Work Land

Lack of transparency and accountability in the planning practice allow for misuse and abuse of the planning system to serve the interests of the more powerful and influential groups, including those entrusted with the powers of planning. The outcomes of a non-inclusive, non-transparent and insensitive planning include: insecurity of land tenure rights and subsequently investments in land; poverty; informal land subdivision and building; unplanned spatial growth and endless conflicts in land development. These are detrimental to the residents and erode their trust and confidence in the government. It takes an organized, informed, confident and courageous group of residents or community to reject the non-inclusive form of planning and cause adoption of inclusive and collaborative planning that allows them space in the planning process. The achievement of such an organized group ? a turn towards democratic planning practice ? leads to a conclusion that informed, organized, confident and courageous civil society is a pillar of democracy. This book therefore argues that ineffective planning results, among other things, from defective land policy and legislation, and planning inability to recognize and make use of opportunities for shaping the built environment.

In this report, the Law Commission makes recommendations to simplify, modernise and enhance the law of easements, covenants and profits á prendre. These rights are essential to the effective use of land and are relied upon by a significant proportion of property owners in England and Wales. Parts of the current law are ancient, contradictory and unfit for modern society. The report recommends reform where it is needed, while preserving those aspects of the law that function as they should. The recommendations would not affect the validity and enforceability of existing rights. The reforms would: make it possible for the benefit and burden of positive obligations to be enforced by and against subsequent owners; simplify and make clearer the rules relating to the acquisition of easements by prescription (or long use of land) and implication, as well as the termination of easements by abandonment; give greater flexibility to developers to establish the webs of rights and obligations that allow modern estates to function; facilitate the creation of easements that allow a substantial use of land by the benefiting owner (for example, rights to park a car); expand the jurisdiction of the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal to allow for the discharge and modification of easements and profits created post-reform.