Anguilla
BILL
FOr
THE PHYSICAL PLANNING ACT, 2001
Published by Authority
ANGUILLA
Physical Planning ACT, 2001
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Section
1. Interpretation
2. Objects and purposes of the Act
3. Responsibilities of the Minister
4. Physical Planning Board
5. Powers and duties of the Director
6. Delegation
7. Limitation of personal liability
8. Proposal for a development plan
9. Preparation of a development plan
10. Consideration of draft development plan
11. Approval of development plan
12. Rejection of development plan
13. Deposit of approved plan
14. Modification or revocation of a plan
15. Legal status of development plans
Control Of Development Of Land
16. Permission required to develop land
17. Applications for development permits
18. Requirement for further information
19. Notification to landowner
20. Publicity for applications
21. Environmental impact assessment
22. Consultation on applications
23. Material considerations
24. Determination of applications
25. Applications inconsistent with development plan
26. Conditional development permits
27. Development agreements
28. Performance bonds
29. Lapse of development permit
30. Supplementary provisions as to development permits
31. Minor variation of development permit
32. Modification or revocation of development permit
33. Enforcement notice
34. Material considerations with respect to enforcement notices
35. Notice to apply for development permit
36. Suspension of effect of enforcement notice
37. Stop notice
38. Injunctions
39. Action by Board for non-compliance with enforcement notice
40. Appeal against enforcement notice
41. Continuing operation of enforcement notice
42. Notice requiring discontinuance of use or alteration or removal of building or works
43. Plant preservation orders
44. Amenity orders
45. Appeal against amenity orders
46. Control of advertisements
47. Supplementary provisions as to advertisements
48. Environmental protection area
49. Environmental protection area order
50. Provisions with respect to land in environmental protection areas
51. Environmental protection area management plan
52. Ministerial order to protect the environment
53. Application of building control
54. Building regulations
55. Building permits
56. Power to require removal or alteration of work
57. Appeal against notices under section 56
58. Commencement and completion notices
59. Lapse of building permit
60. Claim for compensation
61. Position where land is subject to mortgage
62. Registration of claim for compensation
63. Acquisition of land in lieu of compensation
64. Purchase notice with respect to adverse decisions
65. Establishment of Appeals Tribunal
66. Right of appeal
67. Appeals by written representation
68. Procedure at public inquiries
69. Decision and notification of appeal
70. Appeals to a court
Miscellaneous AND Supplementary
71. Powers of entry
72. Service of notices
73. Power to require information
74. Register of planning and associated decisions
75. Death of person having claim or right
76. Offences
77. Regulations
78. Effect on the Crown
79. Repeals
80. Citation and date of operation
SCHEDULE 1: Constitution and Procedures of the Physical Planning Board
SCHEDULE 2: Matters for Which Provision May be Made in Development Plans
SCHEDULE 3: Matters for Which Environmental Impact Assessment May be Required
SCHEDULE 4: Constitution and Procedures of the Appeals Tribunal
I Assent
Peter Johnstone
Governor
_______
ANGUILLA
No. of 2001
A BILL FOR
Physical Planning ACT, 2001
An Act to make provision for the orderly and progressive development of land and to preserve and improve the amenities thereof; for the grant of permission to develop land and for other powers of control over the use of land; for the regulation of the construction of buildings and related matters; to confer additional powers in respect of the acquisition and development of land for planning; and for purposes connected therewith or incidental thereto.
