road names.

Not sure if anyone else notices this, but I find housing developments always seem to be named after what has been destroyed in the building of the houses.
Examples for me are things like Orchard Grove, The Oaks even know one called Sportsfield and numerous such and such wood etc.

Well, around here, they are getting ready to build on a large site that was a rubbish tip about 30 yrs ago, .
Wonder what they will call the roads?
As a starter, what about Refuse Row, Dustbin Drive or Landfill Lane.

Any other ideas for road names that would put off buyers?

 

That's actually exactly right. The planners have to submit a list if names to the planning authority. Guidelines say the name has to be locally relevant.

When south Yorkshire Police got their brand new headquarters on their brand new industrial estate, the road was actually named Letsby Avenue.

 

I don't think that's right Clueless.

In my town we have one estate which is named after cathedrals ( Truro drive, Canterbury road, Westminster road, Lichfield close etc ), one which is named after the lake district ( Windermere, Coniston, Derwent ), one after birds ( Chaffinch, Pipit, Winchat etc), and one which was built in 2012 which has Olympic way, Medal close and so on.

None of these have any local connections at all and so aren't locally relevant at all.

 

I might have missed a detail or two or even completely made it up

But seriously though, you're right of course. Doesn't have to be locally relevant, but the planning authorities like names that will be 'appropriate', and local significance is favoured.

Sometimes, if the proposed name is rejected, the planning authority may offer a list of suggestions. Such lists will often include locally relevant things. It doesn't always have to be a place name. It could be something pertaining to local culture or nature, or simply in keeping with the local naming convention, even if such convention has an origin lost to history. For example, there is a village not far from me where none of the houses have numbers. They all have names instead (a posty's nightmare I guess). The very few new buildings that pop up there get bizarre names that mean something locally and fit in with the quirky naming convention, but to folks outside the village, the names just sound crazy.

 

We have a Skull House Lane about a mile from us . There is actually an old house with a skull , I presume built into it

 

Dump Drive?

And whist they're at it, why not have:

 

There is a large new development not far from me.
Massive sign saying "Come and find your new home in the countryside".

There are lots of pictures on the boards around the site showing rolling countryside, err,
before they built the houses, that is

 

Stink Corner
Rotten Row
Pile Lane
Trash Crescent
Dung Drive.....

Think I'd better stop

 

When I was 16 and on a YTS, I went on a youth team building course in the woods for a week. There we did many exercises like rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing etc. And night orienteering.

In said night orienteering exercise, we discovered that one of our way points was a farm. Imagine the tittering that occurred when a group of teenaged lads discovered that they had to check in at.... bell end farm.

 

[QUOTE="clueless1, post: 1117471,
For example, there is a village not far from me where none of the houses have numbers. They all have names instead (a posty's nightmare I guess ).[/QUOTE]

Where I live there are no house numbers, all the houses have Welsh names ( mine is one of the few I can actually pronounce ). There are no lane names either. I often get delivery drivers stopping to ask me where a particular house is.

 

The posties out here deserve medals. No road names, no numbers (although they're starting to allocate them in the village centres) and half the time the name on the post box is illegible. They manage to not only deliver the mail but will take any that needs posting, stamped or not, keep an eye on the old folks, deliver prescriptions and bread! As the post side of things is decreasing there is also talk of them being authorised to take on the backlog of driving tests Given the speed at which they normally whizz round, that's going to be interesting....

 

I did work in Pratts Bottom for a few weeks when I was desperate
for a job, back in 2012.
Its near Bromley if anyone is interested.