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Town And Country Planning - Supplementary (Ss 36-42)

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36.     Powers of entry

 

            (1) Any person duly authorized in writing by the Minister may, at any reasonable time, enter upon any land for the purpose of surveying it, or estimating its value, in connection with-

     (a)     the preparation, approval, making or amendment of a development plan relating to the land under Part III, including the carrying out of any survey under that Part;

     (b)     any application under Part IV, or under any order or regulations, made thereunder, for any permission, consent or determination to be given or effected in relation to that or any other land under Part IV or under any such order or regulations;

     (c)     any proposal by the Minister to serve or make any notice or order under Part IV or under any such order or regulation as aforesaid;

     (d)     any claim for compensation payable by the Minister under this Act.

            (2) A person authorized under this section to enter upon any land shall, if so required, produce evidence of his authority before so entering, and shall not demand admission as of right to any land which is occupied unless 24 hours' notice of the intended entry has been given to the occupier.

            (3) Any person who wilfully obstructs a person acting in the exercise of his powers under this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P500.

            (4) If any person who, in compliance with the provisions of this section, is admitted into a factory, workshop or workplace discloses to any person any information obtained by him therein as to any manufacturing process or trade secret, he shall, unless the disclosure is made in the course of performing his duty in connection with the survey or estimate for which he was authorized to enter the premises, be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or to both.

            (5) Where any land is damaged in the exercise of a power of entry conferred under this section, or in the making of any survey for the purpose for which any such power of entry has been so conferred, compensation in respect of that damage may be recovered from the Minister by any person interested in the land.

            (6) Any power conferred by this section to survey land shall be construed as including power to search and bore for the purpose of ascertaining the nature of the subsoil or the presence of minerals therein.

 

37.     Powers to require information

 

            The Minister may, for the purpose of enabling him to make any order or serve any notice or other document which he is by this Act authorized or required to make or serve, require the occupier of any premises and any person who, either directly or indirectly, receives rent in respect of any premises, to state in writing the nature of his interest therein and the name and address of any other person known to him as having an interest therein; and any person who, having been required in pursuance of this section to give any information, fails to give that information or knowingly makes any misstatement in respect thereof, shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding P1000.

 

38.     Regulations

 

            The Minister may make regulations-

     (a)     for prescribing the form of any notice, order or other document authorized or required by this Act to be served, made or issued;

     (b)     for any purpose for which regulations are authorized or required to be made under this Act and in particular for prescribing anything which by this Act is required or authorized to be prescribed by regulations.

 

39.     Planning permission issued under previous laws

 

            (1) Subject to this section, where under any written law or other instrument having the force of law permission was granted for the carrying out of any works for the erection or alteration of any building and such permission is still operative on the appointed day, any such permission shall, by virtue of this section, be deemed to be a planning permission granted on an application made in that behalf under Part IV.

            (2) The permission deemed to be granted by virtue of this section shall be deemed to be so granted subject to any conditions, including a condition limiting the period of validity of the permission, imposed by the permission granted under the law or other instrument having the force of law as aforesaid:

            Provided that, where a condition limiting the period of validity of the permission is imposed as aforesaid, such permission shall remain valid for a further period of two years, so however that in no case shall such a period of validity extend beyond three years after the appointed day.

 

40.     Temporary provisions pending operation of development plan

 

            Where, in accordance with the provisions of this Act, the Board is required to have regard to the provisions of a development plan in relation to the exercise of any of its functions, then, in relation to the exercise of those functions during any period before such a plan has become operative, the Board-

     (a)     shall have regard to any directions which may be or have been given to it by the Minister as to the provisions to be included in such a plan; and

     (b)     subject to any such directions, shall have regard to the provisions which in its opinion will be required to be so included for securing the proper planning of Botswana.

 

41.     Application to land regulated by other enactments

 

            For the avoidance of doubt it is hereby declared that the provisions of this Act, and any restrictions or powers thereby imposed or conferred in relation to land, apply and may be exercised in relation to any land notwithstanding that provision is made by any law in force at the date of the passing of this Act, for authorizing or regulating the development of the land.

