C. Objections and appeals

C. Objections and appeals

Development project

The commencement date of the development project is published in the Gazette, and information on the development project is made available for public inspection for a period of two months (the publication period).

Within the publication period, any person who considers that he will be affected by the development project may send to the URA a written statement of his objections to the project.

The URA then submits the project, the URA’s deliberation on the objection, the objections which have not been withdrawn, and an assessment to the Secretary for Development for consideration no later than three months after the expiration of the publication period.

The Secretary for Development then considers the development project and any objections which have not been withdrawn, and can decide to: (1) authorize the URA to proceed with the development project without any amendment; (2) make an amendment to the development project to meet an objection; or (3) decline to authorize the development project.

If the Secretary for Development authorizes the URA to proceed with a development project, he orders the URA to publish in the Gazette a notice of authorisation of the project, together with a summary of the description of the general nature and effects of the project, and a plan delineating the boundaries of the project.

If the Secretary for Development makes an amendment to a development project to meet an objection, he orders the URA to publish in the Gazette notice of the amendment to the development project. If the amendment appears to the Secretary for Development to affect any land other than that of the objector, the Secretary for Development serves notice in writing of the amendment on the owner of the other land, or gives notice by advertisement or other means he deems desirable and practicable to inform the owner of the other land of the amendment.

If the owner of the other land wishes to object to the amendment made by the Secretary for Development, he must send to the Secretary for Development a written statement of that objection within-

1. 14 days in the case of an owner of the land included in the original development project; or
2. two months in the case of an owner of the land affected by an amendment made by the Secretary for Development which was not included in the original development project.

If the Secretary for Development declines to authorise a development project, he orders the URA to publish in the Gazette a notice of withdrawal of the project, and he gives written notice of that decision to the owner of the land, or gives notice by advertisement or other means the URA deems desirable and practicable to inform the owner of the land of the decision.

An aggrieved objector to the decision of the Secretary for Development can appeal to an independent Appeal Board. The Appeal Board Panel may confirm, reverse or change the appealed decision of the Secretary for Development.

Development schemes

Objections will be considered under the Town Planning Ordinance (TPO). Objections can be made to the Town Planning Board (TPB) when the TPB publishes in the Gazette notice of the URA development scheme. The TPB will then consider the related objections.

For details, please refer to Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 29A.