All local authorities have a statutory duty to name streets and number properties within their council boundary under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. All postal addresses must meet the standard of BS7666. The BS7666 is a nationally agreed standard that states an agreed format for holding details on every property and street.

The Council’s Street Naming and Numbering (SNN) section, which comes under the Planning Service at North Ayrshire are responsible for processing SNN enquiries. The purpose of the duty is to promote effective location information for service providers such as:

• the Royal Mail
• the Emergency Services
• infrastructure services such as electric, gas and telecommunications providers
• visitors to the area; and
• any other courier, delivery company or service provider.

We will:

• manage the process of selecting suitable street names and numbering layouts for new developments
• renumber properties and rename streets where problems are identified
• liaise with local communities and the Royal Mail; and
• inform a number of organisations about new addresses, or changes to existing ones

While we allocate street names and numbers, the Royal Mail manages and issues all postcodes and post towns throughout the UK. We work closely with the Royal Mail to ensure that all addresses are registered, and any issues resolved, efficiently and effectively. We will include the postcode on the official address data when informing developers, owners and all other agencies of new addresses whenever possible.

If you have a problem with your postcode or post town please contact the Royal Mail first. The Royal Mail increasingly only take address correction changes from local authorities, so we will help with this when necessary.

We regard these as anything that will require one or more new street name. You should contact us (Street Naming and Numbering - snn@north-ayrshire.gov.uk), as early in the development process as possible. It can take between 8 and 12 weeks to receive full postal addresses. The Council cannot be responsible for late submissions which may result in the failure of an occupation of a new dwelling house.

1. Building Warrant approved.
2. Start street naming and numbering consultation process.
3. We will gather suggestions and comments from the applicant, local Councillors and Locality Partnership.
4. Will Locality Partnership take place within developer timescale?

If yes - we report all suggestions to Locality Partnership meeting for open discussion. If no - we report all suggestions to delegated officer.

1. Street name agreed and approved.
2. We provide the Royal Mail with new street name and numbering layout.
3. Royal Mail reply with allocated postcode.
4. We contact relevant agencies including site owner/developer with full official address including postcode for each property.
5. Developer informs Royal Mail when complete and provides new owner with official address.

Locality Partnership meetings decide the street names. Local area councillors, officials from various public organisations and representatives of local community groups make up Locality Partnerships (LP). LP members may consult with the groups they represent or other interested parties, such as schools, for suggestions, at their own discretion. We can assist with this when requested and when development timescales permit.

We will check all suggestions for suitability. In general, we try to avoid using a street name more than once across North Ayrshire. We also try to group similar sounding names (such as Gilmour Gardens/Gilmour Wynd) to the same general area, preferably where the streets connect to each other.

We will look favourably on street names that have a connection with the local area, wider area or North Ayrshire as a whole. Streets can be named after local prominent figures, historically important events or features relating to the development area.

Street name endings should be fitting to the layout of the development, for example, ‘Grove/Avenue’ should contain trees in the surrounding area, ‘Walk’ should have a pedestrianised area and so on.

The Council will expect street names to be in line with the following guidelines:

1. It is desirable that street names should have some historical or other meaningful connection with the area.
2. New street names should try to avoid duplicating any similar name already in use in a town, village or postcode area.
3. New street names should be distinctive. The practice of using the same name for more than one street, differentiated by suffixes such as ‘street’, ‘road’ or ‘lane’ etc. will not be accepted, unless as part of connecting streets within the same development, as this can lead to difficulties for the emergency and other services in locating a street within a group of like names.
4. The Council will not adopt any unofficial ‘marketing’ names used by developers in the sale of properties unless deemed suitable and having followed the procedure set out in this guidance.
5. The use of a name relating to persons either living or alive during living memory should be avoided if possible. Only exceptional circumstances will be given genuine consideration, and these will require justification.

In practice, the senior officer for the relevant Locality Planning Partnership will exercise delegated powers to approve the name selected for new streets, where officers have confirmed it complies with the policy.

