Urban and Regional Planning (Town & Country Planning) Division (URP)

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Miss Carole Smart is the Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Division.

The Urban and Regional (Town and Country) Planning Division is charged with the responsibility for administering the Town and Country Planning Act, Ch. 35:01 of the laws of Trinidad and Tobago, on behalf of the Minister responsible for town and country planning.

The functions of the Division derive from the mandate of the Minister, under the provisions of the Act, to secure consistency and continuity in the framing and execution of a comprehensive policy with respect to the use and development of all land in Trinidad and Tobago. This is effected by carrying out two main functions – Development Planning and Development Control.

Core Functions

• Develop and keep, under review, a comprehensive policy framework, a national physical development planning framework, regional plans and local area plans to guide decision making on the use and development of land;
   
• Evaluate and determine on behalf of the Minister, applications for planning permission to develop land, in accordance with land use policies and plans;
   
• Evaluate and determine applications for the display of advertisements;
   
• Enforcement of planning control;
   
• Assist in the preparation and review of relevant planning legislation;
   
• Provide an up-to-date database of land use planning data and information for decision making on land use and land development; and
   
• Maintain the register of planning applications.