Review
of the Penang Structure Plan 2020
Position
Paper
by
the
Tanjong
Bunga Residents’ Association (TBRA)
on
the Inclusion of
Tanjong
Bunga in the Primary Development Corridor
Executive
Summary
I THE INCLUSION
OF TANJONG BUNGA IN
THE PRIMARY DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR
IN THE PENANG STRUCTURE PLAN (2020)
1. The
Tanjong Bunga Residents’ Association (TBRA) and many other
residents of Tanjong Bunga are of the opinion that, on planning
grounds, the inclusion of Tanjong Bunga in the Primary Development
Corridor in the current Penang Structure Plan 2020, is flawed.
Tanjong
Bunga was clearly placed in the Secondary Development Corridor when
the draft Penang Structure Plan was exhibited for public comment in
2006. TBRA and the residents who went for the public hearing raised
no objections and accepted that draft. When the Penang Structure Plan
was gazetted in 2007, a diagram showed that Tanjong Bunga had been
incorrectly placed in the Primary Development Corridor while the text
of the Structure Plan still stated that Tanjong Bunga is in the
Secondary Corridor. This means that, at some point, the diagram in
the Structure Plan was changed without any consultation with the
public.
2. This
placing of Tanjong Bunga in the Primary Development Corridor is wrong
on three counts:
Internal
contradiction between text and diagram
There
is an obvious internal contradiction in the Penang Structure Plan as
the text and diagram say different things. In the diagram, Tanjong
Bunga has actually disappeared; Tanjong Bunga became part of Tanjong
Tokong under the Primary Development Corridor but the text, on the
other hand, says that Tanjong Bunga is in the Secondary Development
Corridor. The Town and Country Planning Act states when the text and
diagram are in contradiction, the text takes precedence over a
diagram, since the Structure Plan is a document of policy and
guidelines while the diagram’s function is merely to illustrate the
text.
Lack
of due process for changes to the Draft Structure PlanThe
proper process for changing the Structure Plan was not followed, as
required by the Town and Country Planning Act. Due process under the
Act requires any major change has to be exhibited again. The change
would be invalid if this were not done.
Tanjong
Bunga is marked as Tanjong Tokong in the amended diagram
The
location of Tanjong Bunga in the changed diagram in the Structure
Plan does not follow the gazetted boundary of Tanjong Bunga in the
Survey Plan where it starts from Tanjong Bunga Park and extends to
Mar Vista Resort. Similarly, the location of Tanjong Tokong also does
not follow the gazetted boundary in the Survey Plan. The amended
diagram erroneously placed and marked Tanjong Tokong in the location
of Tanjong Bunga.
3. TBRA
brought up the issue of the change in Corridors to the State
government authorities and was told that if it did not agree, it
should go to court to ask for an interpretation. TBRA proceeded
forthwith to file a case in court for a declaration. It was a
straightforward case of trying to set right what
appeared to be an "administrative'' error or oversight. However,
the case was dismissed because
the court accepted the defendant’s (State) allegation that the case
was filed too late.
As
a result, the court has not adjudicated the substantive issues of the
case and the merits of the case were not considered and remain
unresolved.
