The Land Use Planning Act, 2007

This provision is a section heading for interpretation within Part II, the Policy Framework.

Section 4 is titled “Land use planning objectives” and appears in Part III on administration.

This section establishes the National Land Use Planning Commission.

This section is about the Commission’s powers to ensure compliance.

This section names the Director-General of the Commission.

This provision is titled “Liability of the Commission for damage.”

This section concerns the Commission’s funds and resources.

Section heading about the Minister’s powers to impose fees.

This section is titled “Accounts and Audit” and introduces Part V on the machinery of planning, including the establishment of land use planning authorities.

The Commission’s funds come from Parliament-provided sums and from money or assets it acquires while exercising its powers or performing its functions, and those funds must be used for the Commission’s established purposes.

The Minister may, by Gazette order and after consulting the finance Minister, impose fees payable to the Commission, and affected persons must pay them as directed.

The Director-General and the Commission must prepare, adopt, submit, and adjust annual and supplementary budgets, and the Minister must approve or disapprove them.

The Commission must keep proper accounting records and annual balance sheets, have audited accounts submitted for audit, and send the audited accounts to the Minister within the stated time limit.

This section is titled “National Land Use Planning Authority.”

This section is titled “The role of the Regional Secretariat.”

This section is titled “District land use planning authorities.”

This section is titled “Village land use planning authorities.”

This section is titled “General powers of land use planning authorities.”

This section concerns relations with local government authorities and the preparation and finalisation of plans.

This section is titled “Matters to be included in all land use plans.”

This section is titled “Preparation of the national framework plan.”

This section is about the preparation of zonal land use plans.

This section is titled Preparation of regional framework plans.

This section is about approval of national, zonal, regional, and district plans.

This section concerns approval of village and resource sector plans.

This section is about revoking or modifying plans.

Planning authorities include listed bodies, and a village council must brief the Ward Development Committee on land use planning.

The Commission is responsible for national land use planning functions and may create a technical committee.

The Regional Secretariat must coordinate land use planning and related regional coordination activities in its region.

A District Council is a land use planning authority, and that authority must consult stakeholders and carry out district land use planning functions.

Every village council must act as the village land use planning authority for its village.

All planning authorities must implement policy and direction under this Act, and set land-use goals, priorities, and environmental criteria.

Rules in the Local Government (District Authorities) Act and the Village Land Act about land use and environment planning are to be read as part of this Act, with necessary modifications.

Planning authorities and the Commission may declare planning areas or zones by notice, and the Commission may temporarily suspend development in those areas.

Planning authorities must prepare an inventory for each declared planning area or zone and involve stakeholders in doing so.

Land use planning authorities must prepare a land suitability assessment for each declared planning area or zone.

Relevant planning authorities must prepare land use plans that cover the listed land and conservation matters, and the Minister must make regulations and direct supporting guidelines, programs, and action plans.

The Commission must prepare, consult on, present, and revise a national land use framework plan, and the plan must include specified analyses, guidelines, and recommendations.

The Commission must update, and when needed prepare, a zonal land use plan for each declared zone.

The Commission must prepare, update, and revise regional land use framework plans, consult the Regional Secretariat, involve stakeholders, and present a draft for discussion and revision.

District land use planning authorities must prepare and, when needed, revise district land use framework plans, submit them to the Regional Secretariat, involve stakeholders, and include required section 31 matters.

Village land use planning authorities must prepare and submit plans, and related village planning processes must involve stakeholders and follow specified procedures.

Land use plans must be submitted to the Minister for approval, and the Minister must decide them within 60 days.

Village land use plans go to Village Assemblies for approval; assemblies may approve them with conditions or modifications, and if they refuse approval they must notify specified local bodies in writing within 14 days.

The Minister must publish a notice after approving a plan, and the relevant planning authority must keep published plans and send copies to the Director-General.

The Commission may propose revoking or changing an approved plan, must publish the proposal in the Gazette, and must publish the final notice within 60 days after ministerial approval.

Section 40 is titled “Demarcation, subdivision and consolidation.”

This section concerns the rearrangement and re-adjustment of land.

This section is titled “Issuance of statutory easements.”

A planning authority may acquire land for a land use plan, and must do so under the relevant land acquisition laws when agreement cannot be reached.

Land adjudication, demarcation, subdivision, or consolidation requires application and prior approval, and the planning authority has notice, objection-response, approval, and refusal functions.

A land use planning authority may acquire land to re-arrange a parcel or adjust boundaries when agreement with landholders or occupiers cannot be reached, and the land must then be returned to them after the re-arrangement.

A planning authority may propose a tenure-rights readjustment scheme if needed in planning, but only with the landholders’ and occupiers’ consent and the land registrar’s approval.

