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No. S 174

Planning Act

(Act 3 of 1998)

Planning (Development Charges) Rules 1998

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 40 of the Planning Act 1998, the Minister for National Development hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement

1. These Rules may be cited as the Planning (Development Charges) Rules 1998 and shall come into operation on 1st April 1998.

Definitions

2.—(1) In these Rules, unless the context otherwise requires —

“appropriate geographical sector”, in relation to any land, means the geographical sector set out in the plans in the Second Schedule within which the land falls;

“equivalent plot ratio”, in relation to any area, means the numerical value obtained by multiplying the maximum density specified in the Master Plan in relation to that area by a factor of 0.0056;

“floor area” means —

(a)	the gross area of all covered floor space (whether within or outside a building and whether or not enclosed) measured between party walls including the thickness of external walls where there are such walls; and
(b)	the gross area of floor space in an open area used as a beer garden, drive-in, eating area or for other similar commercial purposes,

but excludes any covered area as specified by the Minister;

“land” includes buildings and any estate or interest in or right over land;

“land area” means the area of a development site as calculated by the competent authority from any plan submitted under section 13 of the Act or section 10 (4) of the repealed Act;

“rate” means the rate specified in Part II of the First Schedule;

“Use Group” means a Use Group in Part I of the First Schedule;

“1958 Master Plan” means the Master Plan that was originally submitted to and approved by the Governor in Council on 5th August 1958 under the provisions of Part IV of the Singapore Improvement Ordinance (Cap. 259, 1955 Ed.);

“1982 Master Plan” means the 1958 Master Plan as amended under section 6(1) of the repealed Act prior to 24th April 1982.

Computation of Development Baseline

3.—(1) For the purposes of determining the Development Baseline for any land, the following formulae shall, subject to these Rules, be applied:

(a)

the value of the development described in section 36(1)(a) of the Act shall be determined in accordance with the formula (C1 x D1)

where C1

is the floor area of the development of the land which may be permitted to be used for a purpose for which the land is zoned in the 1958 Master Plan; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls;

(b)

the value of the development described in section 36(1)(b) of the Act shall be determined in accordance with the formula (C2 x D2)

where C2

is the floor area of the development of the land which may be permitted to be used for a purpose for which the land is zoned in the 1982 Master Plan; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls;

(c)

the value of the development described in section 36(1)(c) of the Act shall be determined in accordance with the formula (C3 x D3)

where C3

is the floor area of the development of the land which is permitted to be used for a purpose in respect of which —

(i)	development charge, where payable, has been paid;
(ii)	no development charge is payable by reason of any exemption under the Act or the repealed Act; and
(iii)	development charge is not payable under the written law then in force when written permission was granted for that development; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls;

(2) For the purposes of determining the Development Baseline for any land referred to in section 36(5) of the Act, the value of the development described in that subsection shall be determined in accordance with the formula (E x F):

where E

is the floor area permitted for any purpose for the last development of the land before the material date as defined in section 36(5) and (8) of the Act; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls.

Computation of Development Ceiling

4.—(1) For the purposes of determining the Development Ceiling of any land that is intended to be developed for any purpose, the following formulae shall, subject to paragraph (2), be applied:

(a)

the value of the development described in section 36(7)(a) of the Act shall be determined in accordance with the formula (A1 x B1)

where A1

is the floor area of the development for any purpose which was previously authorised under the Act or repealed Act and is to be retained in the intended development; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls; and

(b)

the value of the development described in section 36(7)(b) of the Act shall be determined in accordance with the formula (A2 x B2):

where A2

is the floor area of the development for any purpose to be authorised by a written permission; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the Use Group within which that purpose falls.

(2) Where any land or part thereof is intended to be developed for any purpose not falling within any Use Group, B2 in the formula in paragraph (1)(b) shall be such rate as determined by the competent authority determines to be just and reasonable.

Special provision for Local Shopping Area

5. Where any land that is intended to be developed is zoned in the 1958 Master Plan or, where applicable, the 1982 Master Plan, for a Local Shopping purpose, the following formulae shall be applied for the purposes of determining the Development Baseline for that land:

(a)

the formula (0.4C1 x G + 0.6C1 x H) shall apply in lieu of the formula in rule 3(1)(a):

Where C1

is as described in rule 3(1)(a);

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and Use Group A; and

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and Use Group B;

(b)

the formula (0.4C2 x G + 0.6C2 x H) shall apply in lieu of the formula in rule 3(1)(b):

Where C2

is as described in rule 3(1)(b);

G and H

are as described in paragraph (a).

is the rate corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and Use Group B;

Special provision for residential and rural centre and settlement zone

6. Where any land that is intended to be developed was zoned in the 1958 Master Plan or, where applicable, the 1982 Master Plan for a residential purpose, or for the purpose of a rural centre and settlement, the formulae in rule 3(1)(a) and (b) shall apply as if all references in those formulae to floor area were substituted with references to the area obtained by multiplying the equivalent plot ratio of the land with the land area of the land.

Special provision for residential development

7. Where any land is used or permitted under the Act or the repealed Act to be used for a residential purpose only and the written permission granted for the use of that land for that purpose is expressed in terms of approved density of “persons per hectare” or “persons per acre” only, the formula in rule 3(1)(c) shall apply as if all references to floor area in that formula were substituted with references to the area obtained by multiplying firstly the approved density with a factor of 0.0056, and then multiplying that product with the area of the land as specified in the plans which formed the subject of the written permission.

