With regards to a residential building, be it a new
construction or an extension, a Development Permit
(DP) is required prior to a Building Permit (BP).
With the new procedures in force, while both are obtainable
from the District Council of North at Mapou, the
request for a Development Permit should precede that
for a Building Permit.
A Development Permit may or may not be issued
depending on certain issues and various factors are
taken into consideration before approval.
Please find below the items considered for approval :
(a) site is located within limits of Permitted Development;
(b) site is located outside limits of Permitted
Development but applicant submits an Affidavit to prove
that it is a hardship case, as per policy 5.3(f) of the
Outline Scheme;
(c) site is in a minor settlement for which no limits have
been defined and it is an infill site, as per policy 5.2 of the
Outline Scheme;
(d) plans satisfy all the requirements of the Outline
Scheme in respect of:
(i) building line of 6m from roadside boundary (A or B
road);
(ii) building line of 4.5m from any other road or a building
line of 3m from lightly trafficked road;
(iii) building line of 0.9m from side and rear boundaries
(other than coastal zone);
(iv) building line of 2m from side and rear boundaries in
Portion 1 of the Coastal Zone;
(v) building line of 1.5m from side and rear boundaries if
building is on ground + 1 floors, within Portion 2 of the
Coastal Zone;
(vi) building line of 2m from side and rear boundaries if
building is on ground + 2 floors, within Protion 2 of the
Coastal Zone;
(vii) plot coverage of 20% within Portion 1 of the Coastal
Zone and 27.5% if plot is less than 800sm;
(viii) plot coverage of 40% for sites located within Portion
2 of the Coastal Zone;
(ix) number of rooms per hectare within Portion 1 to be
100 per hectare;
(x) number of rooms within Portion 2 should not exceed
1 room per 100sm of site area and for small sites (up to
800sm), density to be 1 room/60sm of site area;
(xi) height of buildings to be ground + 1 floor in Portion 1
(maximum height 10m);
(xii) height of building to be ground + 2 floors in Portion
2 (maximum height 13m);
(xiii) septic tank to be at 2m from boundary and 1m from
building;
(xiv) buildings are at 15m from High Water Mark and
could be 30m in specific cases to be determined by the
competent Authorities (Ministry of Environment/ Ministry
of Fisheries).
It may also happen in certain cases that a permit is not
approved, in such cases as :
(a) all the above norms are not respected;
(b) site is located outside limits of permitted development
and does not satisfy any policy of the Outline
Scheme;
(c) existing building does not have required set backs
from roadside or side boundaries and neighbours have
objected against the extension;
(d) building would encroach on river reserves;
(e) there is no vehicular access to the site and Fire
Services have objected;
(f) consent of neighbour is not submitted for construction
on common side boundary and does not agree to
provide a building line of 1.8m on his site;
(g) Authorities consulted, Fire Services or Ministry of
Health objects to the issue of permit.
