Planning Department

Objectives

  1. To establish mechanisms to foster greater community participation to achieve consensus in the development process.
  2. To develop and implement appropriate policies, guidelines and systems for sustainable development planning & control to ensure the effective, efficient and responsive delivery of service.
  3. To develop the capacity and capability of the Planning Department to effectively manage the planning affairs of the Council & the parish.
  4. To ensure an open & impartial development approval process in which valued & respected professionals deliver high quality services efficiently & effectively in order to safeguard the public’s interest.
  5. To increase the public’s awareness of the role and value of an efficient & effectiveness development approval process.
  6. To create & implement a detailed plan for Portland, complimented with laws, which would result in sustainable growth and development for the parish.

The Planning Department offers the service of processing development applications for:

  1. Subdivision approval
  2. Building approval
  3. Advertisement approval (temporary and permanent signs)
  4. Modification of Restrictive Covenants
  5. Request for repairs and installation of streetlights
  6. The Planning Unit also provides:
  7. General information on development within Portland.

Subdivisions

  • Local Improvement Act
  • Town and Country Planning Act
  • Surveyor’s Act
  • NRCA Act
  • Town and Communities Act
  • Development Order, St. Catherine Coast
  • National Physical Plan (NEPA)

Buildings

  • Building Act,  Portland Coast Development Order under the Town and Country
  • Planning Act
  • NRCA Act 

Constraints being faced by these laws

  • These Laws are outdated and are not practical for use in today’s Planning Regime.
  • They are however, currently being reviewed, but the reform process under which they are being reviewed is taking a quite a long time to be carried out.
  • Fines and penalties stipulated by these laws are deemed mediocre hence making the enforcement process somewhat redundant.
  • Some of the Laws are too rigid and need to be more flexible in order to facilitate sustainable development.