Special provision for Use Groups F, G and H

8. Where any land is intended to be developed for a purpose falling within Use Group F, G or H or the land is zoned in the 1958 Master Plan or, where applicable, the 1982 Master Plan, for a purpose falling within any of the those Use Groups, the formulae in rules 3 and 4 shall apply as if all references in that formulae to floor area were substituted with references to the land area of the land.

Multiple purposes

9. Where any land or any building thereon is intended to be developed for 2 or more purposes falling within more than one Use Group, the development charge for written permission to develop the land for such purposes shall be determined in accordance with the Act and the formulae in rules 3 and 4 subject to the following modifications:

(a)	where the land or any building thereon may be divided into parts each of which is intended to be used exclusively or predominantly for any one of those purposes, the Act and these Rules shall apply to each part as if each part was a separate development, and the development charge for written permission to develop the whole land shall be the aggregate of the development charge attributable to each of those parts;
(b)	where it is impracticable to divide any floor of the building on any land in the manner described in paragraph (a), then, in determining the Development Ceiling properly attributable to such a floor, B2 in the formula specified in rule 4(1)(b) shall be the highest of the rates corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of that land and the various Use Groups within which the purposes of that floor fall;
(c)	where any floor of any building on the land is intended to be used as service areas serving the various purposes for which the land is to be developed, then, in determining the Development Ceiling properly attributable to such a floor, B2 in the formula specified in rule 4(1)(b) shall be the average of the rates corresponding to both the appropriate geographical sector of the land and the various Use Groups within which such purposes fall.

Computation of development charge according to appreciation in land value

10. For the purposes of section 39(3) of the Act, a development charge in respect of any written permission to develop any land shall be an amount equal to 50% of any appreciation in the value of the land arising from the grant of the written permission to develop the land.

Application for determination of development charge under section 39 of the Act

11. Any request by an applicant under section 39(2) of the Act in relation to any development charge in respect of any land shall be made in such form as the competent authority may approve.

Valuation of appreciation in land value

12.—(1) Where any person makes a request under section 39(2) of the Act in relation to any development charge in respect of any land, the competent authority shall, unless it considers that written permission to develop the land will not be granted, forward the request together with all the necessary information relating thereto to the Chief Valuer.

(2) The Chief Valuer shall, as soon as practicable, forward to the competent authority a valuation report on the appreciation in the value of the land arising from the grant of written permission to develop the land.

(3) Upon receipt of the valuation report, the competent authority shall by order determine the development charge payable in accordance with rule 10.

Requirements of competent authority for determination of development charge

13. For the purposes of determining the development charge payable under section 35(2) or 39 of the Act, the competent authority may require an applicant to submit —

(a)	a detailed calculation, based on such method and requirements as the competent authority may specify, of the floor area which is C3 in the formula specified in rule 3(1)(c); and
(b)	such plans, documents and other information together with such evidence in support of the information as the competent authority may specify.

Payment of development charge under an interim order

14.—(1) A person liable for the payment of development charge under an interim order shall pay the development charge specified in the order —

(a)	within 30 days of the service on him of the interim order of the competent authority, or such extension as the competent authority may allow; or
(b)	where the person has made an appeal against the interim order under section 39(7) of the Act, within 30 days of the decision of the Minister on the appeal, or such extension as the competent authority may allow,

whichever is applicable.

(2) If the person liable for the payment of a development charge fails to pay the development charge specified in the interim order within the relevant time limited by paragraph (1), the competent authority shall refuse the application by the person for written permission.

Appeals

15.—(1) Any appeal against any interim or final order of the competent authority under section 39(7) of the Act shall be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $10,000.

(2) The Minister may dismiss or allow the appeal in whole or in part.

(3) Where the Minister allows an appeal against an interim order after a person has, pursuant to section 39(8) of the Act, paid the estimated development charge under the interim order, any excess amount of development charge so paid shall be refunded to that person without interest.

Refunds

16. The Minister may refund wholly or in part any development charge paid under these Rules if the Minister is satisfied that it is just and reasonable to do.

Amendment of First Schedule

17.—(1) Where an amendment to these Rules inserts, deletes or deletes and substitutes any entry in any Part of the First Schedule or any map in the Second Schedule, these Rules as amended shall not apply to any case where the competent authority or the Minister, as the case may be, has before the coming into operation of the amendment granted provisional permission to develop any land and the provisional permission is valid immediately prior to the coming into operation of the amendment, and these Rules shall continue to apply to such a case as if that amendment had not been made.

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), in any case where the provisional permission granted to develop any land remains valid because its period has been extended by the competent authority or the Minister, as the case may be, more than once and the second or any subsequent extension comes into effect on or after the commencement of any amendments to these Rules, these Rules as in force for the time being, shall apply to that case.

(3) Where any Part of the First Schedule is re-enacted and any entry in the new Part was, immediately before the re-enactment of that Part, not specified in that Part, the re-enactment of that Part shall, for the purposes of paragraph (1), be deemed to be an amendment to these Rules that inserts that entry in that Part of the First Schedule.

Revocation

18. The Planning (Development Charges) Rules (R 5) are revoked.

Saving and transitional

19. In any case where the competent authority or the Minister, as the case may be, has before 1st April 1998 granted provisional permission to develop any land and the provisional permission is valid immediately prior to that date but no order has been made or issued determining the development charge payable, these Rules shall apply to such a case as if the provisional permission had been granted under the Act after that date.

Made this 26th day of March 1998.

LAM CHUAN LEONG

Permanent Secretary,
Ministry of National Development,
Singapore.

[ND 202/1-8 Vol.19; AG/LEG/SL/232/97/2 Vol.1]

(To be presented to Parliament under section 40(2) of the Planning Act 1998).