Street naming and numbering guidance

1. Introduction

2. Applying for a new postal address

3. Procedure

4. General naming conventions

5. Street naming conventions

6. Building naming and numbering conventions

7. Renaming and renumbering of streets and buildings

8. The NLPG and the LLPG

9. Further information and advice

1.1  The naming and numbering of streets and buildings within South Ribble is a Statutory Function of South Ribble Borough Council (hereafter known as "the Council"), and is covered by Sections 64 & 65 of the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 and Sections 17-19 of the Public Health Acts 1925.

1.2  The address of a property is a very important issue. Organisations such as the Post Office, emergency services and the general public need an efficient and accurate means of locating and referencing properties.

1.3  The purpose of this guidance note is to provide advice to developers and building occupiers on the naming and numbering policy of South Ribble Borough Council.

1.4  The Council encourages developers or occupiers to propose names for consideration. It is suggested that more than one new name is suggested, and that the names proposed meet the criteria set out in Sections 4 - 6 below.

2.1       Applications should be made by:

2.1.1    individuals or developers building new houses, commercial or industrial premises, or:

2.1.2    Individuals or developers undertaking conversions of existing residential, commercial or industrial premises which will result in the creation of new properties or premises.

2.2       Applications for new addresses should be submitted as soon as possible after permission for the proposal has been granted. This is important, as utility companies are often reluctant to install services where an official postal address has not been allocated.

2.3      Applications can be made by completing the relevant form from our website. A layout plan to scale (preferably 1:1250) must be attached. The completed form should be sent to South Ribble Borough Council, Street Naming & Numbering,Civic Centre, West Paddock, Leyland PR25 1DH or emailed to bldcontrol@southribble.gov.uk

2.4       If an application is submitted at a late stage of the development, problems could arise, especially if the application is rejected and purchasers have bought properties marketed under an unofficial marketing title. It should be made clear in any marketing literature distributed to prospective purchasers that marketing names for developments are subject to approval, and therefore liable to change. Some occupiers could feel aggrieved by the loss of a supposedly prestigious address and its replacement with an address that falls within the Council's guidelines as set out in this document.

3.1      Once an application has been received, the Council will check that there is no duplication of existing street names within the Borough.

3.2      The Council will check that the proposed street names accord with the General Naming Conventions, Street Naming Conventions and Building Naming and Numbering Conventions as outlined in Sections 4 - 6 of this document.

3.3       The Council will consult with Royal Mail and suggestions for new street names will be submitted to the appropriate Area Committee for consideration. We aim to have a reply from Royal Mail within 7 days but please note that as Area Committee's meet infrequently a response can take up to 8 weeks - longer during holiday periods.

4.1       No street name should start with "The".

4.2       Street names cannot be duplicated within South Ribble Borough.

4.3       Street names should not be difficult to pronounce or awkward to spell. Street names that are phonetically similar or with similar spellings are discouraged.

4.4       Street names of persons living or dead will not be allowed. Exceptions will be highways where there are no dwellings (and not likely to be such as a by pass or dual carriageway) or individual property names.

4.5       In the first instance, the street names should, where possible, reflect the history or geography of the site or area. If the site does have some historical value or former use that lends itself to street names, then no other 'theme' will be considered.

4.6       Street names that could be construed as advertising will not be allowed.

4.7      Street names that could be considered offensive will not be allowed.

4.8      Subsidiary names (i.e. a row of buildings within an already named road being called .....Terrace) will not be allowed.

4.9      Estates with "A theme" in close proximity to another with an identical theme will not be considered.

When naming new streets, the following conventions should be considered:

5.1    All new street names should end with one of the following suffixes:

•  Street (for any thoroughfare)
• Road (for any thoroughfare)
• Way (for major roads)
• Avenue (for residential roads - Typically tree lined)
• Drive (for residential roads)
• Place (for residential roads)
• Lane (for residential roads)
• Grove (for residential roads)
• Mews (for residential roads)
• Gardens (for residential roads - subject to there being no confusion with local open space)
• Crescent (for a crescent shaped road)
• Close (for a cul-de-sac only)
• Court (for a cul-de-sac only)
• Yard (for a cul-de-sac only)
• Square (for a square only)
• Hill (for a hillside road only)
• Circus (for a roundabout only)
• Terrace (for a terrace of houses, but not as a subsidiary name within another road (see Section 4.8)
• Lane (for development of a historic by-way)
• Vale (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)
• Walk (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)
• Rise (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)
• Row (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)
• Wharf (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances - but typically adjacent water)
• Dene (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)
• Mead (for residential roads in exceptional circumstances)

5.2 Non-acceptable suffixes are as follows:

• End
• Cross
• Side
• View
• Park
• Meadow

All the above can be incorporated in a street name provided it ends with an appropriate suffix (e.g. Mile End Road, Corn Meadow Drive)

5.3 Exceptions or single or dual names without suffixes should only be used in appropriate place (i.e. Broadway - for major roads only).

