With a view to improving user-friendliness and facilitating information retrieval, the Town Planning Board today (March 18) promulgated a revised set of application forms and Guidance Notes for applications submitted under section 12A and section 16 of the Town Planning Ordinance. The revised application forms and Guidance Notes will be made available for use from April 1.
The existing five sets of section 16 application forms are consolidated into three sets: (a) Form No. S16-I for general development proposals other than those covered by Forms No. S16-II and No. S16-III; (b) Form No. S16-II for proposals involving construction of "New Territories Exempted House"; and (c) Form No. S16-III for proposals involving temporary use/development of land and/or building not exceeding three years in rural areas and renewal of such temporary approvals.
The major revisions made to the section 12A and section 16 application forms include the use of checkboxes for selection of options, standardising date input, simplifying the input for "Owner's Consent/Notification", revising the declaration statement on uploading the application materials to the Board's website, and providing a new "Gist of Application" to facilitate publication of an application.
Opportunity is also taken to revise the Guidance Notes of Applications with more detailed explanations on the submission requirements. Corresponding amendments will be made to the Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 34B, and the electronic versions of the application forms and Guidance Notes.
The paper copies of the revised application forms will be launched for use on April 1, while the revised electronic versions will be launched later when they are ready. A grace period of six months from April 1 will be given, under which applications using the existing application forms will still be acceptable within the transitional period.
The revised application forms, Guidance Notes and Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 34C will be made available from April 1 at the Secretariat of the Board at 15/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong (tel: 2231 4810 or 2231 4835); the Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb); and at the Planning Enquiry Counters of the Planning Department in North Point and Sha Tin.
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