Latest news with #LocalPlan2040
The Star
15-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
DBKL plan for expedited approvals sparks concern
The plan by City Hall to expedite issuance of development orders has drawn brickbats from community leaders. — Filepic KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has come under fire over its move to expedite the approval process for building plans and applications for development orders. StarMetro had on June 13 reported that DBKL was working to improve its One-Stop Centre (OSC) to speed up workflow. Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Maimunah Mohd Sharif had said that DBKL aimed to approve building plans in 21 days and development orders in 42. 'This process will involve closer coordination with 28 external agencies and eight internal departments,' she was quoted as saying. Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Save Kuala Lumpur chairman Datuk M. Ali said the move gave the public the impression that DBKL favoured developers. 'City Hall appears to be making the OSC process more efficient for developers, but what about Kuala Lumpur residents? 'To ensure transparency, DBKL should also make the OSC portal accessible to the public,' said Ali, adding that this would allow the public to find out about potential developments happening around them. Adrihazim: Faster approvals risk further strain on infrastructure. Friends of Bukit Dinding chairman Adrihazim Abdul Rashid said expediting approvals for development projects risked putting further strain on the environment and infrastructure in the capital. 'While it might be good for developers, it may have the opposite impact on those affected by the projects. 'Do we really need faster project approvals when infrastructure in Kuala Lumpur can barely keep up with development?' asked Adrihazim. Yee: Site visits crucial to ensure City Hall gets full picture of a project's impact. Maimunah had also said that DBKL was working on enhancing platforms for digital applications, but community activist Yee Poh Ping has raised some concerns. 'Site visits to assess the full impact of a project on surrounding areas must be done before approvals are issued. 'This is to avoid over-reliance on technical reports that are submitted online, which may not reflect the situation in and around the project site,' he said. On the recently gazetted Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040, the mayor had said 139 locations in Kuala Lumpur were earmarked for urban renewal projects.
The Star
25-05-2025
- Politics
- The Star
‘Landowners asked for commercial zoning'
Rosli: Landowners' opinions sought according to procedure. KUALA Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) says landowners of the 120-year-old Vivekananda Ashram in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur, asked for its site to be zoned as 'main commercial'. Its City Planning Department senior deputy director Rosli Nordin said the ashram landowners and other landowners in the vicinity requested for the change in zoning status for the 0.4ha site. The site was recently zoned as 'main commercial' under Kuala Lumpur Local Plan 2040 while the ashram building is classified as 'Category 1 Heritage Building' under National Heritage Act 2005. 'We obtained their opinions through procedures under Rule 7 in Planning (Development) Rules 1970,' Rosli said at a conference held in Kuala Lumpur. He was responding to session moderator Charles Tan, a member of the Save Kuala Lumpur Coalition. Tan said the area was not classified as 'main commercial' in the 2020 local plan, so the recent zoning was actually a change. The conference themed 'Moving Towards a Sustainable City' was organised by Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association and attracted about 100 attendees. It featured three panel sessions that discussed the issues of transparency and public participation in development control processes, hill land management, and urban renewal. Another heated exchange occurred during a session discussing urban renewal. Concerns were raised about the proposed Urban Renewal Act (URA), which an attendee alleged does not include homeowners and residents, and would grant too much power to the minister in charge. He also questioned the need to lower the consent threshold from 80% to 75%. In answer, Town and Country Planning Department (PLANMalaysia) head of technical drafting unit Lilian Tai said URA would not grant excessive power to the minister. 'If you read through the law, the minister is not the only member of the executive committee responsible for urban renewal,' she said. She added that the government was opening up an avenue for residents to be involved in the development of URA. The attendee urged Tai and the relevant authorities to visit the 139 sites earmarked for redevelopment, to obtain residents' feedback. Tai replied that the 139 sites were only 'potential' sites for redevelopment. 'Even if the sites were already gazetted for redevelopment, the developer still needs to go through a consultation process led by the government. 'The project won't take off if it is not viable,' she explained.
