ROLE OF PLANNIG LAW IN

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
-Planning control is primarily concerned with the type
and location of new development and changes of use.

-pollution control to limit the adverse effects that

operations may have on the environment.

-There is common ground as they work hand in hand.

 homes, transport, industrial activities and the
production of food. The aesthetic qualities (
appreciation of beauty ) of landscapes are also of
benefit to mankind.

 Planning decisions and environmental protection are

intricately linked

 Environmental problems can be aggravated by bad

planning decisions
 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF PLANNING LAW

 Second World War, the UK was left with ruined towns

and cities which needed to be redeveloped.

 required land for development.

 Town and Country Planning Act of 1932, which vested

planning powers over land in the Country as opposed
to towns

 Local authorities were required to prepare a scheme

indicating what development would be permitted in
each part of its town or district.
 Zambian Town and Country Planning Act was
modelled on the 1947 Act.

 Planning Permission needed only where there is

development.

 the use of land for the purposes of agriculture and

forest exempt from planning permission i.e. it is
statutorily declared not development.
URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING ACT NO 3
OF 2015

 Preamble;- ensure sustainable urban and regional

development by promoting environmental planning

 S3(2)(l):-Regional Planning to be governed by:

 Natural surroundings and landscapes, including water
bodies and forests, shall be protected
enhanced…enhance environmental sustainability of all
areas
DIFFERENCES
 environmental licensing is often a personal matter,
 focus of planning decisions is solely on the land
being developed
 Planning permission once granted, attaches to the
land, not the person to whom it is granted.
 One uses EMA other Urban and Regional Planning
 Planning under Local Authority, Environmental under
Zema
 Planning is non renewable while Licence under EMA
is renewable
 Local Authority may be supervised by ZEMA
SIMILARITIES
 Both are regulated by Acts
 Both have regulatory Authorities
 Both have inspectors
 Both deal with aspects of the environment
 Both incorporate Public participation
 Both are aimed at enhancing Sustainable
development as they are major pillars
 Both use sanctions for purposes of enforcement
 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PLANNING AND THE VARIOUS
POLLUTION CONTROL REGIMES
 the 1990 White Paper This Common Inheritance, the first
comprehensive government statement of environmental
strategy:
 “Planning control is primarily concerned with the type and
location of new development and changes of use. Once broad
land uses have been sanctioned by the planning process, it is the
job of pollution control to limit the adverse effects that
operations may have on the environment. But in practice there
is common ground. In considering whether to grant planning
permission for a particular development, a local authority must
consider all the effects, including potential pollution; permission
should not be granted if that might expose people to danger. And
a change in an industrial process may require planning permission
as well as approval under the environmental protection
legislation.”
 This makes it clear that pollution concerns have a place in
planning decisions