Council approves road name policy

Existing road names in the Lewes district will remain unchanged (Photo: Freefoto.com)

A council in East Sussex has adopted a policy which guides housing developers about naming and numbering new streets.

Lewes District Council's cabinet approved guidelines setting out how it consults with local organisations and emergency services.

But Councillor Peter Gardiner said existing road names in the Lewes district would not be changed.

He said the policy gave "clear advice to developers on how to avoid street names that may be misunderstood".

Under the guidelines, "aesthetically unsuitable" names such as "Gaswork Road" and "Coalpit Lane", or names "capable of deliberate misinterpretation" such as "Hoare Road" and "Typple Avenue" are to be avoided.

A council report said the area "has never had a formal policy on street naming and numbering" which, it said, had led to inconsistencies in road names throughout the district.

The council said maintaining a high standard for naming streets would help emergency services find properties, allow mail to be delivered efficiently and lead to reliable deliveries of goods and services.