Official Street Names

The request was partially successful.

Dear Breckland District Council,

Street names containing "Saint" often have that word abbreviated to "St" or "St." on signs. Also, words in street names containing apostrophes often have those apostrophes omitted. I understand that the District Council is the Street Naming Authority for Breckland, and so would have the final say on such matters. I would like to discover the full official street names for a number of roads near where I live, and also understand if there is any general policy over the handing of saints and apostrophes in street names in the district.

The roads I am specifically interested in are the following in Thetford:
* Canons' Walk
* St. Martin's Way
* St. John's Way
* Canons Close
* Nuns' Bridges Road
* Admirals Way
* Saint Albans Way
* St Nicholas' Street
* St Giles' Lane
* St Michael's Close
* Saint Margaret's Crescent
* Saint Mary's Crescent
* St Mary's Court
* Bridges Walk
* Saint Audrey's
* Allison's Close
* Lambert's

For each of these streets, could you tell me what the full official name is, i.e. whether it contains an apostrophe and whether "Saint" is abbreviated to "St" or "St.". (For example, street signs on the ground list the first three streets in the list above as I have typed them. But in Norfolk County Council's "List of Streets" [1], they appear without full stops or apostrophes; "Saint" is written out in full for "Saint Martins Way" but not for "St Johns Way".) I would like to know the official names for use in the online mapping project OpenStreetMap.

Secondly, is there a good way to tell more generally what the official name will be for other streets in the district with similar issues? Does the council have a standard policy that "Saint" is always abbreviated in a particular way and/or apostrophes are always omitted? Alternatively, should the information published by Norfolk County Council in their "List of Streets" [1] be definitive? Or do you have a full list of all the street names in each parish of the District that you could share? If there is a standard rule or source you can supply, then there is no need to answer the first part of this request separately.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

[1] https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/-/media/norfo...

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

5 Attachments

 

 

Breckland District Council acknowledges receipt of your request for
information received on 23.2.22

 

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days  as defined by
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being
exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

 

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large
print, etc. then please let us know.

 

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.

 

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

 

Yours sincerely

FOI Team

Freedom of Information Team
W: [1]www.breckland.gov.uk
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Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

6 Attachments

 

 

We are writing in respect of your enquiry for information held by the
Authority under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act.  Please
find the information you requested attached.

If you are not satisfied with the way the authority has handled your
request, you may ask for an internal review within 40 working days of this
response.

Yours sincerely

FOI Team

Freedom of Information Team
W: [1]www.breckland.gov.uk
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Robert Whittaker

Dear Breckland District Council,

I am writing to you concerning a previous FOI request, reference "street Names 012062".
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/o...

Many thanks for providing the information about the street naming guidance, as that will be most useful. However, I must ask you to review your decision to withhold the specific information under s21. It is not clear whether the information that can be accessed from https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ is actually the information I requested, and in any case I do not agree that https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ makes it "reasonably accessible" to me. Specifically:

1/ My understanding (and please correct me if this is wrong) is that information at https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ comes from the National Street Gazetteer (NSG), which in turn comes from Local Street Gazetteers submitted to Geoplace by each Highway Authority. In the case of Thetford, this would be Norfolk County Council. Thus the information at https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ would be from the records of Norfolk County Council, which could contain mistakes. I am specifically asking for the names you have allocated to each street as the Street Naming Authority. Unless you have verified that in each case Norfolk's records agree with match your own name, or you have a policy of recognising Norfolk's records as definitive, you cannot apply s21 to this information. Please confirm the situation as regards this point.

2/ In order access any street information from https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ one needs to agree to an "End User Licence". This licence places some severe restrictions on the use of the information. For example, clauses 2.2 and 3.2(b) relating to "End User Purpose" and "Competing Activity". As paragraph 27 of the ICO's s21 guidance [1] makes clear, "in order for section 21 apply, that regime must not place restrictions on the use of the information." Your suggested method of access clearly imposes restrictions, and hence s21 cannot be applied here.

3/ Notwithstanding the ICO's guidance, I am not actually able to agree to the conditions https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ . In this case I would specifically want to use the information for something beyond the "End User Purpose" that is likely to be deemed a "Competing Activity". But more generally, my involvement with the OpenStreetMap project would mean agreeing to the "End User Licence" would be an unacceptable risk to myself and the project. I might inadvertently break the contract by using some knowledge gained from https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ in OpenStreetMap, and even if I did not, I would be at risk of being accused of such. Hence I would not regard the information from https://www.findmystreet.co.uk/ as being "reasonably accessible" to me.

Finally, I did not find in your response an explicit statement that you actually hold the information I requested. This is required under FOIA s1(1)(a). So I would be grateful if you could confirm this in your further response.

