Legislation in various jurisdictions alters the common law right to control access to one???s land by allowing the imposition of rights of access in favour of one landowner over the land of another. The relevant legislation can be divided into two categories. The first-generation legislation (s 88K, Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) and s 180, Property Law Act 1974 (Qld)) permits the creation of easements over servient land to facilitate the development of dominant land. The second-generation legislation (the Access to Neighbouring Land Act of New South Wales, Tasmania and the United Kingdom) permits the creation of temporary rights of access over servient land to facilitate work on dominant land. This thesis examines the extent to which this change in the law can be justified by three modes of ethical discourse: right-based, duty-based, and goal-based reasoning. An examination of the first-generation legislation and the cases in which it has been applied suggests that a form of goal-based reasoning can be used to justify its enactment. The legislation is needed to facilitate the efficient use of land where the existence of a bilateral monopoly and the possibility of strategic bargaining puts at risk the conclusion of a mutually beneficial agreement regarding access. A review of the second-generation legislation and the law reform reports and parliamentary debate that preceded its enactment indicates that the legislation can be justified by a form of duty-based reasoning. The legislation is needed to bring about a proper social ordering by imposing access rights where this would be consistent with the ideal of good neighbourliness. The thesis concludes that although these goal-based and duty-based discourses make an arguable case for the enactment of both generations of the legislation, neither of them, in an unadulterated form, provides a conclusive justification. Rather, an eclectic approach that draws on both discourses is required. It proposes that the legislation???s compensation provisions be amended to reflect the commingling of the ideas of efficiency, a properly ordered society and intensive land use, and to allow the servient owner to share in the benefits generated by the imposition of access.

Legislation in various jurisdictions alters the common law right to control access to one???s land by allowing the imposition of rights of access in favour of one landowner over the land of another. The relevant legislation can be divided into two categories. The first-generation legislation (s 88K, Conveyancing Act 1919 (NSW) and s 180, Property Law Act 1974 (Qld)) permits the creation of easements over servient land to facilitate the development of dominant land. The second-generation legislation (the Access to Neighbouring Land Act of New South Wales, Tasmania and the United Kingdom) permits the creation of temporary rights of access over servient land to facilitate work on dominant land. This thesis examines the extent to which this change in the law can be justified by three modes of ethical discourse: right-based, duty-based, and goal-based reasoning. An examination of the first-generation legislation and the cases in which it has been applied suggests that a form of goal-based reasoning can be used to justify its enactment. The legislation is needed to facilitate the efficient use of land where the existence of a bilateral monopoly and the possibility of strategic bargaining puts at risk the conclusion of a mutually beneficial agreement regarding access. A review of the second-generation legislation and the law reform reports and parliamentary debate that preceded its enactment indicates that the legislation can be justified by a form of duty-based reasoning. The legislation is needed to bring about a proper social ordering by imposing access rights where this would be consistent with the ideal of good neighbourliness. The thesis concludes that although these goal-based and duty-based discourses make an arguable case for the enactment of both generations of the legislation, neither of them, in an unadulterated form, provides a conclusive justification. Rather, an eclectic approach that draws on both discourses is required. It proposes that the legislation???s compensation provisions be amended to reflect the commingling of the ideas of efficiency, a properly ordered society and intensive land use, and to allow the servient owner to share in the benefits generated by the imposition of access.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, University of the Witwatersrand. September 2016. / The cause of the transformation of agricultural land to other land uses has been investigated, especially in the Northern Service Delivery of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality within Gauteng Province. This was achieved by evaluating the processes undertaken during the review of the land use applications and what was considered by the decision makers when making decisions on land use applications in order to determine the effectiveness of the legislations and policies in protecting agricultural land from been transformed to other uses such as residential and industrial activities. The literature review undertaken in this study showed that for South Africa, and particularly the Gauteng Province to be more successful in addressing the transformation of agricultural land to other land uses, different approaches are necessary. The review of literature showed that the South African legislations are fragmented and contribute to the transformation of agricultural land. In addition, it was highlighted that the South African government’s priority is on infrastructure development which is also considered the cause of the transformation of agricultural land, and this compels government to continuously amend the planning policies in order to accommodate pressure of development. Lastly, several studies highlighted that government is also focusing on the land reform programmes which are not sustainable hence failed due to lack of support from government. The results of the investigation confirmed that there is fragmentation of legislations and operational structure resulting in conflicting mandate and inconsistent decision making. This was pointed out through the experience of the participants during the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. Data from the questionnaires, interviews and literature review was analysed to find information in order to address the research questions. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that legislations should be amended and ensures that the administration process is simple and aligned. Key words: Transformation of agricultural land, fragmented legislations, fragmented institutions and processes. / LG2017

