Development Planning Act (Cap. 552), article 73

73. (1) In any case in which the Planning Board may under this Act grant permission to dev elop land, it may grant permiss ion for the retention on land of any buildings or works constructed or carried out thereon, or for the continuance of any use of land, without permission under this Act or after such permission has ceased to be valid or operative, and references in this Act to permission to develop land or carry out any development on land, and to applications for such permission, shall be construed accordingly: Provided that any application or permission under this sub- article shall not be processed or granted unless the applicant or his predecessor in title has: (a) forthwith upon being required so to do, ceased to carry out any development he was required to interrupt; and (b) paid such fines or made such other payments as may be due on the site subject of the application. (2) A permission under this article may be granted so as to take effect from the date on which the buildings or works were constructed or carried out or the use was commenced, or from the date the development permission ceased to be valid or operative , as the case may be. (3) A development permission must specify the purposes for which a building may be used and if no purpose is specified, th e permission shall be construed as including permission to use th e building for the purpose for which it is designed. (4) Where a development permission is given for a limited period only, and a condition to this effect is included in the permit, nothing in this Act shall be construed as requiring permission to be obtained thereunder for the resumption, at the expiration of th at DEVELOPMENT PLANNING [CAP. 552. 53 period, of the use of the land for the purpose for which it was normally used before the permission was granted, but no account shall be taken of any use made in contravention of this Act. (5) The Planning Board may, prior to the issue of, or in issuing a development permission, demand from the person in whose favour the permission will be issued, as a condition for the issue of the development permission, to provide a bond in favour of the Authority in order to guarantee compliance with the conditions of the permission once issued, or in order to guarantee payment in respect of damages which may be caused to the environment or to the infrastructure. The Planning Board may, after the issue of a development permission, if the development or activity is not b eing carried out in accordance with the permission, or is otherwise causing damage to the environment or the infrastructure, demand the said person in whose favour the permission has been issued, as a condition for the continuance of the development permission, to provide a bond in favour of the Authority in order to guarantee compliance with the conditions of the permission, or in order to guarantee payment in respect of damages which may be caused to the environment or to the infrastructure: Provided that nothing in this sub-article shall be interpreted as authorising the Planning Boa rd to demand a bond in an amount not commensurate with the nature of the development project or activity: Provided further that such a bond may only be forfeited in favour of the Authority if there is clear evidence that the app licant has not complied with the conditions of the development permission and the reasons for forfeiting the bond shall be communicated in writing to the applicant. Decisions to be taken without delay.