Town Councils Act 1988 · 2020 Revised Edition · Part 1 · Preliminary
3. Declaration of Towns
Feedback & supportLast amended by an amending law of 2017.
For the purposes of constituting a Town Council to control, manage, maintain and improve the common property of residential and commercial property in the housing estates of the Board in any area, the Minister may by order published in the Gazette, declare to be a Town by such name as the Minister may designate in the order an area comprising —
Town Council
“Town Council”, in relation to a Town, means the Town Council established under section 4 for that Town;
a single constituency; or
any 2 or 3 constituencies where the Members of Parliament agree to their constituencies being declared to be a Town.
An order under subsection (1) that declares a constituency to be, or to be comprised in, a Town —
constituency
“constituency” means an electoral division under the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954 and includes a group representation constituency;
is not invalidated by reason only of a change in the boundaries of the constituency pursuant to section 8 or 20A(1) of the Parliamentary Elections Act 1954; but(b)is to continue to be in force until the order is revoked after the first general election after the change in those boundaries.
In the event of a general election following the dissolution of Parliament, an order under subsection (1) declaring all Towns must be made by the Minister —
on the 14th day after the last date the election results are declared for the respective constituencies; and
with effect from that day.
An order under subsection (1) may be amended from time to time, and may contain supplementary provisions (not inconsistent with subsections (5), (6) and (7)) that may be desirable, necessary or expedient in consequence of any change to the boundaries of the area of a Town, such as but not limited to the following:
the dissolution of a Town Council;
the sale, transfer or disposition of any property or rights and liabilities of a Town Council for the affected area, including property, rights and liabilities that would not otherwise be capable of being transferred;
the apportionment or adjustment between Town Councils of property, income or expenditure, or rights and liabilities in connection with the affected area;
the continued operation of the by-laws made by a Town Council for the affected area and for the amendment or revocation by another Town Council of those by-laws, even if the by‑laws were not originally made by that other Town Council;
the imposing of a duty on a Town Council to provide another Town Council with all such documents and information and other assistance as the other Town Council may reasonably require for the purposes of, or in connection with, the assumption of responsibility by that other Town Council for the affected area;
the change of name of any Town Council;
specifying for the purposes of subsection (5) the successor Town Council for a dissolved Town Council.
Where an order under subsection (1) provides for an area comprised within a Town (called in this section Town A) to constitute part of another Town (called in this section Town B) —
the Town Council for Town A (called in this section the transferring Town Council); or
if the Town Council for Town A is dissolved, the successor Town Council to that Town Council,continues to be liable, for a period specified in the order (being not more than 90 days) or a shorter period agreed between the Town Council for Town B (called in this section the receiving Town Council) and the transferring Town Council or successor Town Council for Town A (as the case may be), for the maintenance and management of the common property of the residential and commercial property in the housing estates of the Board within that area as if the order had not been made.
Upon the expiry of the period mentioned in subsection (5), the receiving Town Council is liable for the maintenance and management of that common property.
common property
“common property”, in relation to any residential or commercial property in a housing estate of the Board, means so much of the land and all parts of any building of the Board as are not comprised in the flats in the building and, for any housing estate mentioned in section 77(4), in respect of which a handover notice issued under section 77 is in effect, and includes —(a)the columns, beams, supports, external walls, roofs and storage spaces, lobbies, corridors, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances and exits;(b)firefighting and protection system;(c)the central and appurtenant installations for services such as power, light, sanitation and water;(d)the escalators, lifts, water tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and all other apparatus and installations existing for common use;(e)the common facilities in the housing estate built for the use or enjoyment of the residents;(f)all recreational or community facilities, and gardens;(g)all directional signs and signboards;(h)the land appurtenant to the building and all other parts of the land intended for the use or enjoyment of the residents; and(i)such other property as may be prescribed,but does not include —(j)bus terminals and interchanges;(k)drains, sewers and lightings maintained by the Government;(l)swimming pools and other sports complexes;(m)public roads and parking places; and(n)such other property as may be prescribed;
Nothing in subsection (5) authorises the transferring Town Council or successor Town Council for Town A (as the case may be) to draw on —
any surpluses of the Town Council which are required under section 48 to be transferred to its sinking funds; or
any balance of those surpluses,to maintain and manage the common property of the residential and commercial property in the housing estates of the Board within the relevant area.
For the purposes of this Act, where any part of the common property of any residential or commercial property is situated partly in the Town of one Town Council and partly in the Town of another, the Town Councils may agree that such part is treated as situated in such one of the Towns as is specified in the agreement; and in default of agreement the situation of such part must be determined by the Minister whose decision is final.
commercial property
“commercial property” means any building or premises vested in or belonging to the Board (or part of such building or premises) which is permitted under the Planning Act 1998 to be used wholly or partly as —(a)a market, food centre, confectionery, bakery, restaurant or bar, or an eating house;(b)an office or a place of business and for conducting administrative work; or(c)a shop or premises for the carrying on of any trade or business where the primary purpose is the sale of goods by retail or the provision of services;Examples A furniture shop, department store, supermarket, dispensary, medical clinic, dental clinic, beauty salon, ticket agency, travel agency, laundry shop, dry cleaner’s shop, pet shop, video games arcade, computer gaming centre, billiard saloon, bowling alley, bank or multimedia kiosk, or an automated teller machine.(d)a place —(i)for the care or education, or care and education, of children below 7 years of age; or(ii)at which 5 or more school-going children who are 7 years of age or older but below 14 years of age are habitually received for the purposes of care and supervision before or after school hours;(e)premises —(i)for the reception, lodging and care of aged or disabled persons or persons suffering or convalescing from any sickness, injury or infirmity; or(ii)for any type of examination of the human body or of any matter derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or for the assessment of the health of any person;Examples A hospice, convalescent home or nursing home, or a dialysis centre, cancer screening centre or medical health centre.(f)a kindergarten registered under section 23 of the Education Act 1957 or an institution providing education or instruction;Examples A tuition centre, language school, computer school, music school, dance school, speech and drama school, child development centre or play school, or an art school or acting school.(g)a sports club, community centre, community club, family service centre or residents’ committee centre, or premises for community-based activities, and includes an office of such a club, centre or committee; or(h)a police post, fire station or civil defence centre,but excludes any property specified or described by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, as not to be a commercial property for the purposes of this Act;