5.4 All pedestrian ways should have the following suffixes:

• Walk
• Path
• Way

5.5 The use of North, South, East or West (as in South Ribble Road North and South Ribble Road South) is not acceptable when the road is in two separate parts. In such a case, one half should be completely renamed.

5.6 Phonetically similar names within an area should be avoided (i.e. South Ribble Road and South Ribble Close, or Churchill Road and Birchill Road).

When naming / numbering a new building, the following conventions should be considered:

6.1       A new street should be numbered with the odd numbers on the left and the even numbers on the right from the entrance of the street, except in the case of a cul-de-sac, where consecutive numbering in a clockwise direction is preferred.

6.2       Private garages and similar buildings used for housing cars, etc, should not be numbered.

6.3       All numbers should be used in the proper sequence (including 13). However, should a request be made by the developers, the exclusion of 13 may be allowed, after consultation with the relevant persons.

6.4       Where an existing street or similar is to be extended, it would be appropriate to continue to use the same street name. This would include the continuation of the street numbering.

6.5       Buildings (including those on corner plots) will be numbered according to the street in which the main entrance is to be found. The manipulation of numbering in order to secure a prestigious address, or to avoid an address with undesirable associations, will not be authorised.

6.6       If a building has entrances in more than one street, is a multi-occupied building and each entrance leads to a separate occupier, then each entrance should be numbered in the appropriate road. Exceptions may be made, depending on circumstances, for a house divided into flats. Sub divisions must be numbered and pre-fixed with 'flat' or 'apartment' at the current postal address.

6.7       In residential buildings (i.e. a block of flats), it is usual to give a street number to each dwelling where the block is up to six storeys in height. When the block exceeds this height or there are not sufficient numbers available because of existing development, it should be given a name and numbered separately internally.

6.8       Legislation permits the use of numbers followed by letters or fractions. These will be suitable, for example, when one large house in a road is demolished, to be replaced by (say) 4 new smaller houses. To include the new houses in the existing numbered sequence of the road would involve renumbering all the higher numbered houses on the side of the road affected by the proposal. This is something that the Council would not consider (see Section 7). To avoid this situation, the new houses should be given the number of the old house with A, B, C or D added (i.e. 21A, 21B, 21C, 21D). Fractions are only used where it is not possible to use letters.

6.9      The use of letters will not be sanctioned if the new development were to lie prior to the numbering scheme commencing. For example, if 4 houses were built prior to the first property number 2, the new dwellings would not become 2A, 2B, 2Cand 2D, but four individual property names would be requested.

6.10    For private houses in existing unnumbered roads, it is essential that the houses be officially allocated names. The name should not repeat the name of the road, or that of any house or building on the area.

6.11    Where a property has a number, it must be used and displayed. Where a name has been chosen to a property with a number, the number must always be included. The name cannot be regarded as an alternative.

7.1       On rare occasions, it may be necessary to rename or renumber a street. This is usually only done as a last resort when:

• There is confusion over a street's name and/or numbering.
• A group of residents are unhappy with their street name.
• New properties are built and there is a need for other properties to be renumbered to accommodate the new properties.
• The number of named-only properties in a street is deemed to be causing confusion for visitors, delivery or emergency services.

7.2       Residents of the affected street will be consulted, and their views will be taken into account. We will also consult the Royal Mail.

7.3       Local residents will be balloted on the issue. At least a two-thirds majority will be required to make the change.

8.1      The Council is responsible for maintaining information relating to South Ribble in the National Land and Property Gazetteer (NLPG). This is done by maintaining a Local Land and Property Gazetteer (LLPG).

8.2       The LLPG and NLPG will be updated to include all authorised new street names, building names and numbering. These will be made in accordance with British Standard BS7666 "Spatial Data-sets for geographical referencing".

8.3       The Council is not responsible for the assignation of postcodes to addresses. The Royal Mail does this. Any queries about postcodes can be dealt with by the Royal Mail by calling 0906 302 1222 (Postcode Enquiries) or via the Royal Mail website.

9.1       For further advice on any aspect of street naming and numbering, please contact Building Control on 01772 625400 or email at bldcontrol@southribble.gov.uk.