LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
DPA plans or their replacement OZPs, the Planning Authority can take enforcement action against unauthorised development.
In 1998, four new OZPS and two new Land Development Corporation (LDC) Development Scheme Plans were published and 37 existing OZPs and two LDC Development Scheme Plans were amended by the TPB. At the end of the year, there were 94 OZPs and three DPA plans.
Under the Town Planning Ordinance, any person affected by statutory plans on exhibition for public inspection, including the LDC development scheme plans, can lodge objections with the TPB. In 1998, 1 464 objections to draft plans were lodged, and 572 objections (including those brought forward from the previous years) were considered by the TPB. Draft plans, together with amendments made to meet objections and unwithdrawn objections, must be submitted to the Chief Executive in Council for approval. In 1998, 12 OZPs were approved. The Chief Executive in Council referred 11 approved plans back to the TPB for further amendments.
Attached to each statutory plan is a set of notes indicating the uses in particular zones which are always permitted and those uses for which the TPB's permission must be sought. In 1998, the TPB considered 857 applications for planning permission and 165 reviews of planning applications.
Guidelines were formulated by the TPB to help applicants submit planning applications. The TPB has promulgated 13 sets of such guidelines and has published annual reports since 1990.
The Town Planning Appeal Board, a statutory body independent of the TPB and government departments, was set up in 1991 to deal with appeals lodged by applicants who feel aggrieved by the decisions of the TPB upon review of their planning applications. Including those cases brought forward from the previous years, the Appeal Board heard four cases in 1998, of which three were dismissed and the hearing of the remaining one was to be continued in 1999.
Departmental Plans
Apart from statutory plans, the Planning Department also prepares departmental outline development plans (ODPs) and layout plans (LPs) for individual districts or areas to show the planned land uses, development restrictions and transport networks in greater detail. At the end of 1998, there were 85 ODPs and 336 LPs.
Enforcement
Under the Town Planning Ordinance, no person shall undertake or continue a development in a development permission area (DPA) unless the development was a 'use in existence' before the gazetting of the relevant Interim DPA/DPA plans, or is permitted under the DPA plan or the replacement OZP, or has obtained permission from the TPB. Development not satisfying these criteria is an unauthorised development (UD) subject to enforcement and prosecution actions.
The Planning Authority may serve notices on the respective land-owners, occupiers and responsible persons, requiring them to discontinue the UD by a specified date unless planning permission for the development is obtained, or demanding a reinstatement of the land. It is an offence in law if the requirements of the notices are not complied with.
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