The Chief Executive in Council has ordered that the Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 2003 (the Amendment Bill) be introduced into the Legislative Council

The Chief Executive in Council has ordered that the Town Planning (Amendment) Bill 2003 (the Amendment Bill) be introduced into the Legislative Council (LegCo) on May 21, 2003.

The Amendment Bill, which was published in the Government Gazette today (May 9), aims at streamlining and expediting the town planning process, enhancing the transparency of the planning system and strengthening enforcement control against unauthorized developments in the rural areas.

"We will speed up the process for making statutory plans by standardizing the exhibition period of new and amendment plans to one month for the public to submit representations, and by shortening the period for considering representations from the current nine months to six months," a spokesman for the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau said.

"To ensure sufficient time for the public to respond to the proposals in the plan, we will allow another four weeks upon expiry of the plan exhibition period for the representers to submit further information in support of their representations."

As for streamlining the planning approval process, the Amendment Bill includes proposals to exempt certain minor amendments to planning permission from further application, and to further delegate the Town Planning Board's powers and functions to its committees and public officer.

With a view to enhancing the transparency of the planning system, an applicant for amendment of plan or for planning permission will be required to obtain consent of or notify the land owner of the application site, and the Town Planning Board will also be required to publish all applications for amendment of plan and for planning permission for public comments by posting site notices or publishing notices in newspapers.

The Amendment Bill also includes provisions to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of planning enforcement control against unauthorized developments in the rural New Territories.

The Government introduced a Town Planning Bill (the Bill) into the LegCo in 2000 proposing an overhaul of the statutory planning system. Due to the diversity and complexity of the issues involved, the Bills Committee was not able to complete consideration of the Bill before the last term of LegCo ended in July 2000.

"We decide to adopt a phased approach to bring forth those less controversial proposals with clear and immediate benefits to the community and thus greater public acceptance. The Amendment Bill includes the first stage amendments to the Town Planning Ordinance," the spokesman said.

End/Friday, May 9, 2003

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