Singapore legislation
Section 27
Section 27
Provisions of footways, etc.
(1)
The Authority may, where it considers necessary, require the owner of any premises —
to allow a footway to be constructed within the owner’s premises for the use of the public; or
to allow an existing footway within the owner’s premises to be improved for the use of the public.
(2)
The construction or improvement of a footway under subsection (1) must not affect any house within the premises, except that if necessary for this purpose, the Authority may set back any wall, fence, hedge or other similar erection.
(3)
Where there is a vacant frontage adjacent to the public street to which the public has access, the Authority may, in conjunction with any street improvement scheme, carry out works to the frontage as it considers fit.
(4)
For the purpose of this section, “vacant frontage” includes any covered footway.
(5)
The Authority must not exercise the rights conferred by subsection (1) or (3) unless it has given at least one month’s written notice to the owner of the frontage stating its intention to carry out the work, which notice must include a plan showing the affected area of the frontage.
(6)
The Authority must prepare an estimate of the costs and expenses to be apportioned among the owners of the premises fronting, adjoining or abutting on the new or existing footway or public street and must serve a notice of its decision in writing to proceed with the works and to recover costs and expenses of the works upon each of such owners, and such costs and expenses must be paid within such period as may be specified in the notice and in such proportions as are settled by the Authority.
(7)
If the owner of any such premises is dissatisfied with the Authority’s apportionment of costs and expenses, the owner may, within 14 days from the date of service of the notice, appeal to the Minister whose decision is final.
(8)
The Authority may, if it thinks fit, decide that in settling the apportionment of costs and expenses regard must be had to the following considerations:
the degree of benefit accruing to any premises by the construction or improvement of the new footway or street;
the amount and value of any street works already executed by the owners or occupiers of any such premises.
(9)
The Authority may, if it thinks fit, pay the whole or any part of the costs and expenses of the works, and the payment of part of the costs and expenses may be made in such a manner as wholly to relieve the owner of any particular premises to the exclusion of other owners or to relieve that owner to a greater extent than other owners.
(10)
When the street works have been completed by the Authority and the costs and expenses thereof ascertained —
the Authority must cause a final apportionment of the costs and expenses of the street works to be made by dividing the costs and expenses in the same proportions as those in which the estimated costs and expenses were divided in the provisional apportionment;
that final apportionment is conclusive for all purposes;
notice of the final apportionment must be served upon the owners of the premises affected thereby; and
the sums apportioned thereby are recoverable in the manner provided in section 43.
(11)
No owner is entitled to any payment or compensation for the use of the owner’s frontage under this section.
(12)
In every case where a footway is made under this section, the Authority must deliver to each owner of the land a plan showing the land taken for the footway with a declaration endorsed thereon under the hand of the Minister to the effect that the land has been taken under this section for use as a public footway, subject nevertheless to the right of each owner or that owner’s successors in title at any time to build in such a manner and to such extent as the owner or the owner’s successors in title would have been entitled to build if the land had not been taken for use as a public footway.