On 28/12/2017 19:31, Lester Caine wrote:
Get the return address right ...
On 28/12/17 16:12, Colin Spiller wrote:
I've been adding postcodes in the Bradford BD area using Robert & gregrs
useful tools. I've just noticed that the Shell station at the Rooley
Lane / Rooley Avenue junction BD5 8JR is now reported as having an
incorrect postal unit (the final two letters of the postcode). This
postcode appears widely on the internet for this site, but the RM
postcode finder thinks it should be Rooley Avenue, BD6 1DA.
PAF file has ...
Shell Filling Station
Rooley Avenue
BRADFORD
BD6 1DA
and BD5 8JR is not listed having been deleted in 2009
http://checkmypostcode.uk/bd58jr so the real problem is does one leave
the faulty postcode in place because we can't use the PAF data or do we
validate postcodes against the codepoint database and remove those that
are not listed
It's an interesting conundrum, on several levels. We can certainly
validate against Codepoint Open or the ONSPD, as these are open data. So
if they say the postcode is impossible (because it's defunct), then we
can definitely delete it if we want to.
Replacing it with the correct postcode, though, is harder. We'd need a
source that isn't derived from PAF. But Googling for this particular
station, all the sources have the old, incorrect postcode - even Google
itself! (I would expect they're all using the Shell data, of course).
So that leaves us with three options, at least initially:
1. Leave it as is. We know it's wrong, but it's consistent with every
other source, and it's from the only canonical source.
2. Replace it with the right one. More useful, but potentially risky
from a licensing perspective.
3. Delete it and leave the entry with no postcode. Probably the best we
can do as far as accuracy is concerned (in line with the general
principle that data is better missing than wrong, if it can't be right),
and avoids any licence conflict. But this is the least useful for users
of the data (since, in this case, even the wrong postcode will identify
the location in practice - for obvious reasons, Royal Mail will deliver
to defunct postcodes long after they have been deleted, and many
sat-navs will work with defunct postcodes too).
Maybe the best solution is to leave it alone for now, and see if we can
persuade Shell to fix it. Deleting the postcode risks it being re-added
by someone else who spots its absence and decides to be helpful, without
realising that if they use the RM postcode finder to validate it that
isn't compatible with OSM's licence.
Mark
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