INTRODUCTION

The British Town and Country Planners Act of 1817 defines development “as the carrying out of building
operations, engineering, mining and other operations in, on, under or over land, or the making of any
material change in the use of building or other land”. Similarly, the Nigerian Urban and Regional
Planning Decree number 88 of 1992 describes development as “the carrying out of any building,
engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over, or under any land, or making of any environmentally
significant change in the case of any land or demolition of buildings including the felling of trees and the
placing of free-standing erections use for display of advertisement on land”.
Meanwhile, control means the process of exercising power over ones area of jurisdiction. Development
control can thus be defined precisely as the process of implementing building and land sub-division
regulations and specifications. The word control is exercised when what is actually happening is
compared with and guided towards the achievement of the proposals and specifications in approved
building and layout plans. One of the most notable features of many Nigerian cities is the very disorderly
nature of the cities. There has been a phenomenal growth of urbanization resulting in our major cities
growing and expanding in an unplanned manner. The central parts or core areas of most cities are
decaying while the some sections are increasingly becoming slums. Despite the existence of Local
Planning Authorities whose portfolio includes development control of urban land use, many buildings
have been and are being constructed without approved layouts, illegal structures springing up arbitrarily,
open spaces are disappearing fast and many parts of Nigerian cities lack access.
Development, according to the Urban and Regional Planning Decree (1992) means "the carrying
out of any building, mining or other operation in, on, over or under any land; the making of any
material change in the use of any land building structure, or conversion of land, building
structure from its established or approved use, and / or including the placing or display of
advertisement and urban furniture on the land, building or structure; the making of any
environmentally significant change in use of any or demolition of building including felling of
trees. Development control is seen as a mechanism to maintain standards. It is process laid down
by legislation, which regulates the development of land and building. It is the professional
activity carried out by town planners in order to ensure compliance with the approved master
plan thereby ensuring orderliness.
In line with the above definition, development control actually regulates any building or
rebuilding operations in, on and under the land. It also ensures an orderly growth of settlements
by stipulating adequate standards for all aspects of land-use through the provision of adequate
lighting, ventilation, open spaces and other sociocultural facilities that make life worth living.
The power to grant or refuse as well as attach conditions to permissions for development to take
place gives the public agencies the big teeth. Ogunsesan (2004) opined that development control
is the „front line‟ of planning and the part, which affects the general public most. There is a
direction in the exercise of development control on developers. The direction according to
Ogunsesan (2004) is the objectives of development control, which include: the protection and
enhancement of the built environment; the coordination of both public and private investments in
land and property to ensure that land is efficiently used; and the control of pollution.
In development control process, time is a very important factor. There are two types of time
factors in the development control process: “internal and external time lag‟. The internal time lag
as he explained is the time it takes to act upon information received, while the external time lag,
he explains as the time it takes for the action to be effected.
Development control is carried out by planning authorities that have legal powers conferred on
them to ensure that development is secured. The authorities are empowered to: plan, promote and
secure the physical development and environmental improvement by economic; as financial
developers they can initiate planning schemes and develop the area wholly or partly‟.
TOOLS AND MACHINERIES OF DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
Basically, there are two instruments or tools often used in the development control process.
These are:
(i) ENFORCEMENT NOTICE: This is served on any breach of Town Planning law
relating to carrying out development without the planning permission (approval). It
relates to illegal building, engineering, mining, change of use and so on. This notice
may be served either for demolition of such building without approval or the
restoration of an altered building to its previous condition pursuant to section 47 (1)
of the Urban and Regional Planning Decree (88) of 1992. Noncompliance with an
enforcement order is punishable.
(ii) STOP NOTICE: According to section of the Urban and Regional Planning Decree
(88) of 1992, a stop work order could be issued where it appears to the control
department that:
a. An unauthorized development is being carried out,
b. Where a development does not comply with a development permit issued by the
control department. The document is issued pending the service of an
 enforcement notice on the owner, occupier or holder of such property. It takes
an immediate effect upon service on such property. The time frame is usually 21
days within which such developer shall comply with the provisions of section
53.
