Town and Country Planning Act (Act 172) (1976)

Summary: The Town and Country Planning Act is nearly identical to the Malaysian Federal Territory (Planning) Act in the bulk of its provisions. It closely tracks the Federal Planning Act, with substantially the same definitions, aims, and strategies. The main difference between the two acts is the fact that the Federal Territory Act regulates development within federal territory lands and the Town and Country Planning Act regulates development within Peninsular Malaysia. This requires a different planning authority structure because the lands of Peninsular Malaysia fall under the jurisdiction of the various states on the peninsula. Therefore, where the Federal Territory Act places the bulk of the planning and administration authority with an appointed commissioner, the Town and Planning Act creates various councils within the several overlapping levels of government and integrates them in order to maintain cohesion and uniformity among their respective development plans and compliance with the overarching national plan. Appellate procedures, planning control requirements, and enforcement provisions are nearly identical. Because the two laws are similar, the Town and Country Planning Act has been omitted with the exception of Part II of the law, which has been reproduced to illustrate the differences noted earlier.

The full text of this law published by International Law Book Services can be found in the library of the International Islamic University of Malaysia. For more information see www.malaysialawbooks.com or e-mail gbc@pc.jaring.my.