Panel of the General Licensing Committee
Report of Head of Corporate Services Author: Sally Worsley, Street Naming and Numbering Officer Telephone: 07928 252175 E-mail: sally-anne.worsley@southandvale.gov.uk To: Licensing Acts Panel DATE: 20 February 2023

Proposal to add White Lane into 7 property addresses in Bix where a street name plate exists but White Lane has not been recognised by Royal Mail

Recommendation(s)

Proposal to add White Lane into 5 residential addresses and 2 commercial addresses in Bix, to uphold a previous attempt made in 1999 that was not acknowledged by Royal Mail.  However, the district council installed a street name plate at the time as required by the Oxfordshire Act 1985 that now doesn’t accord with the addresses in the street. 

(i) Uphold naming of street as White Lane and as a consequence add White Lane into 7 addresses and leave street name plate in situ.

Purpose of Report

To decide whether the street should be formally named as originally intended and the street name added to the 7 addresses affected, or to leave the addresses as they are and remove the existing White Lane street name plate.

Background

In January 2023 a resident of one of the properties affected requested that the district council add White Lane to their address.  This meant White Lane would have to be added to all the addresses with the same post code to satisfy Royal Mail’s requirements.  The official naming of White Lane and two other unnamed roads in Bix had been successfully carried out in 1999.  However, due to an oversight on Royal Mail’s behalf they failed to add the street name to any of the affected addresses.  Street name plates may be installed once a street has been named under the appropriate enactment and as a result of the 1999 successful street naming, street name plates were duly installed. As Royal Mail’s addresses in White Lane had not been updated with the street name it was necessary to carry out the process again under Section 13 of the Oxfordshire Act 1985.  A 28-day public consultation ran between 12 January and 10 February 2023 and two objections from the same household were received. 

Financial Implications

4.  Should the panel find in favour of the council’s recommendation then those affected by the amendment to their addresses may insist on compensation to update all their personal documents.

Legal Implications

5.   None.

Risks

6.  

Other Implications

7.

Conclusion

8.  Royal Mail addresses are sold on a commercial basis and appear on all manner of web site address dropdowns. There is also an increasing number of organisations  referring to Royal Mail as the benchmark for official addresses and post codes.  It’s therefore crucial that the district council and Royal Mail addresses are in step.  Street name plates should only be present where the street name is part of any corresponding address and may cause confusion if the expected street name is missing.  To rationalise the situation on the ground either, the street name is added to the seven addresses to accord with the street name plates, or the addresses are left as they are and the street name plates removed. 

     If the name plate is left in situ and the street name not added to the addresses then it’s reasonable to assume that there will be a further attempt in the future to rationalise this situation.

Background Papers

· Plan showing the extent of White Lane and the properties involved.