FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 1975
PROCESSING OF BUILDING PLANS TO BE SPEEDED UP
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THE FOLLOWING PRESS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED FOR 9 P.M. TODAY (FRIDAY).
THE DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS, MR. DAVID MCDONALD, ANNOUNCED THIS EVENING THAT THE GOVERNMENT HOPES TO SLASH THE TIME REQUIRED TO DEAL WITH APPLICATIONS FOR APPROVAL OF BUILDING PLANS.
HE SAID THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT WAS NOW FINALISING A SCHEME WHEREBY ALL GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE APPROVAL OF BUILDING PROJECTS WOULD BE CO-ORDINATED THROUGH THE IUILINGS ORDINANCE OFFICE OF THE P.W.D., CUTTING THE ENKE PROCESS TO 60 DAYS OR LESS.
MR. MCDONALD TOLD THE ANNUAL DINNER OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTE OF CHARTERED SURVEYORS THAT HE HOPED TO HAVE THE SYSTEM FINALISED, APPROVED AND PUT INTO OPERATION WITHIN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
HE POINTED OUT THAT THE BUILDINGS ORDINANCE OFFICE HAD BEEN WORKING WELL BELOW ITS APPROVED ESTABLISHMENT FOR SEVERAL YEARS, AND AS A RESULT HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO PROCESS PLANS FOR NEW BUILDINGS AS RAPIDLY AS EITHER IT OR THE DEVELOPERS WOULD HAVE WISHED.
HE SAID: +WE HAD, IN FACT, TO EXTEND THE STATUTORY PERIOD DURING WHICH PLANS OF NEW SUBMISSIONS HAD TO BE PROCESSED FROM 30 DAYS TO 60 DAYS IN ORDER TO TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF OUR BUILDING SURVEYORS, MANY OF WHOM HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY FOR LONG PERIODS FROM THE IR ROUTINE DUTIES IN ORDER TO COPE WITH THE URGENT NEED FOR INSPECTIONS OF PROPERTIES AND HILLSIDES AFTER THE 1972 RAINSTORMS. ·
+WHEN THEY RETURNED TO THEIR NORMAL DUTIES THEY FOUND THAT A COLOSSAL BACKLOG OF SUBMISSIONS HAD DEVELOPED AND THE PROCESSING PROBLEM HAD BECOME SOMETHING OF A NIGHTMARE.
+FROM THE DEVELOPERS' POINT OF VIEW, THE EXTENSION OF THE STATUTORY PERIOD WAS NOT PARTICULARLY WELCOME AND WE SYMPATHIZED WITH THEIR VIEW, AS WE WERE WELL AWARE THAT THIS WAS YET ANOTHER DELAY IN THE LONG DRAWN-OUT PROCESS OF OBTAINING APPROVAL OF SCHEMES.+
MR. MCDONALD SAID THAT BEFORE EVEN A FIRST SUBMISSION COULD BE MADE TO THE BUILDINGS ORDINANCE OFFICE, PREVIOUS APPROVAL HAD TO BE OBTAINED FROM SEVERAL OTHER OFFICES AND DEPARTMENTS OF THE GOVERNMENT WHICH WERE NOT CONTROLLED BY STATUTORY PROCESSING PERIODS AND THIS COULD TAKE MANY MONTHS.
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THIS SITUATION