National Assembly discusses draft Law on Urban and Rural Planning

On the morning of June 28, continuing the 7th Session of the 15th National Assembly at the National Assembly House, under the chairmanship of National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man , the National Assembly discussed in the hall the draft Law on Urban Planning and Rural Planning.

Chairing the discussion session on the draft Law on Urban and Rural Planning, Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Nguyen Duc Hai asked delegates to focus on discussing and giving opinions on the contents, paying attention to the contents on the level of detail, specificity in terms of period, duration, vision of urban and rural planning; decentralization of planning adjustment; funding, resources to support planning; planning organization... and contents of interest to delegates. The Presidium will invite the Minister of Construction to explain and clarify a number of issues raised by National Assembly deputies.

Mr. Le Huu Tri - Provincial Party Committee member, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Khanh Hoa province.

Contributing comments to the draft Law, delegate Le Huu Tri - Provincial Party Committee member, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Khanh Hoa province expressed his high agreement on the necessity of promulgating the Law on Urban Planning and Rural Planning. The draft Law has logically and clearly designed 9 new groups of contents compared to the provisions of current laws to ensure consistency and unity in the legal system on planning and related laws; meeting the requirements of deploying and implementing construction investment projects.

Delegate Le Huu Tri said that this is a strong innovation in thinking in urban and rural planning. The delegate believes that the new contents of the draft Law will remove many obstacles, facilitate the promotion of investment, construction, development and improve management efficiency in urban and rural areas; at the same time, improve the quality of planning to meet the requirements of construction, management and sustainable development of Vietnamese urban areas in accordance with the direction of the Politburo in Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW dated January 24, 2020 on planning, construction, management and sustainable development of Vietnamese urban areas to 2030, with a vision to 2045.

To facilitate the implementation of the Law in practice, delegates respectfully request that the drafting agency pay attention to the following issues:

1. The draft Law stipulates that urban and rural planning (general planning) has a term of 20-25 years, which is consistent with the roadmap for implementing investment and construction activities in urban and rural areas. However, according to the provisions of the 2017 Planning Law, provinces and centrally-run cities must establish and approve provincial planning according to the 10-year planning period. Therefore, the draft Law needs to have clearer regulations and requirements on the content of types and levels of urban and rural planning in accordance with the planning period according to the provincial planning. At the same time, reviewing the provisions in Article 5, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the case of zoning planning and detailed planning when the proposed planning boundary has overlaps and intersections between functional areas and urban areas, between functional areas and rural areas, between urban and rural areas.

2. Research and adjust regulations on the content requirements of the general planning of centrally-run cities in the direction that planning agencies and organizations can choose to continue making general planning or make zoning plans immediately after the city's general planning is approved to save time (similar to the regulations in the draft Law for functional areas in areas with approved general planning, zoning plans must be made immediately).

3. Research to expand regulations on planning subjects to serve as a basis for management and control of construction investment activities; because in practice, there are subjects that need to establish construction planning for management such as functional areas with specialized characteristics that are oriented to be formed in the commune (areas for construction of renewable energy production works, aquaculture areas with construction works, construction areas serving agricultural production...), technical infrastructure key works areas, construction investment projects based on sectoral planning, provincial planning but not within the scope of urban areas, functional areas and rural residential areas... However, current regulations on urban planning and construction planning are not clear and specific for these subjects.

4. The Draft Law has stipulated the responsibility for planning review, the time and deadline for planning review. However, to ensure the quality of planning review work, it is necessary to specify more clearly the content of the review and the review and assessment of implementation according to the planning must be considered as a procedural requirement before adjusting the planning.

5. The Draft Law has proposed more specific regulations on the conditions for local planning adjustments. However, in the process of implementing a number of projects that have been formed at the national, regional, and provincial levels (especially transportation, power supply, and energy projects, etc.) but have to wait for urban planning adjustments to be implemented, leading to delays. Therefore, it is necessary to continue reviewing the criteria, conditions, procedures for establishing, appraising, approving, and locally adjusting the planning to ensure that it is complete, rigorous, and scientific; at the same time, meeting the requirements of the current implementation of infrastructure investment projects.

6. In Article 18, Section 1, Chapter II of the draft Law, it is proposed to stipulate regulations on the selection of planning consultancy organizations, including the form of planning idea competition, and assign the Minister of Construction to specify this content in detail. In order to contribute to improving the quality of planning and the effectiveness of legal regulations; it is recommended to study and supplement this provision into the draft Law, such as the regulation on architectural design competition in the 2019 Law on Architecture. In particular, it is necessary to clearly stipulate the cases of applying the competition, the time of organizing the competition during the preparation and implementation of planning, the decision-making authority, the use of competition results, etc.

7. The draft Law has added provisions on State policies in urban and rural planning activities, including: Activities supported by the State for investment and activities encouraging organizations and individuals to support investment. This is the legal basis to encourage and promote urban and rural planning activities to be innovated and mobilize many resources in society to participate in planning work. However, this content needs to be more specific in the draft Law, clearly distinguishing two groups of policies: priority support and encouragement. Add the contents of State support, prioritize funding for a number of activities such as: Planning associated with organizing residential areas in difficult areas, affected by natural disasters; propaganda, education, dissemination of knowledge and improving community knowledge.

8. Study and simplify regulations on the time limit for planning, appraisal and approval; especially procedural time or transfer to regulations in the Decree detailing the implementation of the Law to ensure flexibility in the implementation process, ensure feasibility and suitability with reality. At the same time, review the transitional regulations to ensure completeness, consistency and continuity in the process of appraising planning tasks and planning, avoiding causing difficulties in the implementation process.

After the session, the National Assembly Standing Committee will direct the verification agency to closely coordinate with the drafting agency and relevant agencies, study the opinions expressed in the hall and in groups, to absorb and complete the draft Law to submit to the National Assembly for consideration and decision at the 8th Session./.

MEANING

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/chinh-tri/202406/quoc-hoi-thao-luan-ve-du-an-luat-quy-hoach-do-thi-vaquy-hoach-nong-thon-d5a1752/