Oregon's land use planning system is often recognized as having been successful in its goals of limiting urban sprawl and protecting resource lands from development. However, it is difficult to quantify the impact of these regulations, because we cannot observe what would have happened in the absence of land use planning. The three essays in this dissertation explore the effects of Oregon's land use planning regulations on development patterns in the state, and also examine how the land use regulations are administered at the local level. The first essay in this dissertation asks if Oregon’s land use regulations have successfully restricted sprawl outside of urban areas. Urban containment policies, including Urban Growth Boundaries (UGBs), are a common tool used by city planners to promote compact development. We analyze how well UGBs do in containing development using fine-scale GIS data on cities in Oregon. Earlier studies on UGBs yield mixed results, with some authors finding no effects of UGBs on housing market variables and urbanization rates and others finding significant effects. A challenge in measuring these effects is that the location of the UGB is unlikely to be an exogenous determinant of a land parcel's value for development. The panel structure of our dataset allows us to estimate the UGB's effect on the probability of development using a difference-in-difference estimator. This estimator controls for time-invariant unobservable variables and common temporal effects among parcels, thereby mitigating the potential for biased estimates due to the endogeneity of the UGB's location. We also pursue a novel approach to controlling for time-varying factors inspired by regression discontinuity design. We find that UGBs are effective in containing development in many of the Oregon cities we examine, although there are some cities in which development rates are the same inside and outside of the UGB. Our results show that we would greatly overstate the effects of the UGBs were we to evaluate cross-sectional differences in development rates, as is common in previous studies. Besides the creation of UGBs, another goal of Oregon's land use regulations is to encourage citizen involvement in the planning process. The second essay in this dissertation examines the use of voter annexation as a form of citizen involvement. More specifically, this paper addresses the following two questions. First, does voter annexation cause changes in city demographics and characteristics? Second, assuming that a city votes for amendments and annexations to the UGB and city limits, what factors impact the outcome of the vote? We analyze the first question using the method of propensity score matching, which has not previously been used to explore this topic. This allows us to account for the endogeneity that stems from the fact that cities with certain characteristics may be more likely to use voter annexation in the first place. The second question, which is only evaluated for cities that employ voter annexation, is analyzed with the use of the logit model. Oregon's land use regulations must be approved at the state level, but are administered locally. Therefore, unlike past studies, we are able to isolate specific differences in the way the program is administered, and are not evaluating the stringency of the program itself. Previous studies have found that voter-approved annexation causes developers to provide more public goods and increase the scale of development, thereby shifting community demographics. Once a land use decision is on the ballot, it is also noted that cities that are whiter, wealthier, and more liberal are more likely to pass referenda that promote preservation and restrict development. For the first question, we compare specific demographic indicators between the two groups of cities. Contrary to the results of previous studies, we find no effect of voter annexation on these indicators. Our results for the second question indicate that the characteristics of the voting process itself impact the outcome more than community characteristics, which also differs from the results of previous analyses. The third essay in this dissertation is an extension of the first essay, and focuses on the impact of Oregon's land use regulations on the protection of land in riparian corridors and land that has been designated for exclusive farm use (EFU). Riparian corridors are protected with the use of Oregon Goal 5, which focuses on development of natural resource lands inside of UGBs, while EFU land is protected with the use of Oregon Goal 3, which focuses on protection of agricultural land at the county level. The LCT dataset that was used in the first essay is also used in this essay. EFU land by definition has no probability of development in the initial period. Land located in riparian corridors may also face different initial levels of protection than other land. We deal with this endogeneity, and also account for location inside or outside of a UGB, with the use of the difference -in-difference-in-differences estimator. This is an approach that has not been used to explore the effect of Oregon's land use regulations on these land categories. Most of the past studies that have examined the impact of land use planning on development of agricultural land in Oregon have relied on analysis of general trends and indicators, and have concluded that land use regulations have been successful in protecting this land. Previous research on riparian zone protection has focused on protection of aquatic wildlife, and for the most part has not examined the protection of riparian corridors inside of UGBs. The limited studies that have studied the effect of these regulations in UGBs have determined them to be effective in slowing, but not stopping, development in these areas. Overall, we find that Oregon's land use regulations have been successful in protecting both county level agricultural land and riparian corridors located inside of UGBs from development. It is less clear whether these regulations have protected riparian corridors located inside of UGBs from other anthropogenic uses. / Graduation date: 2012