[Gazetted ] [Commencement: Section 80]
ENACTED by the Legislature of Anguilla
Interpretation
1. (1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
“advertisement” means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, board, flag, poster, notice, awning, blind, balloon, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of, and employed wholly or partly for the purposes of advertisement, announcement or direction, or calling attention to any person, matter, object or event, and without prejudice to the foregoing provision, includes any hoarding, billboard, wall, fence, or similar structure used, adapted, designed or intended for use, for display of advertisements and reference to the display of advertisements shall be construed accordingly;
“agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming, the breeding and keeping of livestock (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, skins or fur or for the purpose of its use in the farming of land), and the use of land as grazing land, market gardens and nursery grounds, but does not include the use of land for aquaculture;
“amenity order” means an order made under section 44;
“Appeals Tribunal” means the Appeals Tribunal established by section 65;
“aquaculture” includes the breeding, rearing or keeping of fish, shellfish, or any other aquatic and marine flora and fauna, which involves the placing or assembly of any pen, cage, tank, pond or any other structure in, on or over any land for the purposes of aquaculture or mariculture;
“beach” means the area of the coastal zone from the seaward line of the foreshore running inland to the line of permanent vegetation or other natural barrier, whichever is closer;
“beach material” includes sand, shells, coral fragments, stones, gravel, boulders or other unconsolidated material comprising a beach;
“Board” means the Physical Planning Board established under section 4;
“builder” means a person engaged as a contractor or otherwise in the erection, construction, alteration, improvement, maintenance, repair or demolition of buildings or works incidental to any of the foregoing;
“building” includes any permanent or temporary erection or structure in, on, over or under any land, whether affixed to the land or not, and any part of a building so defined (but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building);
“building operations” includes demolition of buildings or parts thereof, rebuilding operations, structural alterations of or additions to buildings, and other operations normally undertaken by a person carrying on business as a builder;
“building or works” includes waste materials, refuse and other matters deposited on land, and references to the construction of building or works shall be construed accordingly;
“building permit” means a notice issued under the provisions of Part 7 granting permission for the commencement of building operations;
“building regulations” means regulations made under section 54, and a reference to building regulations, in a particular case in relation to which a requirement of building regulations is for the time being dispensed with, waived, relaxed or modified, is a reference to building regulations as they apply in that case unless the context otherwise requires;
“clearing”, in relation to land, means the demolition of buildings or parts thereof, the removal of materials from land, the levelling or grading of the surface of the land, the removal of vegetation or top soil and the carrying out of such other operations in relation thereto as may be prescribed;
“Crown land” includes the waste or vacant land of the Crown within Anguilla and all lands vested in the Crown, whether by forfeiture, escheat, purchase or exchange, and not dedicated to the public;
“development permit” means a notice granting permission for development issued under the provisions of Part 4;
“development plan” means any development plan prepared under Part 3 and includes any modification or amendment thereof, and “plan” shall mean a development plan where the context so admits;
“Director” means the Director of Physical Planning;
“discontinuance notice” means a notice issued under section 42;
“dwelling house” means any building used or constructed or adapted to be used as a dwelling unit, and contains only that dwelling unit;
“dwelling unit” means a building, or any self-contained part of a building, used or constructed or adapted to be used for human habitation by a single individual or household;
“enforcement notice” means a notice issued under section 33;
“enforcement notice” means a notice issued under section 33;
“engineering operations” include the laying out, building and maintenance of roads, drains, runways and bridges, the preparation of land for carrying out of any development, the clearing of land, the dredging of watercourses or channels, the filling in of any cavity or excavation and the reclamation of land;
“environment” means all or any of—
(a) the media of land, water, and air, including all layers of the atmosphere;
(b) organic and inorganic matter and living organisms; and
(c) the interacting systems that include components referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b);
within the territorial jurisdiction and control of Anguilla;
“environmental impact assessment” means the process of collection, analysis, evaluation and review of information on the likely effects of a proposed development on the environment and the means to overcome adverse effects;
“environmental impact statement” means the document or series of documents which contain the information on the likely effects of the proposed development on the environment and the means to overcome adverse effects required by section 21;
“environmental protection area” means any area declared to be an environmental protection area under section 49;
“foreshore” means land which lies between the mean low water mark and the mean high water mark of the tides;
“industrial development” means the development of land for the manufacture or partial manufacture of goods, articles or substances of any kind, or the assembly of manufactured goods or the turning into manufactured goods of articles which are partially manufactured or of substances in their natural state, or the repairing, finishing, cleaning, washing, packing or canning, adapting for sale or breaking up of any article;
“land” includes incorporeal as well as corporeal hereditaments of every tenure and description and any interest therein, land covered with water, the foreshore and the sea bed;
“Land Acquisition Act” means Land Acquisition Ordinance (Chapter 273);
“lawful use” does not include use of any land which was commenced in contravention of the provisions of this Act or of town and country planning, land development control, or building legislation hitherto in force in Anguilla;
“layout plan” means a detailed plan showing the manner in which a parcel of land is to be subdivided and used;
“means of access” includes any road or other means of access for vehicles or for pedestrians, whether private or public;
