The address of a property is increasingly becoming a very important issue. More organisations, postal and emergency services, and the general public need an efficient means of locating and referencing properties.
High Peak Borough Council is the Street Naming and Numbering Authority for the Borough. We carry out these functions under the provisions of the Public Health Act 1925, Sections 17 -19.
The service provides the principal point of contact for address issues. These include addresses for new developments and properties, change of house name, street renaming and renumbering.
Royal Mail will only accept new or amended address information from a local authority and, if your address is not registered with us, it can cause difficulties.
We also maintain the definitive record of street names and property addresses for the authority.
Any owner can change the name of their property or add a name to a numbered property. The Street Naming and Numbering Service will register the property name, so long as it does not conflict with an existing property name in that locality.
You should be aware that it is Royal Mail policy, when a property has a number and a name, that the number will take precedence. The house name will be treated as an alias. You should, therefore, use both the house name and the number.
The Royal Mail’s online postal address database will only show the number of your property.
If you are a developer, you should contact the Street Naming and Numbering Service as soon as you start work on site. We require a full site plan showing the individual plots and details of the new road or roads required.
You are welcome to provide suggestions for the road names. Alternatively, we can provide these. The criteria for the naming of new roads is:
We will check your suggested street names for duplication in the local area and forward them to the Ward Councillors (and the Parish council, if appropriate) for consultation. When we have an agreed name or names, the details are sent to the Executive Member with the Portfolio for the Environment for the final agreement.
At this point, we obtain the necessary postcodes from Royal Mail. A numbering schedule is prepared and the properties are registered with Royal Mail.
The information is then sent to various organisations, including the utility companies, emergency services, Land Registry, Ordnance Survey, Valuation Office and internal departments. You will receive a copy of the naming and numbering schedule, from which we would ask you to inform all your prospective purchasers of their new property address.
The developer is responsible for providing the street name plates to our standard design.
Developers should contact the Street Naming and Numbering Service as soon as you start work on site. We require a full site plan showing the individual plots.
A single or small development will usually be named or numbered into the existing street. You are welcome to provide suggestions for the property name. Alternatively, we can provide these.
If necessary, we will obtain a new postcode from Royal Mail. The new address is then registered with Royal Mail and we proceed with the notification process, as outlined above.
The developer is responsible for providing any name plates to our standard design
On very rare occasions, it becomes necessary to rename or renumber a street. This is only done as a last resort, when
This will only be done when there is no alternative. Existing residents will be contacted and their views taken into account.
We will contact the local Ward Councillor and the Parish Council to obtain their views and local knowledge.
To change a street name, we ballot the residents of the street. Hopefully, there will be 100 per cent support, but we require at least a two thirds majority to make the change.
You may enquire or consult us about proposed street naming, numbering, renaming or renumbering:
Street Naming and Numbering Service
High Peak Borough Council
Hayfield Road
Chapel-en-le-Frith
High Peak
SK23 0QJ