8. Procedure for New Developments
The property developer must not give any postal addresses, including postcode, to potential occupiers, either directly or indirectly (for example via solicitors or estate agents) before formal approval has been issued by us. We will not be liable for any costs or damages caused by failure to comply with this.
Applicants are encouraged to contact us prior to a formal application in order to get advice on our naming policy and the positioning of nameplates.
The applicant or developer is required to suggest a possible name or names for any new street(s) in Exeter City, but name suggestions are optional within the Districts. Several suggestions for names can be made in case we, Royal Mail, the Ward Councillors or the Parish/Town Council object.
Initial approval for street names will be sought from Royal Mail (and Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Service if required). If there are objections to a name an alternative will need to be suggested, otherwise suggestions from the Ward Councillors for Exeter or Town/Parish Councils for the Districts will be the only ones considered.
The proposed street names are passed to the relevant Ward Councillors for Exeter or the Town or Parish Council(s) for the Districts for approval. Ward Councillors and the Town or Parish Councils can at this stage suggest their own names that conform both to our and Royal Mail policies.
While we are the authority for naming streets, in practice we follow the recommendation of the Ward Councillors for Exeter and the Town or Parish Council for the Districts, as long as it meets the naming criteria.
Email will be used for consulting Ward Councillors and Town and Parish Councils regarding the naming of streets or developments.
FOR DISTRICTS
Town and Parish Councils will be given 21 working days from the date of the consultation in which to respond (due to irregular meeting scales) with at least 2 proposed names per street (which must meet policy criteria), or agreement to the developers proposal. Reasons must be given for any proposed names from the Town or Parish Council, and also reasons why a developers’ proposal is not acceptable.
Town and Parish Councils will only be consulted on the naming or renaming of streets.
The Council reserves the right to name streets/developments without consulting the Town/Parish in circumstances where there is a Council decision to name a street/development.
If the developer does not accept a name suggested by the Town/Parish Council, the District Council reserves the right to make a final decision without further reference to the Town/Parish.
FOR EXETER CITY
Ward councillors will be contacted via email and given 10 working days to respond to street name suggestions.
Ward Councillors will not be consulted over individual residential property names, but will be consulted over larger blocks of flats or commercial premises.
Where the Ward Councillors or the Parish or Town Councils cannot agree, final approval of street names will be given by a Corporate Director in consultation with Chairman or Vice Chairman of the Development Control Committee.
Numbering of the new street(s) will be carried out following the guidelines within this policy. All properties on newly named streets will be allocated numbers. All new properties on existing streets will be numbered unless the existing properties on that street all have official dwelling names and no numbers, or in the exceptional circumstances outlined under the section “Guidelines for numbering buildings”
It is the developers responsibility to check and review all names and property numbers to ensure the properties are addressed correctly on the relevant street and are in a sensible ‘walk’ order. If it is discovered at a later stage that the access to a property has been changed (that we have not noticed and has not been made known to us by the developer) we will readdress that property irrespective of whether it has been sold or not.
As part of the address confirmation letter we send out, we instruct developers to site street nameplates (which can be temporary signs) prior to ANY resident moving into a property.
If the developer does NOT do this, Strata and the Councils cannot be held liable for any issues that may arise.
We will tell any resident that they need to contact the developer if there are NO nameplates in situ on their street.
We will no longer chase developers. It is a private matter on a privately owned site, we will therefore suggest that residents get together and speak on mass to the developer to insist that nameplates are installed.
The developer must cover the initial costs of the street nameplates. The Councils will cover maintenance costs once the street has been officially adopted.
When numbering is complete we will contact all the bodies listed in Appendix A.
We will charge for ‘reworking’ previously completed developments at our standard fee for EACH plot/postal address change.