In instances where it is clear the proposed name contravenes the terms of this guidance, it will not be approved under delegated powers and will require to be referred to Cabinet for determination.

Where officers have not confirmed the preferred name complies with this guidance prior to the Locality Planning Partnership meeting, but the preferred name appears to be compliant with the terms of this guidance, the senior locality officer will exercise delegated powers to approve the Locality Planning Partnership’s choice, upon confirmation that the name complies with this guidance.

The Locality Planning Partnership should be mindful that names that contravene the terms of the guidance or have not been researched prior to the meeting will likely result in delays to the process, which could, in turn, affect the occupation of new houses and ensuring appropriate services are in place for those houses. In instances where a name is being suggested that has not previously been checked for compliance, the Locality Planning Partnership should select a name that has been confirmed as compliant with the guidance as a second preference. This will minimise any delay, should there be any concerns about compliance when checking the preferred name (for example, where it duplicates other street names) and provide a back-up name should it be required.

Each of the Locality Planning Partnerships will be encouraged to develop and maintain a bank of names that will be checked for compliance to support the process.

In general, we number developments starting from the street entrance closest to the town centre giving odd numbers to properties on the left and evens on the right. Due to ever evolving street layout designs, numbering developments has become less straight forward.

For unusual layouts, we will send a draft to the developer for comments, then:

• we will send a proposed final plan to LP members inviting them to suggest street names and provide any comments on the layout
• we will attach a final copy of the plan along with a list of suggestions and comments to the LP report
• the LP members will discuss the suggestions and layout at the meeting before making a decision. If timescales do not permit this, we will take the suggestions and comments to the delegated officer for a decision.

We will not take notice of superstition when naming and numbering streets, meaning that, for example, the number 13 will be included when numbering developments.

We will always seek to resolve issues without resorting to renumbering or renaming developments. We have a lot of work to do when renaming or renumbering a street and the effects can be wide reaching and long lasting. We have to follow a consultation process with property owner/occupiers and local Councillors. We are also required to place adverts in the local press to notify the public.

Developers must erect street nameplates for new developments using our specification.

For missing or damaged nameplates please contact Roads Services.

We regard these as anything that will need a postal address, but will not require a new street name. We will always try to allocate a number to a new property, but in unusual cases, we would register a property name that we can agree on, following the guide below.

When you choose a new property name, it is important that it is unique to the area. We will avoid any similar sounding names, as this can cause confusion to service providers or visitors to an area. You should contact us as early in the development process as possible, particularly if you have a specific name in mind. You should also try to have a few ideas in mind to avoid disappointment.

When requests to rename a property arise, we will first try to allocate a number. Where this is not possible, we will follow the process for allocating a new property name. Where your property has a number, you can give it a name without going through the official process. We would advise you to display both the name and the number clearly on the property and use it in all correspondence.

• The Royal Mail
• Ordnance Survey
• Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board
• Education Services (North Ayrshire Council)
• British Telecom
• Roads (North Ayrshire Council)
• Scottish Power Energy Networks
• Scottish Fire and Rescue
• Scottish Ambulance Service
• Property Gazetteer (North Ayrshire Council)
• Scottish Hydro Electric
• Police Scotland
• Registers of Scotland.

If your organisation would benefit from receiving these updates, please contact the Council’s Street Naming and Numbering Team to discuss.

Royal Mail Customer Experience, Freepost, PO Box 740, Plymouth, PL9 7YB/ Business enquiries: 08457 950 950 Personal enquiries: 08456 000 606

Assessor and Electoral Registration Officer, Ayrshire Valuation Joint Board, 9 Wellington Square, Ayr, KA7 1HL Phone: 01292 612221

Street Naming & Numbering, Planning Services, Housing and Public Protection, Cunninghame House Irvine, KA12 8EE Email: snn@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

Street Nameplates, Roads Services, Commercial Services, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE

North Ayrshire Council’s Property Gazetteer, Uniform Administration, Protective Services, Housing and Public Protection, Cunninghame House, Irvine, KA12 8EE.