Planning and Development laws fall into a number of categories and sub-categories, the main divisions being as follows:
- Compulsory purchase of land.
- Issue of building permits.
- Criminal and administrative sanctions such as demolition orders, cease and desist orders, and restraining orders.
- Environmental protection, preservation of open spaces, halting of activities causing pollution in urban areas, issue of licences to erect cellular aerials etc.
Local authorities and Local Planning and Development Committees sometimes have to expropriate land for the benefit of the public as part of their duties, such as for road and railway construction, erecting public buildings, laying out parks, water and sewage treatment installations and the like.
The authority to impose compulsory purchase is regulated by various laws, depending on the purpose of the expropriation. Compulsory purchase sometimes takes place subject to payment of compensation to landowners, sometimes a compulsory purchase order will be reversed owing to significant deficiencies in the expropriation process, and it can happen that privately owned land is returned to its owners as a result of the original reason for expropriating the land no longer applying.
There are cases where a landowner becomes entitled to compensation for damage to his property resulting from the approval of an Outline Plan. In such cases, the circle of those eligible for compensation is wider, including the owners of land adjoining the property damaged by the Outline Plan.
Another important area of planning and development is that of building permits. A land owner wishing to build on his property must obtain a permit for this purpose. The reason is obvious, as uncontrolled building will harm other people's interests as well as those of the general public.
The law requires a permit for building or demolishing a structure as well as adding an extension (but not for making internal changes). The definition of "structure" is neither straightforward nor clear, and rulings have defined several different types of building as requiring a permit.
Under the Planning and Development Laws a person working on or using land without a permit when such is required is guilty of a crime punishable by a jail sentence, a fine and other sanctions such as demolition, doubling of fees or values assessments etc.
The law empowers the Local Planning and Development Committees to charge various fees and impose various levies. Examples are Betterment Levy to pay for development and land purchase for public use, parking levy to finance the construction of public car parks, and building permit fees.
In recent years environmental protection has become a hot item, especially the issue of cellular aerial installation in populated areas. Among other things, the approval of the Ministry of the Environment Radiation Supervisor is required for erecting a cellular aerial. Moreover, under a court ruling a cellular aerial may only be set up in full coordination with the local authority.
Our firm acts for property owners with the various authorities to obtain compensation for land appropriations or building permits. We also represent defendants in court cases brought under the Development and Planning Law.