<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">
Leigh-on-sea has a Town Council. And the residents of Leigh (myself included) like to give it an identity that is distinct from Southend-on-sea, which historically it was. But in practice you would be hard pushed to claim that Leigh was a separate town. Administratively,
it has been part of the Borough (Town) of Southend-on-sea for many, many years and there are no hard and fast boundaries that show where it starts and ends on at least two sides. So just because it has a Town Council (but not, in this case, a mayor), it doesn’t
mean that it _is_ a town.
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Personally, I had always regarded Hamlet/Village/Town as being population-based designators.</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<div class="">Regards,</div>
<div class="">Stuart</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
<div class="">
<div class="">------------------------------------</div>
<div class="">Stuart Reynolds</div>
<div class="">for traveline south east & anglia</div>
<div class=""><br class="">
</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
</div>
<br class="">
<div>
<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On 12 Feb 2016, at 13:15, Colin Smale <<a href="mailto:colin.smale@xs4all.nl" class="">colin.smale@xs4all.nl</a>> wrote:</div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline">
<div class="">
<div style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif" class="">
<p class="">According to Wikipedia, it is country-dependent. As it is an English word, we should only discuss about its meaning in an English-speaking context. There is no such thing as a hamlet in Germany for example; they have different words with different
semantics, which may or may not map onto English concepts.</p>
<p class="">The common theme indicated by the Wikipedia article is that a hamlet is in some way dependent or subordinate to a larger settlement. For example it may not have its own church. That in itself does not define an absolute cut-off point in terms of
population; it is dependent on the settlement's context with respect to its surroundings.</p>
<div class=""> </div>
<p class="">In the UK of course it is a matter of status to be called a City, and there is an unambiguous list of cities. This list can only be changed by the Crown through parliament. The smallest city is St Davids in Wales, with a population of 1841 (2011
figure). Any attempt to retag it in OSM to place=village will probably be reverted within 0.1 nanoseconds....</p>
<p class="">A smaller incorporated settlement (civil parish) can decide unilaterally to call itself a town. Changes don't happen very often of course, but it is a point of civic pride for the inhabitants as the council becomes a Town Council and they can have
a Town Mayor. This is also independent of the population, but the status is carried by the council whose area may include a substantial rural element, which would also become part of the "town". If you ask an inhabitant of that area whether X is a town or
a village, they will tell you, and it has nothing to do with population....</p>
<p class="">In other countries a rule based on population may be appropriate, but in the UK it is definitely a question of status.</p>
<p class="">//colin</p>
<p class="">On 2016-02-12 13:39, Paul Berry wrote:</p>
<blockquote type="cite" style="padding: 0 0.4em; border-left: #1010ff 2px solid; margin: 0" class="">
<!-- html ignored --><!-- head ignored --><!-- meta ignored -->
<div dir="ltr" class="">Hi Michael,
<div class=""> </div>
<div class="">Going the other way, what's the cutoff between a hamlet and a village? Population 50? 100? I'd say that with these categories there's some fuzziness so go with what feels right. On the ground experience over armchair mapping wins out here I think
(as it does for most things OSM). More complexity: a place that would be a hamlet or village near a town or city can find itself a neighbourhood or suburb over time. Again the distinction can be a fine one.
<div class=""> </div>
<div class="">Also, and a more important point than all the above, welcome!</div>
<div class=""> </div>
<div class="">Regards,</div>
<div class=""><em class="">Paul</em><br class="">
<div class="gmail_extra"><br class="">
<div class="gmail_quote">On 12 February 2016 at 12:04, Tom Hughes <span class="">
<<a href="mailto:tom@compton.nu" class="">tom@compton.nu</a>></span> wrote:<br class="">
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;">
<span class="">On 12/02/16 11:51, Ian Caldwell wrote:<br class="">
</span>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-color: #cccccc; border-left-style: solid; padding-left: 1ex;">
<span class=""><br class="">
On 11 February 2016 at 21:32, Michael Booth <<a href="mailto:boothym@gmail.com" class="">boothym@gmail.com</a><br class="">
</span><span class=""><mailto:<a href="mailto:boothym@gmail.com" class="">boothym@gmail.com</a>>> wrote:<br class="">
<br class="">
So my question is, how are we defining villages, towns and cities?<br class="">
Only by population, or do we also take into account their generally<br class="">
accepted status (whilst trying to be consistent across the country)?<br class="">
<br class="">
<br class="">
In England towns will normally have a town council. Villages<br class="">
will normally have a parish council. Only really a name difference see<br class="">
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_council#England_and_Wales" class="">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_council#England_and_Wales</a> .<br class="">
</span></blockquote>
<br class="">
Normally is a very strong word... There are many, many towns and villages without any town or parish council.<span class=""><span style="color: #888888;" class=""><br class="">
<br class="">
Tom<br class="">
<br class="">
-- <br class="">
Tom Hughes (<a href="mailto:tom@compton.nu" class="">tom@compton.nu</a>)<br class="">
<a href="http://compton.nu/" class="">http://compton.nu/</a></span></span>
<div class="">
<div class=""><br class="">
<br class="">
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Talk-GB mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org" class="">Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org</a><br class="">
<a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb" class="">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb</a></div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br class="">
<div class="pre" style="margin: 0; padding: 0; font-family: monospace">_______________________________________________<br class="">
Talk-GB mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org" class="">Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org</a><br class="">
<a href="https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb" class="">https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb</a></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br class="">
Talk-GB mailing list<br class="">
<a href="mailto:Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org" class="">Talk-GB@openstreetmap.org</a><br class="">
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb<br class="">
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br class="">
</div>
</body>
</html>