Development Planning Act (Cap. 552), article 2

2. In this Act unless the contents otherwise requires: "action plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 49; "advertisement" means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, board, notice, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of and employed wholly or in part for the purpose s of advertisement, announcement or direction, including any boardin g or similar structure used or adapted for use for the display of advertisements; "agency of Government" means a body corporate established by law and a company in which the Government or such body corporate, or a combination thereof, has a controlling interest or which is a subsidiary of such a company; "agriculture" means a human activity consisting in the growing of crops and rearing of animals for purpose of production of food or other products and includes horticulture, fruit-growing, seed product ion, forage growing, milk production, rearing and keeping of livesto ck (including any creature kept for the production of food, wool, leather, fur or for use in the cultivation of land or as breeding stock) as well the use of land for grazing or as a meadow and "agricultural" shall be construed accordingly; "alteration" or "alterations" in relation to development includ es (a) plastering or painting or the removal of plaster or stucco, o r (b) the replacement of a door, window or roof, that materially alte rs the external appearance of a structure so as to render the appearan ce inconsistent with the character of the structure or neighbourin g structures; "appeal" means an appeal to the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal or to the Court of Appeal, as the case may be; "application" means any form of application made to the * see article 1(2) of the Act, as originally enacted, and Legal Notice 106 of 2016 . DEVELOPMENT PLANNING [CAP. 552. 3 authority in terms of this Act; "Authority" means the Planning Authority established under article 5 and includes any body or other person acting on its b ehalf under powers delegated by the Authority under this Act, and the Minister may, by order in the Gazette, designate different bodies or persons as a competent authority for different provisions and different purposes of this Act or any regulations made thereunder; "building" includes any structure or erection and any part of a building, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building; "building levy" means the Development Permission Fee under article 81(1) together with the Infrastructure Service Contribu tion under article 81(2); "building operations" includes rebuilding operations, structura l alterations to or additions to buildings, and other operations normally undertaken in the course of construction works; "commencement notice" means a notice submitted by the perit on behalf of the applicant to the Authority at least five (5) days prior to the date of commencement of works or of the utilization of a pe rmit, to notify the Authority of the date of commencement of works or of the utilization of a permit; "compliance certificate" means a certificate issued in terms of article 102; "conservation" in relation to natural heritage, means a series of measures required to maintain or restore the natural habitats a nd the population of species of wild fauna and flora at a favourab le status; "conservation" in relation to cultural heritage, means any acti vity required to maximize the endurance or minimize the deterioratio n of any cultural property as far as possible and includes examin ing, treating, recording, preserving, maintaining, rehabilitating an d restoring any such property or any part thereof; "the Commission" means the Planning Commission established under article 65; "days" means calendar days; "derivatives" means parts of any specimen, whether processed by man or not; "development brief" has the meaning assigned to it by article 5 1; "development" means any interventions that fall under the provisions described in article 70; "development order" means an order made under article 55; "development permission" means a permission to carry out or retain development granted by the Planning Board or the Plannin g Commission either in consequence of an application or of a development order; "development planning" means a planning system which shall have as its main objective sustainable development; 4 [CAP. 552. DEVELOPMENT PLANNING "engineering operations" includes any physical changes to the land surface and sea bed, to the site topography, or the format ion or laying out of roads and of means of access to roads; "environment" means the whole of the elements and conditions, natural or man-made, existing on earth, whether together or in isolation, and in particular: (a) the air, water and land; (b) all the layers of the atmosphere; (c) all organic and inorganic matter and all living organisms; (d) all ecosystems; and (e) the landscape; S.L. 549.46. "Environmental Impact Assessment" means an assessment in terms of the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations or other regulations applicable from time to time; Cap. 492. "environmental NGOs" means non-governmental organizations promoting environmental protection and which are registered und er the Voluntary Or ganisations Act; "erection" in relation to buildings, includes extension, altera tion and re-erection; "fauna" means