“mineral” means any substance in liquid, solid or gaseous form occurring naturally on, in or under land and formed by or subject to a geological process, but does not include water;
“mining operation” means—
(a) to carry out, in relation to any mineral or beach material, any activity with a view to excavating, working, extracting, carrying away, treating or converting that mineral;
(b) to search or explore for any mineral with a view to carrying out any activity mentioned in paragraph (a) of this definition and to carry out any work necessary for such search or exploration;
(c) the deposit of waste or refuse materials in consequence of or incidental to any activity mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b) of this definition;
“Minister” means the Minister for the time being in charge of the subject of land, physical planning and development;
“mortgage” includes any charge or lien on any property for securing money or money’s worth;
“occupancy permit” means a certificate that building or engineering operations or the subdivision of lands have been carried out and completed in accordance with the terms and conditions of any development permit or building permit;
“owner”, in relation to land, means a proprietor under the Registered Land Ordinance, 1974 by reason of his being the owner of land or of a lessee under that Ordinance;
“parcel of land” means an area of land separately delineated under the Registered Land Ordinance, 1974;
“permitted development” means development which is authorized under section 77(2)(d);
“plant” includes any terrestrial or marine flora;
“plant preservation order” means a plant preservation order made under section 43;
“prescribed”, except in relation to matters expressly required or authorized by this Act to be prescribed in some other way, means prescribed by regulation made under this Act;
“purchase notice” means a purchase notice with respect to adverse decisions namely—
(a) refusal of a development permit in circumstances where no development permission is available with respect to that land;
(b) a revocation or modification notice;
(c) a discontinuance notice;
(d) an environmental area order;
“regulations” means regulations made under any provision of this Act;
“resources” means any social, cultural, historical, technological, biological, physical or chemical elements and processes, renewable or non-renewable, tangible or intangible, of economic or aesthetic importance which compose the surroundings of mankind;
“road” means any roadway, whether public or private, and includes any highway, street, square, court, alley, lane, bridge, culvert, footpath, trace, passage or right of way, whether a thoroughfare or not;
“sea bed” means the floor and subsoil underlying the sea between low water mark and so far out to sea as is deemed by international law to be within the territorial sovereignty of the Crown in right of Anguilla;
“subdivision” means the division of a parcel of land into 2 or more parcels, whether such division is by transfer, lease, vesting order or any other instrument, for the purpose of sale, gift, succession, partition, reparcelation, mortgage, letting, the registration of title by adverse possession or for any other purpose;
“unauthorized development” means any development (other than permitted development) for which a development permit has not been granted, or development which is not in accordance with the conditions or limitations subject to which a development permit was granted;
“use”, in relation to land, does not include the use of land by the carrying out of any building, mining or engineering operations thereon;
“waste material” includes garbage, refuse, spoil, mineral tailings, sludge, effluent and anything of whatever kind which has the appearance of being material abandoned, discarded or intended to be abandoned or discarded by the owner or former owner thereof, or the only value of which appears to be as scrap or for the utilization of parts thereof or the extraction of the residue of the substance of which it formerly formed part.
(2) In Part 4 of this Act, the expression “development of land” means in, relation to land—
(a) the carrying out of building, engineering, mining, or other operations in, on, over or under any land;
(b) the making of any material change in the use of any building or land; or
(c) the subdivision of land.
(3) For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that—
(a) the use as 2 or more separate dwelling units of any building previously used as one dwelling house involves a material change in the use of that building and of each part thereof so used;
(b) the deposit of any waste material on land involves a material change in the use of the land, notwithstanding that the deposit is on a site which has been previously so used, if either the superficial area thereof or the height of the deposit is thereby extended or exceeds the level of any similar deposit on adjacent land; and
(c) subdivision constitutes development whether or not the use for which the sub-divided land is intended constitutes development.
Objects and purposes of the Act
2. (1) The objects and purposes of this Act are to—
(a) facilitate a continuous improvement in the quality of life of every person in Anguilla;
(b) provide for the orderly, efficient and equitable allocation and development of the resources of Anguilla, taking account of all relevant social, economic and environmental factors, so as to ensure that sustainable use is made of land in the interests of all the people of Anguilla;
(c) maintain and improve the quality of the physical environment within which human settlements are situated in Anguilla;
(d) provide for the orderly subdivision of land and the provision of services in relation thereto;
(e) secure the health, safety, welfare and convenience of persons in or about buildings, and of others who may be affected by buildings or matters connected with buildings;
(f) protect and conserve the cultural heritage of Anguilla as it finds expression in the natural and the built environment; and
(g) foster awareness that all persons and organizations owning, occupying and developing land have a duty to use that land with due regard for the wider interests, both present and future, of society.
(2)In implementing, applying and interpreting this Act, all persons shall have regard to, use their best efforts to further, and give a broad and purposive interpretation to the matters set out in subsection (1).
Administration
Responsibilities of the Minister
3. (1) The Minister shall be responsible for the overall administration of this Act and, in the exercise of the powers conferred upon him, may do all things necessary or convenient for the purpose of carrying out his responsibilities.
(2) In addition to the several duties imposed on him by this Act, the Minister is responsible for the framing and implementation of a comprehensive policy with respect to the use and development of all lands in Anguilla in accordance with a development plan prepared under the provisions of Part 3.
