info@businessghana.com
The Local Government Service Association of Physical Planners (LoGSAPP) says the continued conversion of parks, wetlands, school lands, road reservations and other public spaces into private developments is undermining orderly spatial planning, environmental sustainability and public confidence in Ghana's planning system.
It said Parliament alone had the authority to approve the rezoning of public spaces under the Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016 (Act 925).
It added that any attempt by metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs), traditional authorities or any other institution to rezone such lands without parliamentary approval would be unlawful.
In a statement signed by its National President, Gifty Nyarko, who is also the Head of the Physical Planning Department of the Nkoranza South Municipal Assembly, the association called on the public to strictly comply with Act 925.
It explained that although district spatial planning committees might consider applications for changes in land use generally, Section 93(4) of Act 925 expressly required parliamentary approval where the application concerned the rezoning or change of use of a public space.
The statement stressed that neither physical planners, spatial planning authorities, MMDAs, chiefs, family heads, landowners nor developers could lawfully approve or effect such changes without Parliament's approval.
It said the requirement applied irrespective of whether the land was stool, skin, family, private, vested or public land "once it has been designated as a public space or community right of space in an approved structure plan or local plan".
It explained that protected public spaces included parks, community open spaces, playgrounds, school and hospital grounds, market grounds, lorry parks, public squares, roads, transport corridors, utility corridors, wetlands, floodplains, green belts, cemeteries and other lands reserved for public or community use.
The statement added that any purported rezoning or change of use of such lands undertaken without parliamentary approval where required under the law might be declared invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction.
It said many public spaces established under approved planning schemes were held in trust for the public by district assemblies, and could not be allocated, sold, leased or converted for private purposes.
On issues of encroachment on public lands, it said the problem was not the absence of legislation, but weak enforcement, political interference, poor appreciation of the law, illegal land transactions, poor record management and the failure of some institutions to enforce approved structure plans and local plans.
The statement urged MMDAs to strengthen development control by subjecting every application involving public land to rigorous legal scrutiny before any decision was taken.
It appealed to traditional authorities to ensure that all land allocations conformed to approved spatial plans, while advising developers and prospective land buyers to verify the planning status of land with the physical planning department before purchasing, leasing or developing any property.
The statement also encouraged citizens to report encroachment on public lands to the appropriate authorities.
It said protecting public spaces was not only a planning requirement but also a constitutional and national development obligation critical to climate resilience, disaster risk reduction, biodiversity conservation, public health and the welfare of present and future generations.
