Page 12 - TPB Report 2018-20_EN

1 Establishment and Functions

Planning Committees

Establishment and Functions

With the expansion of statutory planning jurisdiction/coverage to the non-urban areas and to cope

with the increase in the Board’s workload, two Planning Committees, the Metro Planning Committee
(MPC) and the Rural and New Town Planning Committee (RNTPC), were set up in July 1991.

The Board has, under section 2(5)(a) of the Ordinance, delegated the following powers and functions
to the two Committees:

• to prepare draft OZPs and DPA Plans under section 3 and section 4(1);

• to consider and approve Master Layout Plans (MLPs) and their subsequent amendments in respect
of Comprehensive Development Areas under section 4A;

• to publish draft plans and amendments to approved plans upon reference back by the CE in C
under section 5;

• to make and publish amendments to draft plans under sections 7(1) to 7(3);

• to consider and decide on applications for amendment of plan under section 12A;

• to consider and decide on applications for planning permission under section 16;

• to consider and decide on applications for amendments to planning permission under section 16A;

and

• to designate DPAs under section 20(1) of the Ordinance.

Membership

All Members of the Committees are appointed by the CE from Members of the Board in accordance
with section 2(3) of the Ordinance. The CE also appoints a Chairperson and Vice-chairperson for
each Committee. In 2020, there were 18 members (four official and 14 non-official) and 17 members
(four official and 13 non-official) on the MPC and RNTPC respectively, other than the Chairperson and
Vice-chairperson. The two Committees were served by a Secretary who was a public officer.

Meetings

The two Committees meet regularly to discharge their functions, usually on the other Fridays of each

month when there is no meeting of the Board. The meeting of the MPC is held in the morning while
that of the RNTPC is held in the afternoon. A total of 23, 23 and 21 MPC meetings and 23, 23 and
22 RNTPC meetings were held in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively.

10 TOWN PLANNING BOARD REPORT 2018-2020