THE NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT CONTROL
Rural- urban migration has caused congestion in the urban areas and left the towns and cities
sprawling endlessly into the countryside with dire consequences for the provision of essential
urban infrastructure. That is, the rate of expansion of each of old and newly emerging town led to
the emergence of uncoordinated land-uses, winding road network, traffic congestion,
uncoordinated provision and distribution of socio-physical infrastructure, uncollected waste and
the like, amongst others with great impact on the socio-economic well being of the inhabitants.
All these are resultant effects of uncontrolled development in both rural and urban settlements in
Nigeria. The rapid growth of our settlements, particularly urban areas need to be controlled to
prevent chaotic and haphazard physical growth and development, which certainly takes place in
the absence of any development control measure. However, some of the rationales for effective
development control are the achievement of balanced, coordinated and good development of the
environment; it ensures structural soundness and the adequate provision of necessary utilities,
services and facilities for the proposed buildings; protection and the development of the
environment so that the activities of men do not have adverse effects on it. This uncontrolled
development has led to the environmental situation as presently witnessed in some squatter
settlements of Lagos (Somolu, Bariga, Ijora, Ajegunle, Mushin) and other big town and cities in
Nigeria.
Development control also ensures that real estate developers or owners of landed property use
their lands and buildings in conformity with approved town planning schemes or master plans for
the town; for if development control is not enforced, landowners and estate developers will build
anywhere and anyhow, causing the chaotic and disorderly growth of the town concerned.
Development control ensures the proper use and or development of land and building in
conformity with the approved town planning schemes or comprehensive development plans,
which presents a more beautiful and unique environment; it also eradicates inadequately and
uneven distribution of government facilities to compliment demography. This applies to the
locational advantage, distribution system and general servicing load of services like schools,
hospitals and so on.
Also, because of negative externalities generated by some users of land such as industrial areas,
which generate heavy traffic or pollute the environment so much as to cause a decline in the
value of adjacent land uses such as residential, it is therefore, pertinent to separate such land use
activities from each other. There is then the need for the government to establish rules about how
land would be used and not leave this function to the market allocating process because the
market cannot be trusted to produce a rational, efficient land use system. Urban land as a scarce
resource needs to be husbanded in a way that will balance long and short term need of the
community and also balance the conflicting claims of different interest groups. Development
control ensures and regulates the character and appearance of buildings, their relationship to one
another and to open spaces, hence create healthy environment for living and working.
Development plan ensures that there will be adequate light, ventilation, playgrounds for children,
open spaces for relaxation and recreation. It regulates the orderly planning and growth of a
country, town, or city by stipulating adequate standards for all aspects of planning. It also
ensures that residential, commercial, industrial, educational and agricultural areas are properly
and carefully zoned to prevent conflict and promote a harmonious interrelationship.
Development control is aimed at checking the activities of developers and landowners by
ensuring that they do not develop their property, as they like and to the detriment of public
interest. A development plan cannot work without development control. As a road is to a motor
vehicle and as salt is to food, so is development control to a development plan.
DEVELOPMENT CONTROL MECHANISMS
The development control mechanisms provide tools through which planning goals and ideals are
achieved. Robert (1975) identified two technical devices used in development control processes.
These are land – use zoning and planning standards. The planning standards also have two main
divisions. These are the prescriptive and the regulatory standards. The prescriptive standards are
the guides or specifications used in dimensioning in the preparation of a disaster risk reduction
plan or any development plan for that matter. Planning standards are used in Town Planning as
recognized model for imitations. They are legislated standards which in most cases are
mandatory and inflexible. They serve as tools or specifications before building operations can be
approved under the law.
Examples of the planning standards are residential density standards, plot ratio, setbacks from
the stream, rivers or roads, airspace standard car parking control standards and highway
standards among others. Above all, the planning standards are entrenched in the building and
sub-division regulations as well as the sanitary and zoning codes of local government councils
for enforcement

References

Vivan Lekwot, Bijimi Kyom & Micheal Balasom (2013). The Nature, Scope and Dimensions of
Development Control, Tools and Machineries in Urban Planning in Nigeria. International Journal of
Innovative Environmental Studies Res. 1 (1): 48-54.

Ogunsesan, D.K.(2004) The Process and Problems of Development Control and Some Remedial
Solutions. A Multidisciplinary Journal Environscope. 1(1)