Planning administration in the Western Cape is at a critical juncture. It is faced with having to address planning issues and housing needs whilst at the same time demonstrating through its practices the promotion of environmentally sustainable development. This paper will discuss planning and environmental legislation and the impact that the application of the legislation has on development proposals. Current legislation addresses issues of spacial development in developed areas and new development proposals but lacks the ability to address issues within informal settlements. Although socio-economic factors are not currently considered when assessing the viability of applications, the courts seem to consider these factors. Since new housing settlements are often developed for the poor and industrial developments in close proximity to these areas have direct impact on these individuals, planning could only gain if these factors are taken into consideration.<br /> <br /> If planning administration in the Western Cape is to continue successfully and without endless litigation against the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning administrators will have to find a balance between promoting development and protecting the environment. To promote environmentally sustainable developments will require closer cooperation between the land use planning and environmental management components. The loopholes, which permit incremental development in the present legislation, have to be identified and addressed. Guidelines, which will standardize the conditions under which applications can be approved or refused, will have to be drafted to ensure decision-making that is consistent and defensible. If having a liquor store within an affluent environment is not considered desirable such applications should not be considered within lower income areas. The same should apply when dealing with applications to establish factories or industry which will have an impact on the living conditions of communities in close proximity. The MEC will have to ensure that all decision taken are within the legal framework and that such decisions benefit entire communities and protect the rights of the poorest communities as well as that of the wealthy and influential.<br /> <br /> Environmental legislation and the growing importance of environmental protection is also having an impact on the way in which new settlements are planned and on the rights of property owners. Although, we are responsible for the preservation of the environment for the next generation, socio-economic conditions, HIV and a myriad of other considerations may have to take precedence over environmental concerns.

This thesis provides an extensive look at where permitted non-farm uses and dwellings have clustered within Exclusive Farm Use (EFU) zones in the Northern Willamette Valley in Oregon. There is a looming concern that non-farm related uses and dwellings, or non-farm development, are conflicting with agricultural preservation strategies. Specifically, non-farm developments can potentially undermine the critical mass of farmland needed to keep the agricultural economy sustainable, but until now, studies have lacked spatially precise data to systematically track these phenomena. This thesis offers methodological contributions towards analyzing these operations and presents a broad account of what has been occurring in the region. Using permit approval data from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and 2015 county tax lot shapefiles, I geocoded the locations of these uses and dwellings. I used location quotient and spatial autocorrelation coefficients to identify non-farm hotspots in the region and summarized different typologies that have developed. The findings reveal that viticulture operations have amassed near Dundee and Newberg in Yamhill County, while commercial activities and home occupations have clustered near the Salem-Keizer UGB. Concurrently, dwellings have clustered near the Yamhill-Polk County border. Finally, I offer suggestions to improve Oregon's agricultural land use policy and data management process, as well as advocate for more intensive research in the future to generate narratives for our results.

Abstract not available

University of Macau / Faculty of Law

Planning administration in the Western Cape is at a critical juncture. It is faced with having to address planning issues and housing needs whilst at the same time demonstrating through its practices the promotion of environmentally sustainable development. This paper will discuss planning and environmental legislation and the impact that the application of the legislation has on development proposals. Current legislation addresses issues of spacial development in developed areas and new development proposals but lacks the ability to address issues within informal settlements. Although socio-economic factors are not currently considered when assessing the viability of applications, the courts seem to consider these factors. Since new housing settlements are often developed for the poor and industrial developments in close proximity to these areas have direct impact on these individuals, planning could only gain if these factors are taken into consideration.<br /> <br /> If planning administration in the Western Cape is to continue successfully and without endless litigation against the Department of Environmental Affairs and Development Planning administrators will have to find a balance between promoting development and protecting the environment. To promote environmentally sustainable developments will require closer cooperation between the land use planning and environmental management components. The loopholes, which permit incremental development in the present legislation, have to be identified and addressed. Guidelines, which will standardize the conditions under which applications can be approved or refused, will have to be drafted to ensure decision-making that is consistent and defensible. If having a liquor store within an affluent environment is not considered desirable such applications should not be considered within lower income areas. The same should apply when dealing with applications to establish factories or industry which will have an impact on the living conditions of communities in close proximity. The MEC will have to ensure that all decision taken are within the legal framework and that such decisions benefit entire communities and protect the rights of the poorest communities as well as that of the wealthy and influential.<br /> <br /> Environmental legislation and the growing importance of environmental protection is also having an impact on the way in which new settlements are planned and on the rights of property owners. Although, we are responsible for the preservation of the environment for the next generation, socio-economic conditions, HIV and a myriad of other considerations may have to take precedence over environmental concerns.

The above topic deals with the land use planning, the land-tenure and the deeds registration systems, applicable in former black urban and rural areas of KwaZulu Natal. These areas are divided into three categories, namely: 1. black townships on former black land (former KwaZulu townships); 2. rural or tribal land; and 3. black townships on former white land (Development Aid (DDA) townships). The writer firstly explains how the above categories of land were created in terms of the 1913 and 1936 land laws and how the administration and control of the first two categories was taken over by the former KwaZulu Legislative Assembly in 1986 whilst administration and control of the last category remained with the South African Development Trust. The writer critically analyses different pieces of legislation relating to the land system in the abovementioned categories of land. The writer further critically analyses the new land laws and their effect on the said land system. / Law / LL.M.