Singapore legislation
Section 29
Section 29
Widening of streets
(1)
The Director-General may, with the concurrence of the competent authority, decide that any private street or any part of a private street shall be widened to a width of not less than 11 metres throughout its length, and for this purpose may prepare a plan complying with the requirements of the Land Titles Act in respect of registered land and of the Registration of Deeds Act in respect of other land showing thereon the premises the acquisition of which will be rendered necessary to effect such widening and by deed may declare that the premises shall vest in the Government and may register the deed together with the aforesaid plan in accordance with the provisions of the Land Titles Act in respect of registered land and the Registration of Deeds Act in respect of other land.
(2)
Upon such registration the aforesaid premises shall vest in the Government free from all encumbrances and where the premises are held under a statutory land grant, such vesting shall not be deemed to create a subdivision within the meaning of the State Lands Act [Cap. 314]:Provided that no part of the premises shall be deemed to be or to form part of a public street by reason of their having become vested in the Government or by reason of their subsequently being repaired or maintained by the Government notwithstanding the fact that the private street of which the premises may be deemed to form part may be a street over which the public has a right of way, but shall be deemed to be a part of that private street until the whole of the street or the entire width of that part of it adjoining those premises has been declared a public street in accordance with the provisions of this Part.
(3)
Whenever any premises other than those referred to in subsection (1) have been acquired by the Government pursuant to subsections (5) and (6), the Director-General shall prepare a plan complying with the requirements mentioned in subsection (1) of the premises so acquired and shall by deed declare that those premises have been acquired by the Government and upon registration of the deed together with the plan the premises shall vest in the Government free from all encumbrances.
(4)
When the Director-General has pursuant to this section registered any deed, he may take possession of the premises described therein and may proceed to demolish and remove any building or portion of any building forming part thereof.
(5)
Where the acquisition under this section of any portion of a building affixed to a holding renders useless the remainder of the building, the Government shall, if the owner so requires, acquire the remainder of the holding of which the building forms a part and shall pay compensation therefor in accordance with subsection (7).
(6)
Where the acquisition under this section of any portion of a holding having no building affixed to that portion or to the remainder of the holding would render useless as a building site the remainder of the holding, the Government shall, if the owner so requires, acquire the remainder of the holding, and shall pay compensation therefor in accordance with subsection (7).
(7)
Compensation for premises acquired under this section shall be paid to such owners thereof as require to be paid compensation in accordance with the following provisions:
where the whole of a holding is acquired, compensation shall be paid for the whole of the holding;
where the premises acquired are vacant or there are no buildings other than an enclosing wall, hedge, paling, gateway or fence forming part thereof erected thereon, and a portion only of a holding is acquired, the Director-General shall set back the wall, hedge, paling, gateway or fence (if any) to the boundary of the premises acquired, and shall pay compensation for all premises acquired lying beyond the street reserve set aside pursuant to any development proposals approved by the competent authority or where no such reserve has been set aside beyond a distance of 5.5 metres from the centre of the street existing as at the date of the decision of the Director-General referred to in subsection (1), but no compensation shall be payable in respect of severance;
where there are buildings forming part of the premises acquired, compensation shall be paid for the premises, but in ascertaining the compensation the value of —
all premises lying within the street reserve set aside pursuant to any development proposals approved by the competent authority; and
where there is no such reserve, all premises lying within a distance of 5.5 metres from the centre of the street existing at the date of the aforesaid decision,shall not be taken into account, and no compensation for severance of land shall be payable where the whole of a building is acquired;
in the case of premises situate at the corner of the private street and another street where the frontage of the holding to the other street is of greater value per square metre than the frontage to the private street the subject of widening referred to in this section, compensation shall be paid for the whole of the premises acquired to a depth not exceeding 30.5 metres from the other street.
(8)
Subject to this section, the compensation to be paid by the Government for any premises acquired under this section shall be ascertained in accordance with the provisions of the Land Acquisition Act [Cap. 152] and any other written law for the time being in force governing the acquisition of land for public purposes, as if the premises were acquired for a public purpose, the date of the aforesaid registration being substituted for the date of the declaration under section 5(1) of the Land Acquisition Act for the purpose of ascertaining the market value of the premises.
(9)
The total cost of acquisitions under this section shall be paid to the Government by the owners at the time of the apportionment mentioned in this subsection of the premises fronting, adjoining or abutting upon the street or part thereof so widened by the inclusion of the premises vested in the Government under subsection (2), in proportion to the frontages of the respective premises of those owners adjoining or abutting upon the street. The Director-General shall as soon as may be after completion of the acquisitions apportion that cost accordingly and may, without prejudice to any other remedies for the recovery thereof, recover the apportioned parts of the cost in the manner provided in section 64, and from the date of the apportionment until recovered the apportioned parts shall, subject and without prejudice to the rights of the Government, be first charges upon the premises to which they have been apportioned and such charges may be enforced and the remedies conferred by this subsection may be exercised against the respective premises or against any movable property or crops for the time being found thereon notwithstanding any changes in the ownership or occupation of the premises.[28