Draft Penang Structure Plan 2030: Official feedback session cut short after barrage of questions
(ANIL NETTO) – A planned three-hour official session yesterday morning at Komtar to solicit feedback on the draft Penang Structure Plan 2030 from civil society was cut short to half that duration after relentless questioning by activists.
About the only thing that turned out well was the fried bee hoon served for breakfast before the session began at just after 9am. It was chaired by the director of the planning department with the external consultant also present.
After an introduction into the process of publicising the plan and soliciting feedback for the draft Structure Plan, which serves as the legally enforceable planning document for the state, and a short film, the session was open to the floor at about 9.30am.
Among the key issues raised by the activists:
The prohibition on hill-site development remained – with what looked like a crucial difference. Previously, development was prohibited on sites located more than 76m about sea level OR (“atau”) on slopes greater than 25 degrees in gradient. But now, in the latest draft structure plan, the word or (“atau”) had been changed to and (“dan”).
The NGO reps felt that this narrowed the prohibition to only sites which fulfilled both these two criteria ie higher than 76m about sea level and steeper than 25 degrees gradient. What if the site was higher than 76m above sea level but less than 25 degrees in gradient? Would that be allowed? The government planners felt this was just a matter of semantics and differing interpretation. But the activists were suspicious and wary: they felt this was important as the courts would look into the precise wording in the structure plan if there was a dispute.