all types of animals and other biota including akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in part and their derivatives; "flora" means all types of plants and other biota including akaryotes, prokaryotes and eukaryotes, dead or alive, in whole or in part and their derivatives; "functions" includes responsibilities, powers and duties; "Gazette" means the Government Gazette; "illegal use" is limited, in relation to land, to use not covered by a development permission issued by an authority related to development; "illegal works" means any works on, in, over or under land, carried out after 1967 and not covered by a development permission issued by an authority related to development; S.L. 549.77 "IPPC permit" means a permit in terms of the Industrial Emissions (Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control) Regulations ; "land" includes a building and also land which has been formed following land reclamation and also the sea and the seabed; "land reclamation" means the gain of land from the sea, or wetlands, or other water bodies and restoration of productivity or use to lands that have been degraded by human activities or impaired by natural phenomena; "land use planning" shall include regulation both on land and land to be reclaimed from sea; Cap. 363 "local council" means a local council established under the Local DEVELOPMENT PLANNING [CAP. 552. 5 Government Act; "local plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 48; "maintenance operations" shall not include demolition and rebuilding works, irrespective of where such demolition and rebuilding works are carried out; "major projects" is a project as defined by regulations under t his Act; "minerals" includes all minerals and substances (including oil and natural gas) in or under land of a kind ordinarily worked f or removal by underground or surface working; "the Minister" means the Minister or Parliamentary Secretary under whose portfolio the Authority is included; "owner" means - (a) a person who in his own right or as a duly authorised agent for another, is entitled to receive the rent of the land or, where the land is not let, would be so entitled if it were let, but does not include a person who holds the land under title of an agricultural lease; (b) where the land is subject to usufruct, the bare owner or the usufructuary; (c) an emphyteuta; (d) any one of the co-owners of the land on which development takes place; (e) any one of the spouses, where the land to which the development relates forms part of the community of acquests; (f) the director or directors of the company duly authorised to appear and represent the company which owns the land to which the development relates; "permission" means a development permission; "person" includes a body or other association of persons whethe r granted legal personality or not and shall include environmenta l NGOs; "plan" means a plan approved in accordance with the provisions of this Act; "policy" means a policy approved in accordance with the provisions of this Act; "position statement" means a statement issued by either the Minister or the Executive Council in order to provide a detaile d technical explanation justifying a position with respect to a s pecific planning issue; "prescribed" means prescribed by regulation, rule, order or oth er instrument made as provided in the provisions of this Act empowering the making of any such instrument; "projects of common interest" means a project necessary to implement the energy infrastructure priority corridors and area s set 6 [CAP. 552. DEVELOPMENT PLANNING out in Annex I to Regulation EC No. 347/2013 and which is part of the Union list of projects of common interest referred to in ar ticle 3 of Regulation EC No. 347/2013 or other regulations applicable from time to time; "public officer" has the meaning assigned to it by article 124 of the Constitution ; "registered interested person or party" means any person who makes representations as provided for in article 71(6); "regulation" means a regulation made under article 84; "road" means any road, whether public or private, and includes any street, square, court, alley, lane, bridge, footway, passag e or quay, whether thoroughfare or not; "scheduled buildings" has the meaning assigned to it by article 57; "Standing Committee" means the Standing Committee on the Environment, Climate Change and Development Planning established in terms of article 60; "Spatial Strategy" means the Spatial Strategy for Environment and Development as defined in article 44; "subject plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 47; "subsidiary plans" includes subject plans, local plans, action plans or management plans and development briefs; Cap. 551. "Tribunal" means the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal established under the Environment and Planning Review Tribunal Act; "use", in relation to land, does not include the use of the lan d by the carrying out of any buildings, engineering, mining or other operations thereon; "waste" means anything, substance or object which the holder discards or intends to discard, or is required to keep in order to discard, and includes such other thing, substance or object as the Minis ter may prescribe. PART II Duty to promote a Comprehensive, Sustainable, Land Use Planning System Duty to promote a comprehensive sustainable land use planning system.