(3) In exercising his functions, the Minister shall be guided by the principle that the provisions of this Act shall be applied uniformly, fairly and equitably to all persons.
4. (1) There is hereby established a Physical Planning Board to carry out such functions as are conferred upon it by this Act.
(2) The constitution and procedures of the Board shall be in accordance with Schedule 1.
(3) The Board shall have responsibility for matters assigned to it under this Act.
(4) The Board may, for the purpose of such performance, consult with or obtain advice from other authorities, persons or bodies of persons as it thinks fit.
(5) The Board may delegate any of its duties to the Director of Physical Planning.
(6) The Board shall be responsible for the implementation of the policies framed by the Minister under section 3 and the Board shall act in accordance with directions of a general character which may be given by the Minister as to the policy to be followed in the exercise of its functions.
Powers and duties of the Director
5. (1) The Director shall be responsible to the Minister for the administration and operation of the system of planning for which this Act provides.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the provisions of subsection (1), the Director shall—
(a) advise the Minister in the formulation and implementation of comprehensive policies as to the use and development of lands;
(b) institute, complete, maintain and keep under review a study of the matters pertinent to planning the use and development of land;
(c) prepare or cause to be prepared development plans in accordance with Part 3 of this Act; and
(d) do all such other things as may be necessary for carrying out the purposes and provisions of this Act as are authorized by this Act.
(3) The Director shall sign and issue all development permissions, refusals of development permission, compliance notices and other documents authorized by the Board to be issued under the provisions of this Act.
6. (1) Functions assigned to the Director by or under this Act may, subject to the approval of the Governor, be exercised by any planning officer authorized by the Director in writing, either generally or specially, in that behalf.
(2) Any person exercising a function assigned to a planning officer by or under this Act shall be deemed, for the purpose of the exercise of that function, to be the proper officer for the exercise of that function, if authorized for the purpose by the Director in writing, and shall be deemed to have the powers of a planning officer for the purpose of that function.
Limitation of personal liability
7. The Minister, members of the Board, the Director or other public officer shall not be personally liable in any court for or in respect of any act or matter done, or omitted to be done, in good faith, in the exercise or purported exercise of any function under or power conferred by this Act.
Development Plans
Proposal for a development plan
8. (1) The Director may, and if so required by the Minister, shall, submit to the Minister proposals for the preparation of a development plan.
(2) A proposal for the preparation of a development plan shall include—
(a) a reasoned statement of the need for the plan;
(b) the main headings of the proposed contents of the plan;
(c) a suggested timetable for the preparation of the plan;
(d) proposals for obtaining representations from persons likely to be affected by or likely to wish to submit representations and views on the proposed plan during the course of its preparation;
(e) proposals for the review of the plan by sectoral agencies and private sector representatives; and
(f) such other matters as are required by the Minister or are considered by the Director to be necessary for a decision to be made on the proposal.
(3) Where the Minister rejects a proposal submitted under this section, he may require the Director to submit a fresh or modified proposal for the same plan or a new proposal for a different plan.
Preparation of a development plan
9. (1) The Director may prepare or cause to be prepared and thereafter keep under review a development plan for Anguilla as a whole or for any specified part of Anguilla.
(2) A development plan shall set out with such degree of particularity as may be appropriate to the different parts of Anguilla and to the nature of the development plan—
(a) a statement of the principal aims and objectives with respect to the development and other use of land in the area;
(b) a report on the existing conditions of the area, including—
(i) the principal physical, social, economic and environmental characteristics of the area including the principal purposes for which land is used,
(ii) the size, composition and distribution of population of the area,
(iii) the communications, transport systems and traffic in the area,
(iv) the public services and the physical and social infrastructure provided in the area, and
(v) any other matters which may affect the development and other use of land in the area or which the Minister may direct;
(c) a statement of the policies, proposals and programmes for the future development and use of land in the area, including principles for regulating the use and development of land and measures for the maintenance and improvement of the environment;
(d) a reasoned justification of the policies and proposals for the future development and use of land in the area having regard to—
(i) the report of the existing conditions of the area under paragraph (b),
(ii) an examination of the likely environmental effects of the proposals,
(iii) any specific policies of the Government which may affect the pattern of development in the area,
(iv) the relationship between the proposals in the plan and other previously approved development plans which may affect the area, and
(v) the financial and other resources which are likely to be available for carrying out the proposals of the plan; and
(e) a schedule setting out the stages by which the proposals of the plan may be implemented.
(3) The development plan shall include such maps, plans, drawings, diagrams and other graphic representations as the Director considers necessary to illustrate and explain the plan.