Authorized persons may enter land or premises during working hours, but only after 48 hours’ notice; affected occupiers may claim compensation for damage, and obstructing entry is an offence.

A planning authority may ask the Tribunal for a statutory easement if it would help planning activities in an area or zone.

This section concerns failure to comply with an enforcement notice.

This section is about the issuance and content of land restoration orders.

This section concerns reconsideration of land restoration orders.

This section concerns the Tribunal’s issuance of a land restoration order.

This section is titled “Monitoring and evaluation of land use.”

This section is titled “Appeals to the Tribunal or High Court.”

This section is about decisions of the High Court and tribunals.

This section is titled “Further appeals” and appears in Part VIII on offences and penalties.

Approved plans published under section 38 apply to the area or zone they cover, and persons, agencies, and the relevant planning authority must comply with the plan’s requirements.

Every planning authority has power to control land use and subdivision, enforce approved plans, make by-laws, protect designated open land, and require land users to submit approved statements before starting development.

Landholders or occupiers must take all necessary steps to ensure voluntary compliance with relevant approved plans for activities on their land.

A planning authority may issue an enforcement notice when land development is being done after commencement of the Act and is not in line with the land use plan.

If required measures are not taken in time, the authority may enter the land, do the work, and recover its reasonable costs. Removed material must be claimed within 30 days or it may be sold. Interfering with the authority is an offence.

The Director-General may appoint an authorized officer or inspector to prosecute offences, subject to the Director of Public Prosecutions’ consent.

If the Minister has received an inspection report and is satisfied the planning authority has not done what is needed, the Minister may direct the authority in writing to take appropriate action.

A person aggrieved by service of an enforcement notice may appeal to a Tribunal within the stated period, and any development on land covered by a served enforcement order must stop.

A planning authority may issue and serve a land restoration order, and the order must set out key details including the required remedial action, timing, penalties, and appeal rights.

A land restoration order can require the served person to restore land, stop harmful activity, pay compensation or restoration costs, and comply with the order’s terms.

A person served with a land restoration order may ask the planning authority to reconsider it in writing within 21 days.

The Tribunal may issue a land restoration order in proceedings before it against a person who has harmed, is harming, or is likely to harm land.

The Commission must monitor and evaluate land use and environmental changes, and an appointed officer may enter land or premises to monitor effects of activities there.

People aggrieved by listed land-use planning decisions may appeal to the Tribunal or High Court, and some appeals must be lodged with a specific forum depending on the type of plan.

On appeal, the Tribunal or High Court may confirm, set aside, vary, or make other just orders, and the status quo must be maintained until the appeal is decided.

An aggrieved person may appeal a tribunal decision within 30 days, depending on which body made the decision.

This provision is titled “General penalty.”

A person who breaches an approved land use plan, otherwise contravenes the Act, or ignores a land restoration order or statutory easement commits an offence and may be fined or imprisoned.

A person convicted of an offence under the Act or regulations, where no other penalty is provided, may be fined up to 100,000 shillings, imprisoned for up to one year, or both.

Savings and transitional provisions.

This provision is titled “Amendment of Schedules.”

The Minister may make regulations to carry out this Act and prescribe approvals, fees, forms, procedures, land securing methods, waste standards, and notice/order forms.

The Director-General or a planning authority may request production of, and make extracts from, certain registers, records, deeds, or instruments related to land or property affected by a plan.

This section repeals the National Land Use Planning Commission Act.

This section converts certain pre-commencement development approvals and pending land development applications into permissions under the Act, transfers land use planning functions to the new planning authorities, and preserves service for certain staff from the repealed regime.

The Minister may amend or revoke the Schedules to this Act, and the Chairman has duties and powers about convening and presiding over Commission meetings.

This provision gives the Act its short title and says it starts on a date the Minister appoints by Gazette notice.

This section defines key terms used in the Act, including land use planning terms, offices, areas, and types of land.

People and authorities using this Act for land use planning must consider the stated land-use objectives and policy principles.

People and authorities using, applying, or interpreting the Act must do so in line with the land use planning objectives listed here.

The Minister must ensure land use plans incorporate the Act’s principles and objectives, and must review and direct incorporation of existing policies into those plans.

This provision establishes the National Land Use Planning Commission and sets out how it is staffed.

The Commission must carry out a wide range of land use planning functions, and the Minister may make regulations to help the Commission perform those functions.

The Commission must use its powers to ensure compliance with its directives and may take measures, including filing court suits.

People connected to the Commission must not take part in or influence decisions on matters where they have an interest, and they must declare that interest before participating.

The President appoints the Commission’s Director-General, and the Commission may appoint other officers and staff. The Director-General must meet stated education, experience, and local-government knowledge requirements, and appointments are subject to public service terms and conditions set by the relevant appointing authority.

