Cancellation of Planning Permission Bill

Bill No. 17/1974

Read the first time on 28th August 1974.

An Act to cancel planning permissions granted by the planning authority under section 9 of the Planning Act (Chapter 279 of the Revised Edition) and under section 61 of the Singapore Improvement Ordinance (Chapter 259 of the 1955 Edition) and for matters connected therewith, and to repeal sections 10 and 11 of the Planning Act (Chapter 279 of the Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: —

Short title and commencement

1. This Act may be cited as the Cancellation of Planning Permission Act, 1974 and shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 11th day of September 1973.

Interpretation

2. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —

“building” has the same meaning as in the Planning Act (Cap. 279);

“permission” means any permission granted under the provisions of section 61 of the Singapore Improvement Ordinance (Cap. 259, 1955 Ed) or section 9 of the Planning Act;

“statutory body” means any statutory body which is an agency or instrument of the Government.

Cancellation of planning permission granted under the Singapore Improvement Ordinance

3.—(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, any permission granted before the 1st day of February 1960 under the provisions of section 61 of the Singapore Improvement Ordinance which involves the erection of a building shall be cancelled with effect from the date of commencement of this Act if no construction work pertaining to the erection of the building has been commenced before that date.

(2) Any person who claims to have commenced any work pertaining to the erection of a building shall have the onus of proving that he has commenced such work.

Cancellation of planning permission granted under the Planning Act

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law, any permission —

(a)	granted on or after the 1st day of February 1960 and before the 12th day of March 1965 under the provisions of section 9 of the Planning Act to carry out any building operations shall be cancelled with effect from the date of commencement of this Act; and
(b)	granted on or after the 11th day of September 1971 and before the 11th day of September 1973 under the provisions of section 9 of the Planning Act to carry out any building operations shall be cancelled with effect from the date of commencement of this Act.

Exemptions

5. The provisions of sections 3 and 4 of this Act shall not apply to any permission which relates to —

(a)	the change of use of any existing building;
(b)	the making of alterations or additions to any existing building;
(c)	any temporary dwelling;
(d)	any housing development involving not more than four residential units;
(e)	land subdivision of completed developments; and
(f)	all developments on land leased from the Government or any statutory body under a lease which contains an absolute prohibition against assignment of the lease.

Restoration of planning permission

6.—(1) The Minister may in his discretion restore any permission cancelled by virtue of the provisions of this Act if he is satisfied that any work for the building operations has commenced before the date of commencement of this Act or undue hardship would be caused by the cancellation of the permission to the person to whom the permission is granted or other persons.

(2) Any permission may be restored upon such conditions as the Minister sees fit to impose.

Repeal

7. Sections 10 and 11 of the Planning Act (Cap. 279) are hereby repealed.

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