 

42.     Act to bind Government

 

            This Act shall bind the Government.

 

FIRST SCHEDULE
CONSTITUTION AND PROCEDURE OF THE TOWN AND COUNTRY PLANNING BOARD

 

(Section 5)

     1. (1) The Town and Country Planning Board shall consist of nine members appointed by the Minister of whom-

     (a)      one shall be a representatitve of the Ministry responsible for town and country planning;

     (b)      five shall be representatives of such Ministries as the Minister considers to have an interest in town and country planning so however that the Ministries responsible for public works, land, tourism, industry, health and agriculture shall be represented on the Board; and

     (c)      three shall be appointed by the Minister after consultation with such persons, bodies or organizations as appear to him appropriate as having special knowledge of, or interest in, matters relating to town and country planning.

     (2) The person appointed as representative of the Ministry responsible for town and country planning shall be the Chairman of the Board.

     2. There shall also be appointed by the Minister a person (who shall not be a member of the Board) to act as Secretary of the Board.

     3. A member of the Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Schedule, hold office for a period not exceeding two years but such member shall be eligible for reappointment.

     4. Any member of the Board appointed under paragraph (1)(c) of this Schedule may at any time resign his office by instrument in writing, addressed to the Minister and transmitted through the Chairman, and, from the date of the receipt by the Minister of such instrument, such member shall cease to be a member of the Board.

     5. The Minister may at any time revoke the appointment of any member of the Board for a just cause.

     6. The names of all members of the Board as from the time constituted and every change in the membership thereof shall be published in the Gazette.

     7. (1) The Board shall meet at such times as may be necessary or expedient for the transaction of business. Such meetings shall be held at such places and times and on such days as the Board may determine.

     (2) The Chairman shall preside at meetings of the Board and if the Chairman is absent from a meeting the other members present at the meeting shall elect one of their members to preside thereat.

     (3) A quorum of the Board shall be five members.

     (4) The decisions of the Board shall be by a majority of votes of members present and voting, and, in addition to an original vote, the Chairman shall have a second or casting vote in any case in which the voting is equal.

     (5) Minutes in proper form of each meeting shall be kept by the Secretary of the Board and shall be confirmed as soon as practicable thereafter at a subsequent meeting.

     (6) The acts of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chairman or the Secretary of the Board.

     (7) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, the Board shall have power to regulate their own proceedings.

     (8) A member of the Board who is directly or indirectly interested in any matter coming before the Board for consideration shall, at the earliest opportunity, disclose the nature of his interest at a meeting of the Board and such disclosure shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting at which it is made; and, where such interest relates to an application for permission to develop land, such member shall, after the disclosure, withdraw from any meeting while the matter is being discussed or decided by the Board.

     (9) The expenses of the Board shall be defrayed out of sums provided for the purpose in the annual estimates of revenue and expenditure for Botswana approved by Parliament

 

SECOND SCHEDULE
MATTERS FOR WHICH PROVISION MAY BE MADE IN DEVELOPMENT PLANS

 

(Section 6)

 

PART I
Use of Land for Community Purposes

 

     1. Providing for the control of land development by zoning or designating for specific uses, such as residential, agriculture, wildlife, forestry, industry, mineral or water resources, communication and other forms of community uses.

     2. Regulating the layout of housing areas, including density, spacing, grouping and orientation of houses, flats and other forms of housing accommodation in relation to roads, open spaces and other buildings.

     3. Determining the provision and location of-

     (a)      community facilities (including shops, schools and other educational establishments, churches, meeting halls, libraries, play centres and recreation grounds, government offices, hospitals, clinics, health centres and other similar establishments);

     (b)      facilities associated with all forms of communications;

     (c)      facilities associated with infrastructure utilities such as power, water sanitation and refuse, having regard to the existing and future number, location, and distribution of houses, flats and other forms of housing accommodation.

