason for this is that the footpath is “public”, but the verge will probably be private, and a new owner could ask us to move it to either plant a hedge or build a wall.
- These are merely guidelines and not definitive. If your circumstances are different please contact the Council on 01427 676620 to discuss the matter.