Developers ignoring land policy, says Minister

PLANNING and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis yesterday revealed that a policy governing land use in Trinidad and Tobago has been largely ignored by developers.

Addressing a panel discussion on local hillside development at the Hotel Normandie, St Ann’s, the Minister said the records of her Ministry’s Town and Country Planning Division shows that over the years, hillside development has been challenged “particularly by developers, in so far as the limitations of the policy negatively impacted on their proposals for the use and development of the land.” She said the Town and Country Planning Act Ch 35:01 limited hillside development below the 100 metre contour line but in 1979, Cabinet sought to review those guidelines and created a committee to consider and advise on recommendations with respect to hillside development in the Northern Range. 

Robinson-Regis said the Northern Range Hillside Develop-ment Policy 1988 was the result of that committee’s deliberations and the policy “recommended proposals for the sustainable use and development of hillsides which included removal of the 100 metre elevation restriction while maintaining the one to six gradient restriction. The policy was approved by Cabinet in 1988 and was intended to become the basis for decision-making on a wide range of issues that involved the use and development of lands in the Northern Range. This policy however has been observed more in breach than in observance,” she disclosed.

Robinson-Regis declared that this situation will not be allowed to continue and “the seriousness of Government’s resolve to the wise use of the country’s natural resources, so as to promote economic development, the improvement of the quality of life of the population and the preservation of our heritage for future generations is clearly demonstrated by the various international agreements, conventions and protocols on environmental management to which we are signatory.” Observing that “the imperatives of development have assumed new dimensions” in an increasingly globalised world, the Minister said it has become necessary “to re-visit the elements of the existing policy and determine their relevance and appropriateness in today’s setting.