Yours faithfully,

Robert Whittaker

[1] https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio...

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

Breckland District Council acknowledges receipt of your email 16 March 2022.

Please take this as acknowledgement that we have received your email and are conducting an internal review of the response sent to you. You will notified of the outcome of the internal review within 20 working days of 16 March.

Yours sincerely
FOI Team
Freedom of Information Team
W: www.breckland.gov.uk
  

show quoted sections

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

5 Attachments

 

Dear Mr Whittaker

 

We are writing in respect of your enquiry for information held by the
Council which is currently under internal review.

Unfortuneatly, we need further time to consider this, we therefore must
extend the expected due date to 9 May. However, we will aim to respond
before this date.

Yours sincerely

FOI Team

Freedom of Information Team
W: [1]www.breckland.gov.uk
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privileged. Any improper dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying
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employees of Breckland District Council may be monitored. They may also be
disclosed to other people under legislation, particularly the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you have contacted the
Council for a service any personal data you share will be used to help you
access its services, or to answer your enquiry in line with our Privacy
Policy. For full details of your rights please visit our website at
www.breckland.gov.uk. Unless this email relates to Breckland District
Council business it will be regarded by the Council as personal and will
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Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

6 Attachments

Dear Mr Whitaker,

Please see attached.

Yours sincerely

FOI Team

Freedom of Information Team
W: [1]www.breckland.gov.uk
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received it by mistake, please disregard and notify the sender
immediately. Unauthorised disclosure or use of such information may be a
breach of legislation or confidentiality and the content may be legally
privileged. Any improper dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying
of this email is strictly prohibited. Emails sent from and received by
employees of Breckland District Council may be monitored. They may also be
disclosed to other people under legislation, particularly the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you have contacted the
Council for a service any personal data you share will be used to help you
access its services, or to answer your enquiry in line with our Privacy
Policy. For full details of your rights please visit our website at
www.breckland.gov.uk. Unless this email relates to Breckland District
Council business it will be regarded by the Council as personal and will
not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the Council.

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Robert Whittaker

Dear Breckland Council,

Re FOI Request 012062

Many thanks for conducting an internal review. Unfortunately, I am still a little unclear as to you position though. Before considering whether to take the matter further, could you please explicitly confirm, pursuant to FOIA s1(1)(a), whether you actually hold a copy of the requested information? One part of you reply seemed to suggest that you do not hold it, but the rest of the reply was upholding the use of an exemptions that would only be needed if you did.

Regarding your use of the s21 exemption, you appear to be claiming that the licensing conditions imposed by findmystreet.co.uk would be no more restrictive than those of Copyright. I disagree with this. If you wish to maintain you use of the exemption, I would suggest you read the End User Licence and re-consider your position. You also do not appear to have considered my argument, that even without the restrictions, it would not be reasonable for me to agree to the licensing conditions. As I have explained, I am not prepared to agree to the terms offered by findmystreet.co.uk. I would like to to review this aspect of the s21 exemption too please.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

1 Attachment

Please see attached

Kind regards

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Robert Whittaker

Dear Breckland Council,

Re FOI Request 012062

Many thanks for your further response and clarification. I'm afraid I am still confused. Having read your "Local Land & Property Gazetteer incorporating Street Naming & Numbering SNN Policy" document at https://www.breckland.gov.uk/media/1534/... it appears that you maintain an "Authority Street Gazetteer" (ASG) as part of your "Local Land & Property Gazetteer" (LLPG). Surely the ASG would contain the official street names I requested from you. Furthermore, even if this Gazetteer is being hosted/run by a third party, it would surely be being so hosted/run on your behalf, and so would still be deemed to be "held" by you for FOIA purposes. See paragraphs 28-31 of the ICO guidance at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio... .

Could you please clarify whether you do maintain an ASG, and whether it does contain the information I have requested? If so, could you the explain the hosting/management arrangements of your ASG, and your reasoning for whether or not you believe it to be "held" by the Council for FOI purposes?

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

5 Attachments

 

 

Breckland District Council acknowledges receipt of your email.

 

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information
requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days  as defined by
the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being
exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

 

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font
size. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large
print, etc. then please let us know.

 

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may
prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an
assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the
information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the
case, including your rights of appeal.