 

PART II
Building and Building Plots

 

     1. Regulating and controlling, either generally or in particular areas, all or any of the following matters-

     (a)      the size and height of buildings;

     (b)      building lines, coverage and the space about buildings;

     (c)      the allocation on any building plot of appropriate accommodation for car parking;

     (d)      the objects which may be affixed to buildings;

     (e)      the purposes for and the manner in which buildings may be used or occupied including, in the case of dwelling-houses, the letting thereof in separate tenements;

     (f)       the prohibition of building or other operations on any land, or regulating such operations.

     2. Regulating and controlling the design, colour and materials of buildings and fences.

     3. Allocating any particular land, or all land in any particular area, for buildings of a specified class or classes, or prohibiting or restricting, either permanently or temporarily, the making of any building or any particular class or classes of buildings on any specified land.

     4. Limiting the number of buildings or the number of buildings of a specified class which may be constructed, erected or made on, in or under, any area.

 

PART III
Public Services

 

     Facilitating the establishment, extension or improvement of works in relation to power, lighting, water supply, sewerage, drainage, sewage disposal, refuse disposal or other public services.

 

PART IV
Amenities

 

     1. Allocation of land as an open space whether public or private.

     2. Allocation of land for a burial ground.

     3. Allocation of land-

     (a)      for communal parks;

     (b)      for game and bird sanctuaries;

     (c)      for the protection of marine life.

     4. Preservation of buildings, caves, sites and objects of artistic, architectural, archaeological or historical interest and in particular the buildings listed under section 29.

     5. Preservation or protection of woods, trees, shrubs, plants and flowers.

     6. Prohibiting, restricting or controlling, either generally or in particular places, the exhibition, whether on land or in water, or in the air, of all or any particular forms of advertisement or other public notices.

     7. Preventing, remedying or removing injury to amenities arising from the ruinous or neglected condition of any building or fence, or by the objectionable or neglected condition of any land attached to a building or fence or abutting on a road or situate in a residential area.

     8. Prohibiting, regulating and controlling the deposit of waste materials and refuse, the disposal of sewage and the pollution of watercourses, ponds and gullies.

 

PART V
Transport and Communications

 

     1. Facilitating the establishment, extension or improvement of systems of transport, whether by land, water or air.

     2. Allocating sites for use in relation to transport, and the reservation of land for that purpose.

     3. Facilitating the establishment, extension or improvement of telegraphic, telephonic, wireless or radar communication, the allocation of sites for use in relation to such communication, and the reservation of land for that purpose.

 

PART VI
Roads and Car Parking

 

     1. Reservation of land for roads and establishment of public rights of way.

     2. Closing or diversion of existing roads and public and private rights of way.

     3. Construction of new roads and alteration of existing roads.

     4. The line, width, level, construction, access to and egress from, and the general dimensions and character of roads, whether new or existing.

     5. Providing for and generally regulating the construction or execution of works incidental to the making or improvement of any road, including the erection of bridges, culverts, gullies, fencing, barriers, shelters, the provision of artificial lighting, and seats, and the planting or protecting of grass, trees and shrubs on or adjoining such road.

     6. The provision of facilities for car parking.

 

PART VII
Miscellaneous

 

     1. Providing for and regulating the making of agreements for the purpose of a development plan by the Minister with owners and other persons, and by such persons with one another.

     2. Providing for the subdivision of land and in particular, but without restricting the generality of the foregoing-

     (a)      for regulating the type and density of development to be carried out and the size and form of plots;

     (b)      for requiring the allocation of land for any of the public services referred to in Part III of this Schedule or for any other purposes referred to in this Schedule for which land may be allocated;

     (c)      for prescribing the character and type of public services or other works which shall be undertaken and completed by any applicant for permission to subdivide land as a condition of the grant of such permission; and

     (d)      for co-ordinating the subdivision of contiguous properties in order to give effect to any scheme of development appertaining to such properties.

     3. Providing for-

     (a)      the adjustment and alteration of the boundaries and area of any village or town;

     (b)      the establishment of new towns; and

     (c)      the effecting of such exchanges of land or cancellation of existing subdivision plans as may be necessary or convenient for the purposes aforesaid.