The Council in making arrangements and providing opportunities for dual language signage within street naming shall:
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Have regard to any views on the matter expressed by occupiers of the street
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For the purposes of the policy, “occupiers” shall mean any person who resides in a dwelling, including a house, flat, maisonette or house in multiple occupancy and which has its frontage immediately adjoining the street, hereafter referred to as ‘property’. Only the views of occupiers aged 18 or over in each property that is occupied and listed on the Electoral Register at the date of survey will be considered.
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In relation to properties, the ‘occupier’ will include the owner and family members or tenants as listed on the current Electoral / Rates Register as residing at that address or tenants in actual possession of the premises, but not employees within such premises at the date of the survey.
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The naming of the street in a language other than English does not authorise or require its use as, or part of, the address of any person or the description of the land for the purpose of any statutory provision; e.g., Building Control applications.
The provision of dual language Street Names will normally only be considered in the following circumstances:
In deciding whether it should exercise its discretionary powers in relation to erection of dual language nameplates under Article 11 of the 1995 Order, the Council shall only do so after having regard to the views of occupiers of premises which has its frontage immediately adjoining that street.
The procedure for seeking and assessing the views of occupiers and criteria to be applied in deciding whether to erect a dual language nameplate in a language other than English is:
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A valid petition or letter, signed by occupiers of the street must be made to Council to enable this matter to be considered. Requests should be made to Building Control Service within the Public Health and Infrastructure Department. A petition / letter request shall be valid if; it is from an occupier who appears on the Electoral Register as maintained by the Electoral Office for NI; the address of the petitioner is contained on the petition / letter and; the individuals name is clearly stated and the letter has been signed by the petitioner (who must be an occupier of premises on the street). A petition / letter may be received by email but it must be attached as a file and signed. The Council shall not accept a request made within the body of an email.
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The Environment Committee will receive notification of submitted requests by way of valid petition as referenced at 1, above. A petition will be deemed to be valid where it is completed by a minimum of one householder on that street. Approval will be sought from the Environment Committee to undertake the survey requested by the valid petition/ letter.
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Upon agreement, the Council will canvass, by post, all occupiers listed on the Electoral Register and the Pointer addressing system of that street; seeking their views on the request to erect a dual-language street nameplate. Each letter will contain survey forms for the number of occupiers registered on the Electoral Register for that property at that time.
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The occupiers will be advised of the date by which completed surveys must be returned. Incomplete or illegible survey returns will not be counted. Completed surveys must be returned in the self-addressed envelopes provided for that purpose. Only replies received by the specified date shall be considered.
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For purposes of assessment where 51% (rounded to nearest whole number) of the occupiers that respond indicate that they are in favour of the erection of a dual language street nameplate, then this shall be presented to the Environment Committee for decision recommending that the dual language street nameplate be approved and erected. The Environment Committee having considered the request and the result of the survey may agree to permit or not permit the erection of the dual language nameplate.
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Where 51% of occupiers (rounded to nearest whole number) that respond indicate that they are not in favour of the erection of a dual-language street nameplate, then this shall be presented to the Environment Committee for decision recommending that the dual language street nameplate shall not be approved or erected.
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If the request is refused by those households surveyed, further requests will not be considered until the expiry of 12 months from the date at which the Environment Committee refuses it.
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Where the request is granted and the other language is Irish, the Irish Language Section within Department of Culture and Leisure and / or an approved translator will provide the Irish language form of the street name. Any other language shall be obtained from an approved translation service the cost of which will be notified to the Environment Committee when receiving the report on the outcome of the survey. The other language will not be used to express the name of the street for statutory purposes
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The font and size of lettering of the other language shall be in accordance with the agreed format.
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Following the Council’s decision with regards to the request on Dual Language Signage for a particular street/road, the outcome will be published on the Council website. Where requested, written confirmation of the decision will be forwarded to relevant occupiers.
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Where agreed, a new dual language nameplate will be erected at the start and finish of the street or road in question and at such points along it as required e.g. at other road junctions, in accordance with any operational requirements as determined by the Property Services Team.