(4) A development plan may—
(a) define the sites of proposed roads, public and other buildings and works, or the allocation of land for agricultural, residential, industrial or other purposes of any class, and the conditions under which such development should be carried out;
(b) designate any area as being an area that for reasons of flooding, erosion, subsidence, instability, aircraft safety or other hazards, conservation or other environmental considerations should not be developed;
(c) provide for the preservation of buildings, sites and other features for architectural, cultural, archaeological or historical reasons;
(d) provide for any of the matters set out in Schedule 2 as the Director considers appropriate to the nature and scope of the proposed plan; and
(e) designate as a comprehensive planning area any area which, in the opinion of the Director, needs to be planned as a whole for one or more of the purposes of development, redevelopment, improvement or conservation.
(5) Where any land is designated in a development plan made under this Part as a comprehensive planning area, the land or part of the land may be purchased compulsorily by the Crown in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act as being land required for public purposes within the meaning of that Act.
(6) As soon as practicable after the designation of land as a comprehensive planning area, the Director shall prepare a detailed plan for the relevant area showing the manner in which it is to be developed.
(7) A development plan shall not designate any land as a comprehensive planning area if it appears to the Director that the acquisition is not likely to take place within 5 years from the date on which the plan is approved.
(8) Where any land is designated by a development plan as a comprehensive planning area then, if at the expiration of 5 years from the date on which the plan or the amendment of the plan by virtue of which the land was first so designated came into operation, any of that land has not been acquired by the Crown, any owner of an interest in the land may serve on the Minister a notice requiring the interest of the owner in the land to be acquired. If, after the expiration of 6 months after the service of that notice, the interest of the owner in the land has not been so acquired, the development plan shall have effect as if the land in which the interest subsists was not subject to compulsory purchase.
Consideration of draft development plan
10. (1) When the Director has prepared a draft development plan, he shall send a copy to the Minister and shall deposit a copy at the offices of the Physical Planning Department and at such other place or places as the Minister considers to be most effective for bringing it to the notice of persons residing, working or owning property in the area to which the draft development plan proposals relates, or who are likely to be affected by the proposals in the draft development plan.
(2) The Director shall give notice in the Gazette and in at least one newspaper circulating in Anguilla of the depositing of a draft development plan, and of the places where it may be examined, and shall give such other publicity to and written or oral explanation of the draft development plan as, in his opinion, is best calculated to inform all persons affected or likely to be affected by the proposals in the draft development plan, and of the right of all persons to make representations with regard to the proposals in the draft development plan.
(3) Any person may, within 8 weeks of the publication in the Gazette of the notice referred to in subsection (2), make either oral or written representations on the draft development plan to the Director.
(4) When the Director submits a draft development plan to the Minister, it shall be accompanied by a statement of the steps taken by the Director to comply with the provisions of this section and the particulars of the consultations held with other persons with respect to the proposals in the draft development plan.
(5) After the expiration of the period prescribed for making representations on a draft development plan, the Director shall consider the draft development plan and the representations and comments made, and shall forward the same together with his own recommendations and comments to the Minister.
11. (1) The Minister, after considering a draft development plan which has been submitted to him under section 10(5), and all comments, representations and recommendations thereon, may—
(a) adopt the draft plan with or without modifications and submit it for the approval of the Executive Council;
(b) require further work on, or revision of, the draft plan; or
(c) require further consultations on the draft plan in whole or in part.
(2) Where, before a draft development plan is adopted, the Minister determines that further modifications to, further work on, or revision of, or consultations on, the draft plan are required, he may require the Director to undertake such further modifications, further work, revision or consultation as may be necessary and to give such publicity to the matter as will enable persons likely to be affected or interested to make representations or comments on the draft plan.
(3) Unless the Minister otherwise directs, section 10 shall apply to any modifications, work or revision undertaken by the Director under this section and to the re-submission of the draft plan or any modification thereof.
(4) Where a draft development plan is submitted to the Executive Council under section paragraph (1)(a), a copy of it shall be deposited at the offices of the Physical Planning Department, at the Anguilla Public Library, and the substance of the plan shall be publicised in the area or areas to which it applies, in such manner the Minister may direct.
(5) Where a draft development plan is accepted by the Executive Council with or without modifications, the Minister shall submit the draft development plan for the approval of the House of Assembly; whereupon a copy of it shall be deposited at the office of the Physical Planning Department and at the Anguilla Public Library and the substance of the plan shall be publicised in the area or areas to which it applies, in such manner the Minister may direct.
(6) The House of Assembly may approve a development plan with or without modifications or may reject the plan.
12.