The Director-General must advise the Commission on land use planning matters and manage the Commission’s day-to-day affairs, funds, and property.

The Director-General and appointed officers are protected from actions or proceedings for acts or omissions done in good faith and without negligence while exercising their Act-based functions.

The Commission remains liable to pay compensation or damages for injuries caused by exercising its statutory powers.

The Commission must elect one of its members as Vice-Chairman.

The Commission can act only by resolution at a meeting with a quorum, usually a simple majority of members. The Chairman has a casting vote on ties, decisions may sometimes be made by circulation, and proceedings remain valid despite vacancies or appointment defects.

The Commission’s meeting minutes must be kept in proper form, confirmed at the next meeting, and signed by the person presiding. The Registrar must attend Commission meetings, keep the minutes, and do other duties the Commission or Minister requires.

The Commission may make rules for its own procedure, subject to this Schedule and any regulations made under the Act.

The Commission’s seal may only be affixed to an instrument when the Chairman or Vice-Chairman and one other member are present.

This section is titled “Population growth, projections, distribution and movement.”

This section refers to land potential, agricultural land distribution, population, land imbalance, land tenure, and other natural resource endowments.

This section lists employment and income topics, including job characteristics, income distribution, the labour force, the informal sector, and their locations.

This section is about human settlements, distribution of existing services, urban growth patterns, and rural-urban migration.

This section is titled “Alternative development patterns” and mentions rural development, urban development, and links between urban and rural development.

This section addresses strategies for human settlements in the area, including service centres, growth centres, transport and communication networks, and rural development.

This section is titled “Strategies for livelihood with respect to land related resources.”

This section lists the sectors covered for implementation and co-ordination measures.

This section is about areas for small scale industries to produce low-cost building materials and increase employment.

This section is a heading about existing tenure arrangements, land uses, and development patterns.

This section is about proposals for multiple land use systems to accommodate different land use practices.

Section 3 concerns participation of local communities and villages in managing their resources.

This section is about population growth, migration, density and distribution, age, sex, structure, and household size.

This section concerns employment and incomes of the population, where people work, trends, and problems encountered in relation to services delivered.

This section is a heading about the agricultural potential of rural areas, the agricultural activities there, and the problems facing local communities.

This section is titled “General statements on the terrains, soils and climate.”

This section is about soil survey, including land classes, soil texture, erosion, and soil suitability.

This section is titled “Analysis of social economic data and biophysical data.”

This section concerns the proposed implementation of existing traditional technologies.

This section is titled “Potential role of wildlife in local community and village development.”

This section is about the possible role of forests in local community development.

This section is titled “Potential role of minerals and water resources.”

This section is titled “Potential role of livestock in local community development” and indicates it is in Part B: Procedures.

This section is about preparations for community action plans for managing land use.

This section lists preliminary activities: establish or ascertain village boundaries, prepare or update land use and base maps, motivate villagers on land use planning, mobilise stakeholders, and assemble necessary resources.

Organise meetings with the Village Council.

Broad zoning for land uses and community facilities is to be agreed.

This section concerns negotiating tenure rights between individuals and the community.

This section concerns drafting and finalising a village land use plan.

Present the draft land use plan to stakeholders for discussion and approval.

This provision establishes institutions for evaluation and monitoring, and the text also refers to a technical committee made up of representatives from government ministries.

This section identifies the topic as lands and human settlements development.

This provision fragment is a heading about Community Development, Gender and Children Information, followed by a list of representatives of certain institutions.

This provision names two representatives: one from public institutions of higher learning and one from private institutions of higher learning, together with the Tanzania Bureau of Standards.

Lists the Tanzania Forestry Research Institute.

This section lists several named institutions, including the National Medical Research Institute, Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute, the Commission of Science and Technology, and the National Museums of Tanzania.

This section names the National Radiation Protection Commission.

9. Tanzania Pesticides Research Institute. 10

This section labels the Fifth Schedule as matters for consideration by the Technical Committee.

This section is about establishing criteria and procedures for assessing land quality.

This section lists minimum land quality standards for land in Tanzania and identifies different land-use categories it covers.

This section concerns guidelines or regulations for preserving land that may need special protection.

This section is about research on the effects of land pollution on the environment, human beings, and fauna.

This section concerns measures for treating effluents before they are discharged into sewerage systems.

This section concerns the modalities for managing common resources.

This section is titled “Criteria for inter-sectoral consultation and coordination.”

This section sets out guidelines for joint decision making by planning agencies on matters of common concern.

This section introduces guidelines for monitoring and evaluating approval plans and says there are two categories of human settlements in rural areas.

A settlement with fewer than 10,000 people is treated as a village.

A village settlement qualifies as a trading centre only if it has at least 5 retail shops and a market place, a primary school, a dispensary, and a post office.