Clause 64

Where any foreign person is the owner of any vacant land (whether or not with a vacant or disused building or structure thereon) which has been —

zoned for any of the purposes declared to be industrial, commercial or non-residential by the Minister under sub-paragraph (iv) of the definition of “residential property” in section 2(1); and

rezoned at any time on or after the commencement of this section pursuant to any alteration to the Master Plan (other than an alteration made in relation to any application for permission to develop under the Planning Act 1997) and is still zoned for a purpose other than that declared under that sub-paragraph (iv) by the Minister,that foreign person —

shall be required to make an application to the Minister through the Controller of Housing for the grant of approval to develop the land for that purpose prior to his making an application to the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act 1997 for permission to develop; and

shall not be granted planning permission or conservation permission unless he has been granted prior approval by the Minister in accordance with this section.(2) A certification by the competent authority appointed under the Planning Act 1997 certifying that an alteration to the Master Plan was approved by the Minister in relation to an application for planning permission or conservation permission under that Act shall be conclusive evidence of the matters stated therein.(3) The Minister may, when granting any approval under subsection (1), impose such conditions as he may think fit, including the following:

that the foreign person shall provide such security as may be determined by the Minister for the purpose of complying with any condition imposed by the Minister; and

that the foreign person shall give an undertaking in writing to comply with the conditions imposed by the Minister.(4) Where an applicant has failed to comply with any of the conditions imposed by the Minister under this section, the Minister may forfeit the security provided by the applicant under this section after giving 21 days’ notice in writing to the applicant of his intention to forfeit the security and the grounds thereof.(5) An applicant may, within 3 months of the receipt of the notice under subsection (4), appeal to the Minister whose decision shall be final and shall not be questioned in any court.”.