In forceAmended2020 Revised Edition

Contents

Planning Act 1998 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 3 · Development and Subdivision of Land

14. Applications determined with reference to Master Plan, etc.

Amended

Last amended by an amending law of 2003.

(1)

Subject to subsection (2), in determining an application for written permission, the competent authority must act in conformity with the provisions of the Master Plan and any Certified Interpretation Plan insofar as they may be relevant.

(2)

Where the Minister approves, either in relation to a particular application or a class of applications (as the case may be), the competent authority need not act in accordance with subsection (1) in any of the following circumstances:

(a)

the land to which the application relates (called in this subsection the relevant land) is or will be required for any public purpose or for the provision of any utility services or infrastructural, social or transportation facility;

(b)

the relevant land, or its locality, is the subject of a planning, transportation, conservation or preservation study being carried out by the competent authority or any other public authority;

(c)

the provisions of the Master Plan insofar as it relates to the relevant land, or its locality, is being reviewed by the competent authority;

(d)

a proposal to amend the provisions of the Master Plan insofar as it relates to the relevant land, or its locality, has been submitted to the Minister for approval under section 8;

(e)

the competent authority is of the view that the development proposed in the application is incongruent with the developments on land adjoining the relevant land or other land in the locality;

(f)

the planning permission or conservation permission to be granted for the development proposed in the application is for a specified period not exceeding 10 years.

(3)

Where subsection (2) applies, the competent authority may determine the application in the manner as the Minister may approve.

(4)

Subject to any rules, the competent authority may —

(a)

grant written permission, either unconditionally or subject to any conditions the competent authority considers fit, including those mentioned in section 15; or

(b)

refuse written permission.

(5)

Where written permission is granted subject to conditions or is refused, the competent authority must provide reasons in writing for imposing the conditions or refusing the application, as the case may be.

(6)

When an application for planning permission or conservation permission is made to the competent authority in relation to any land, the application supersedes any previous application for planning permission or conservation permission relating to the same land which remains undetermined.

(7)

Unless otherwise approved by the Minister in writing, the planning permission or conservation permission of the competent authority is a condition precedent to the consideration by a licensing authority of any application for the issue of a licence for any purpose involving the development of land.

Terms defined in this Act

Certified Interpretation Plan
Defined · s 2
“Certified Interpretation Plan” means a Certified Interpretation Plan prepared and certified by the competent authority under section 7;
Open s 2
competent authority
Defined · s 2
“competent authority”, in relation to this Act or any Part or provision of this Act, means any competent authority appointed under section 5 to be responsible for the operation of this Act or that Part or provision, as the case may be;
Open s 2
conservation
Defined · s 2
“conservation” means the preservation, enhancement or restoration of the character or appearance of, and the interior and exterior of any building in, a conservation area;
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conservation permission
Defined · s 2
“conservation permission” means permission mentioned in section 12(2);
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development
Defined · s 3
“development” means the carrying out of any building, engineering, mining, earthworks or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any building or land, and “develop” and “developing” are to be construed accordingly.(2) The following operations or uses of land are not to be deemed for the purposes of this Act to involve development of land:(a)the carrying out of works for the maintenance, improvement or other alteration of a building which do not materially affect the external appearance or the floor area of the building;(b)the carrying out of such minor or preliminary works and such temporary use of land as the competent authority may declare for the purpose of this subsection;(c)the carrying out by any statutory authority of any works on land within the boundaries of a street, being works which are necessary for the maintenance or improvement of the street;(d)the carrying out by any statutory authority of any works for the purpose of laying, inspecting, repairing or renewing any sewers, mains, pipes, cables or other apparatus, including the breaking open of any street or other land for that purpose;(e)the carrying out of any act authorised or required by the Control of Vectors and Pesticides Act 1998;(f)the use of any existing building or land within the curtilage of a dwelling house for any purpose incidental to the enjoyment of the dwelling house as such;(g)the use of any land for the purposes of forestry (including afforestation) and the use for any of those purposes of any building occupied together with land so used;(h)in the case of any building or land which is used for a purpose of any class specified in any rules made under section 61, the use of the building or land or any part thereof for any other purpose within the same class.(3) To avoid doubt, it is declared that for the purposes of this section —(a)the use as 2 or more separate houses of any building previously used as a single house involves a material change in the use of the building and of each part thereof which is so used;(b)the use as a dwelling house of any building not originally constructed for human habitation involves a material change in the use of the building;(c)the use for other purposes of a building or part of a building originally constructed as a dwelling house involves a material change in the use of the building;(d)the use for a purpose specified in the Fourth Schedule of a building or part of a building originally constructed as a dwelling house constitutes development, whether such use commenced before, on or after 15 May 2017;(e)the demolition or reconstruction of or addition to a building constitutes development;(f)the use for the display of advertisements of any external part of a building which is not normally used for that purpose involves a material change in the use of the building;(g)the deposit of refuse or waste materials on land involves a material change in the use of the land even though the land is comprised in a site already used for that purpose, if —(i)the superficial area of the deposit is extended; or(ii)the height of the deposit is extended and exceeds the level of the land adjoining the site;(h)subject to subsection (2)(h), the use of any building or part thereof for any purpose other than that for which the building was originally constructed involves a material change in the use of the building;(i)any decorative, painting, renovation or building works, whether external or internal, to or on a monument in respect of which there is in force a preservation order under the Preservation of Monuments Act 2009 constitutes building operations;(j)the use and operation as 2 or more separate entities of any building or buildings or part of a building which is or are approved or authorised to be used and operated as one single entity for any of the uses specified in the Second Schedule involves a material change in the use of the building or buildings or part of the building; and(k)where a planning permission or conservation permission is cancelled under section 15(4), a planning permission or conservation permission granted for a specified period has lapsed, or a condition of an authorisation under section 21(6) is breached, the continued use of any building or land for any purpose constitutes development from the date of the cancellation, lapsing or breach, as the case may be. Subject to subsections (2) and (3), in this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,
Open s 3
land
Defined · s 2
“land” includes buildings and any estate or interest in or right over land;
Open s 2
Master Plan
Defined · s 2
“Master Plan” has the meaning given by section 6;
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planning permission
Defined · s 2
“planning permission” means permission mentioned in section 12(1);
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written permission
Defined · s 2
“written permission” means a planning permission, conservation permission or subdivision permission (as the case may be) granted by a competent authority and includes any such permission granted or issued by electronic transmission or in a medium other than paper and authenticated in such manner as the competent authority may determine;
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Report

Read on from s 14A

Part 3A

Qualified Persons

Read on from Part 3A

Part 4

Enforcement

Read on from Part 4

Part 5 Part 5A

Part 6

Recovery of Moneys

Read on from Part 6

Part 7

Miscellaneous

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Part 8

Transitional and Saving Provisions

Read on from Part 8

Schedules

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