Article 4 direction data

Last updated: 7 April 2025

Presumption to publish

Ordnance Survey has confirmed that our assessment of this dataset is correct, provided the data meets our specification.

Format

You can provide data in one of these formats:

CSV
GeoJSON
GML
Geopackage

These may be uploaded to a single URL, or served via an OGC WFS or ArcGIS API.

Field names

You can provide fields names using hyphens, underscores or spaces.

For example:

start-date
start_date
start date

These are all valid, and any uppercase characters will be converted to lowercase.

Article 4 direction dataset

This dataset is about article 4 directions. These are directions from local planning authorities to withdraw specified permitted development rights across a defined area.

The dataset must contain at least one entry (row) for each article 4 direction. It must containing the following fields (columns):

reference

A reference or ID for each article 4 direction that is:

unique within your dataset
permanent - it doesn’t change when the dataset is updated

If you don’t use a reference already, you will need to create one. This can be a short set of letters or numbers.

Example: A4D1

name

The official name of the article 4 direction.

Example: Old Market

description

Optional short description of the article 4 direction’s purpose.

Example: The railways arches should not be demolished or have their use changed from commercial to residential.

document-url

The URL of an authoritative order or notice designating the article 4 direction.

Example: http://www.LPAwebsite.org.uk/article4direction1.pdf

documentation-url

The URL of the webpage on your website that introduces the document.

Each document should be linked to from a documentation webpage that includes a short description of the data and the document you’re linking to. Each article 4 direction should have a unique URL. This means you can create a separate page for each one, or you could list several on one page. If you do that, there must be a separate anchor link (fragment identifier) for each one.

This means each section of your page should have its own URL. Most publishing systems will allow you to use a hashtag to create the identifiers for each article 4 direction you list - as in the examples shown.

Example:

One article 4 direction per page:

http://www.LPAwebsite.org.uk/data/article4directions/smithroad

More than one article 4 direction per page with an anchor link for each one:

http://www.LPAwebsite.org.uk/data/article4directions#smithroad

http://www.LPAwebsite.org.uk/data/article4directions#broadhousepark

notes

Optional text on how this data was made or produced, or how it can be interpreted.

start-date

The date that the article 4 direction came into force, written in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Example: 1984-03-28

end-date

Where the article 4 direction is no longer valid, this should be the date that it was no longer in effect, written in YYYY-MM-DD format. If this does not apply, leave the cell blank.

Example: 1999-01-20

entry-date

The date the entity was last updated.

If the entity has never been updated, enter the same date as start-date.

Write in YYYY-MM-DD format.

Example: 2022-12-20

Article 4 direction area

This dataset is about the geometry that each article 4 direction refers to.

The dataset must contain at least one entry (row) for each article 4 direction area.

It must containing the following fields (columns):

reference

A reference or ID for each article 4 direction area that is:

unique within your dataset
permanent - it doesn’t change when the dataset is updated

If you don’t use a reference already, you will need to create one. This can be a short set of letters or numbers.

Example: A4Da1

name

The official name of the article 4 direction. Example: Old Market

geometry

The boundary for the article 4 direction area as a single polygon or multipolygon value. All points in the polygon must be in the WGS84 coordinate reference system.

If you’re providing geometry in a CSV, geometry should be in well-known text (WKT).

Example: MULTIPOLYGON (((1.188829 51.23478,1.188376 51.234909,1.188381 51.234917,1.187912 51.235022...

If you’re providing geometry in a GeoJSON, GML or Geopackage, use the associated geometry format.

uprn

If the geometry is the boundary of a building, you can provide the Unique Property Reference Number (UPRN). Find the UPRN on GeoPlace.

If you provide the UPRN, you must also provide the address text.

address-text

If the geometry is the boundary of a building, you can provide the address of the article 4 direction, written as text.

If you provide the address text, you must also provide the UPRN.

Example: 100 High Street, Bath

article-4-direction

The reference for the article 4 direction used in the article 4 direction dataset.

Example: A4D1

permitted-development-rights

A list of the permitted development rights withdrawn by the article 4 direction.

Separate the rights in the list using semicolons.

Only use rights from our permitted development right dataset. If the area withdraws a permitted development right that is not in our dataset, email digitalland@communities.gov.uk.

Example: 3D;3M;11B