 

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then
they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to
release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

 

Yours sincerely

FOI Team

Freedom of Information Team
W: [1]www.breckland.gov.uk
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Email disclaimer:
The information contained in this email is confidential and intended only
for the person or organisation to which it is addressed. If you have
received it by mistake, please disregard and notify the sender
immediately. Unauthorised disclosure or use of such information may be a
breach of legislation or confidentiality and the content may be legally
privileged. Any improper dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying
of this email is strictly prohibited. Emails sent from and received by
employees of Breckland District Council may be monitored. They may also be
disclosed to other people under legislation, particularly the Freedom of
Information Act 2000, GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the
Environmental Information Regulations 2004. If you have contacted the
Council for a service any personal data you share will be used to help you
access its services, or to answer your enquiry in line with our Privacy
Policy. For full details of your rights please visit our website at
www.breckland.gov.uk. Unless this email relates to Breckland District
Council business it will be regarded by the Council as personal and will
not be authorised by or sent on behalf of the Council.

References

Visible links
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http://www.breckland.gov.uk/
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3. http://www.facebook.com/BreckCouncil/
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5. https://www.linkedin.com/company/breckla...

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

Dear Mr Whittaker

We write in response to your email

Many thanks for your further response and clarification. I'm afraid I am still confused. Having read your "Local Land & Property Gazetteer incorporating Street Naming & Numbering SNN Policy" document at https://www.breckland.gov.uk/media/1534/... it appears that you maintain an "Authority Street Gazetteer" (ASG) as part of your "Local Land & Property Gazetteer" (LLPG). Surely the ASG would contain the official street names I requested from you. Furthermore, even if this Gazetteer is being hosted/run by a third party, it would surely be being so hosted/run on your behalf, and so would still be deemed to be "held" by you for FOIA purposes. See paragraphs 28-31 of the ICO guidance at https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisatio... .

Could you please clarify whether you do maintain an ASG, and whether it does contain the information I have requested? If so, could you the explain the hosting/management arrangements of your ASG, and your reasoning for whether or not you believe it to be "held" by the Council for FOI purposes?"

Response-

Breckland Council does maintain an ASG. The ASG system does not have a facility to run a report/extract data/ or similar to produce a list of street names as requested.

The information which can be extracted from our system is coded (the coded information is under copyright, owned by Geoplace) and does not display the requested information in a readable format. A query/function cannot be carried out to manipulate this data into the requested/ or readable format.

We can confirm this was considered when determining if we held the data requested during the internal review process.

As previously advised Norfolk County Council Highways who are the official 'Local Street Gazetteer' custodians for the county and they maintain the official 'Local Street Gazetteer' on behalf of all district councils within the county. Please contact them for any further enquiries relating to your request.

This Local Street Gazetteer forms part of the 'National Street Gazetteer which is then controlled/maintained by GeoPlace.

If you have any concerns or are not happy with the response you have received, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office. Details can be found at Ico.org.uk

Yours sincerely

FOI Team
Breckland District Council
01362 656 870

show quoted sections

Robert Whittaker

Dear Breckland Council,

I'm afraid I am really struggling to understand your position here.

To be clear, if your ASG/LLPG system contains the names of the streets I have asked about, then the information is 'held' by you for FOI purposes. The copyright status is not relevant for determining whether you hold the information, though I doubt there is any copyright subsisting in a factual list of 17 street names in any case. Please confirm explicitly whether or not the street names are contained within your ASG/LLPG system.

It is also inconceivable to me that the system you use to officially record the names of streets to fulfil your duties as the Street Naming and Numbering Authority does not allow you to view the current names of the streets that you have entered. I am not asking you to run any kind of "query/function" nor to "manipulate the data" in any way. I simply need you to find each of the streets I have asked about and tell me the full official spelling of the name as you have it recorded.

Are you really saying that your system does not allow you to do this? If it helps you identify them, I could provide approximate lat/lon coordinates, OSGB grid references and/or USRNs for each of the streets I am interested in.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Whittaker

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

Breckland Council acknowledges receipt of your request for information.

Your request is being considered and you will receive the information requested within the statutory timescale of 20 working days as defined by the Freedom of Information Act 2000, subject to the information not being exempt or containing a reference to a third party.

If appropriate, the information may be provided in paper copy, normal font size. If you require alternative formats, e.g. language, audio, large print, etc. then please let us know.

For your information, the Act defines a number of exemptions which may prevent release of the information you have requested. There will be an assessment and if any of the exemption categories apply then the information will not be released. You will be informed if this is the case, including your rights of appeal.

If the information you request contains reference to a third party then they may be consulted prior to a decision being taken on whether or not to release the information to you. You will be informed if this is the case.

Yours sincerely
FOI Team
Freedom of Information Team
W: www.breckland.gov.uk
  

show quoted sections

Feedback-Data, Breckland District Council

1 Attachment

We are writing re your email
Yours sincerely
FOI Team
Freedom of Information Team
W: www.breckland.gov.uk
  

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