The Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority (LASPPPA) has promised a further reduction in the turnaround time of processing Physical Planning Permits to 10 working days.
The reduction of the turnaround time which is from its present 12 to 13 working days, was to make the collection of Physical Planning Permits less cumbersome, less time-consuming and seamless in Lagos State.
This disclosure was made by the General Manager of LASPPPA, Mr Kehinde Osinaike,  during a courtesy visit of the National Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, to LASPPPA, on Monday.
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According to NAN, others on the visit included the Lagos State Urban Renewal Agency (LASURA) and Lagos State Planning and Environmental Monitoring Authority (LASPEMA).
Osinaike said LASPPPA will further reduce the processing time to enhance previous improvements that have been initiated to make the planning permit processing easy.
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What the General Manager of LASPPPA is saying
Osinaike said that the step was being taken to entice and encourage Owners/Developers to submit applications for permits in compliance with the law.
He said, “Already, we are getting the process done within 12-13 working days. The authority is working assiduously to ensure a reduction in the turnaround time for processing Physical Planning Permits. We hope to reduce the turnaround time of processing applications to 10 working days.’’
Osinaike listed other achievements by the authority to include the preparation of 30 Action Area Plans to guide physical development in different communities in the State as well as provision of necessary social amenities in such areas.
READ: Lagos reviews building permit approvals and processing time
He also said that the authority had commenced the implementation of the Land Use Planning and Analysis Report (LUPAR) guidelines for assessing Physical Planning Permit applications.
He said that the LUPAR guidelines, as directed by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Idris Salako, was to ensure compliance with the extant Town Planning regulations of 2019, as amended.
Also, speaking at the occasion, the National Chairman of NITP, Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, said the visit was part of the institute’s nationwide visit to all States of the Federation to appraise their level of compliance with Urban Development Laws.
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What you should know
- It can be recalled that earlier in January 2021, the Lagos State Government had promised to review planning permit processing time from 28 to 18 days and reduce the lay-out approval process from 90 to 30 days.
- This was part of measures employed by the state to re-engineer their operating procedures to meet the 21st-century demands of the Lagos Megacity.
- The state government had also in July 2021, reduced the time for obtaining provisional building approval based on the presentation of proof of land ownership documents and presentation of registered statutory documents for approval from 2 years to 9 months.
- The review was to help address the issue of non-compliance rate with the terms of agreement in presenting registered statutory title documents for approval.
READ: Lagos announces e-processing of building planning permit, approval to take 1 month
What this means
The reduction will ensure that developers apply and process building permits easier, faster and less cumbersome as well as also eliminate the delays and bottlenecks experienced at state government agencies and reduce the spate of illegal and unapproved buildings.
