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Designing planning and housing data

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Planning consideration

Usrn

Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) is an 8 digit unique identifier for every street across Great Britain

Design stage
Co-design
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Legislation
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Expected number of records
Unknown
Frequency of updates
Every 6 weeks
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Technical specification
No specification added

Background information

Each planning consideration we work on passes through the stages of our design process, where we research and answer specific questions to help us collect more information.

Backlog

  • Who asked for 'Usrn' data?

    The Geospatial Commission has published a list of 65 open datasets that they believe are used during the housing and planning process. This includes USRNs

  • What is the driver for the request?

    Other

  • Which 2024 focus area does the request support?

    • Modern planning software

Screen

  • What is the 'Usrn' consideration?

    OS Open USRN

    A Unique Street Reference Number (USRN) is a unique and persistent identifier for every street, road, track, path, cycle track or cycle way in Great Britain.

  • Is there legislation that defines 'Usrn'?

  • Who, in law, is responsible for the planning consideration or makes decisions about 'Usrn'?

    Ordnance Survey

  • Which organisations do we think should publish the data?

    • Ordnance Survey

  • Is the Usrn a trigger?

  • Is the Usrn something to consult during plan making?

  • Is there any Usrn data already available?

    Yes

  • Do we think the data should come from a single source?

    Ordnance Survey

  • Will a data standard be required?

    No

Research

  • Do we understand the lifecycle of a Usrn?

    Yes

    • Document a stage of the high-level lifecycle of a Usrn

  • Do we understand how the data is created/produced?

    A USRN is a unique and persistent identifier for a street contained in either the National or Scottish Street Gazetteer. Every street, road, track, path, cycle track or way is assigned a USRN by a Roads Authority, Local Highway Authority or Highways England. OS Open USRN will include all live USRNs published within the OS MasterMap Highways Network, including Type 1, 2, 3 and 4 streets (see Table 1).

    Local authorities have a statutory responsibility that means they are the source of information for both street naming and managing the highways/roads network.

    Each authority is provided a USRN range, that is centrally allocated and managed by GeoPlace in England and Wales, and Improvement Service in Scotland.

    A USRN is assigned to the complete street feature and is made up of junction-to-junction segments. It is mandatory for all USRNs to be assigned a Street Type. All streets must have a Type 1 or a Type 2 USRN assigned, but a Type 3 or Type 4 USRN can also represent the same sections of carriageway as the Type 1 or 2 are assigned.

    Table 1 provides the definitions for different street types.

  • Where will or should the data be used?

    N/A

  • N/A

  • Who are the statutory consultees for Usrn?

    N/A

  • Other than the statutory consultees who are the primary users of Usrn? How do we expect them to use Usrn?

    N/A

  • What are the planning needs for this data?

    Planning need is unclear

  • Who are the types of users who might benefit from having access to Usrn data?

    According to Geoplace

    • Highways authorities - coordinating works
    • Utility companies - coordinating works

  • What are some potential uses of Usrn data?

    The USRN is key to ensuring works on streets can be planned effectively.

    They can facilitate better insights into traffic patterns, infrastructure utilisation, planning, and development, leading to informed decision-making and resource allocation

  • What's the value of adding Usrn data to the platform?

    The Government Digital Service has mandated that the UPRN and USRN are to be the public sector standard for referencing and sharing property and street information -- Geoplace

    Therefore we should make these available to service builders so that they can be used as intended.

  • From what we have learnt so far are there any risks to making Usrn data available?

    N/A

2 updates

  • elliotrowen (03 September 2024)

    Updated monthly by the OS: https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/products/os-open-usrn

  • Claire Miller (28 June 2024)

    Planning need is unclear

Last updated: 2025-01-28 15:08:13