A message from WESSA
Dear all
Opportunity to make comment on Land Use Planning Bill
The Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning (DEAD&P) have advertised the new Land Use Planning Bill for public comment until Thursday 5 April. Incorporated are changes to the Provincial Spatial Development framework (PSDF).
As the implications of such new legislation are significant you may want to send in a comment to the Department. With this in mind WESSA will have a focused discussion session this coming Monday 2 of April from 3 – 5 pm at the WESSA Barn – 31 The Sanctuary, Kirstenhof, Cape Town.
We apologise for the lateness of this invitation but the closest Departmental public meeting took place just a few days ago in Stellenbosch.
In brief, the Department says:
• The existing structure plan is outdated
• Planning legislation needs to be more closely aligned with the constitution
• New trends and policies need to be taken into account
• The old plan was too prescriptive
• There have been difficulties aligning municipal SDFs with the PSDF
• The new LUPA (Land Use Planning Act) would be very different from the old (1985) LUPO (Land Use Planning Ordinance) which would be superceded
• The idea is to have a one-stop-shop for “streamlined” development applications
• Credible forward planning is a major driver
• The roles of province and municipality need to be clarified
• There has to be a planning system that works for municipalities of different capacity
• The act will have defined principles and objectives
• There will be an independent Land Use Planning Board that will try to arbitrate conflicts
More detail and implications will be provided at the discussion session along with possible response templates.
If you can’t make it to the meeting but would like notes, a copy of the bill, or other information please contact us.
Best wishes,
Patrick Dowling
Regional Head: Education, Training & Public Capacity Building
