Ghana had a tradition of national social and economic development planning that operated in tandem with national and regional spatial and local-level land use planning policies.
However, in the last decade, a disconnection has opened up between the socio-economic and the spatial and land use policy and planning domains.
Some of the laws that regulate land use management and planning are very old and have provisions which have outlived their usefulness.
In effect, there is a general lack of proactive legislative mechanism in land use planning which leads to situations where human settlements and development control become an afterthought on uncontrolled human settlement and development.
The need for planning today is greater looking at the rapid rate of development.
Towns and villages are developing and redeveloping countrywide.
This development is now the subject of discussion and steps are being taken to correct the situation.
Workshops are being organised in Tamale, Kumasi and Accra to provide interested stakeholders the opportunity to help formulate the policy framework for the proposed new law that will establish a new system of Spatial and Land Use Planning and Management (SLUPM) in Ghana.
According to the Land Use Planning and Management Project (LUPMP), a component of the Land Administration Project (LAP), the three zonal workshops are to give stakeholders throughout the country the chance to review and comment on a series of papers, which will provide the framework for the proposed SLUPM law, which forms part of the proposed changes to legislation in the land sector being prepared under the LAP.
The expected outcome of the workshops is consensus on the guiding principles for the new law which will be able to meet the administrative, institutional and legal challenges facing spatial land use planning and to contribute meaningfully to the social and economic development objectives.
Mr. Alistair Blunt, Project Manager of LUPMP explained that it is a three year project with the objective of re-establishing land use planning and management system in Ghana by enhancing the institutional, legal and technological capacity of the Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD).
He said LUPMP is engaging in a number of pilot projects in some communities. He added that training programmes will be designed and implemented to build sufficient capacity at the TCPD head office, regional and district offices and that the training will encompass local facilitators of land use planning from pilot areas.
According to the LUPMP, a good land use plan takes care of all community interest and a legacy for generations yet unborn. It says good laws on land use mean better value for land.
“A well planned community prevents disasters such as flooding and allows for better management of disasters. It promotes good environmental health and attracts investments, business and creates jobs”.
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