YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD AND YOU a program sponsored by Sustainable Design Consult dedicated to enlightening listeners on environment and town planning related issues happening in their neighbourhood and also an avenue for groups of lower socio-economic status voices to be heard.
On a new episode of the program, the host Comfort Omolafe and the sponsor of the program, TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph decided to reply the WhatsApp messages and do justice to the questions sent in via email as well.
“How can I know if a surveyor/town planner is a qualified professional or a quack?”
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph answered that first a qualified surveyor or town planner should have an office, though there are quacks that have offices as well. He said if you get to an office you should be able to tell if this individual is a surveyor, townplanner or an engineer, however if you cannot tell, you can ask directly if they are qualified professionals. He added that if you cannot ask directly from them in order not to disrespect them, you can go to their institute and ask if the townplanner or surveyor is a qualified one and you will get the answer you need. The host, Comfort Omolafe, added that you can ask for their seal and seal number as qualified surveyors should have one, then you go to the institute to verify this.
“I bought a plot of land recently and when I was trying to do my survey I discovered that the plot is a place of worship on the approached layout, what can I do?”
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph pointed out that it has to be a private land, since government lands can’t be sold for place of worship. When you want to buy land, make sure you ask for the approved layout, there is a difference between layout and approved layout, this will let you know if the plot of land you’re about to buy is designated for residential, commercial or place of worship and other uses. He gave an instance of the Omo onile, he said in most cases they have the approved layout which usually specifies the designated space for a police station, school, corner shops, hotels and other facilities, which they disregard and make these spaces into residential areas instead. The best thing is to ask for the approved layout before purchasing a plot of land. He said his advice to the person that asked the question, will be to sell the land to either a church or a mosque, as that will be the fastest route, the other route will be to ask the family that sold the land to him to make an amendment which will most definitely take a lot of time or worst case scenario the person gets no response at all.
When asked what if the person is ready to get the layout changed on his own not minding the expenses without getting the family that sold him the land involved, what are the processes he’ll have to go through, TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele answered that it is possible but it can only happen if the Townplanner or the Surveyor that made the layout in the first place is still alive, because it is only the Surveyor or Townplanner that made the layout that can make whatever amendment to it.
“When we bought land the agent told us that we would have access to the plot but we later discovered that Omo onile has sold access road to someone, what can I do?”
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele said it’s similar to the just answered question, that if this person had asked for the approved layout before purchasing the land, this wouldn’t have happened. The solution for this person will be to get a registered townplanner to help write a protest letter to the Commissioner of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and if the layout is approved you will get justice, but if it is not approved the case will go nowhere. He advised the general public once again to always verify if the property they are trying to purchase is on an approved layout and if it is designated for the purpose the buyer has in mind so as to avoid problems later.
“Please can you invite the chairman of Ondo State Development Property Corporation (OSDPC) to your program, the rate at which residential houses are turning to commercial hotels, schools and churches in Ijapo Estate and Oba ile housing Estate is alarming.”
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph said they have written three letters to invite the general manager to the program as they do not have a chairman currently. He said the program has received a lot of questions, complaints and inquiries that he does not have all the answers to. He said he does not know the processes the owners might have gone through to convert a residential residence to a hotel or school, but they will try to put more effort into bringing at least an official of OSDPC to the program to do justice to all the questions asked.
“Last week one of the directors of Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development was on your program, he did say that government will still bring down the remaining properties on the industrial layout behind Automart, don’t you think that the government is being wicked to these people. Contraventions and illegal constructions are in Alagbaka, why can’t government visit such area. Also, Director state government will soon remove containers on the road setback. Did you know that Oba and some high chiefs do collect rent from the owners of the containers and kiosk on the road setback? I would like to ask this, who is the owner of the road setback, is it the Oba or the government?”
TPL Ogunseyi Ayodele Joseph started by answering the question about the demolition of the properties behind Automart, he said the show truthfully brought in experts to discuss the situation of things of the residents of the area, they chastised the people who constructed their buildings in those areas without approval, some claimed to have approval but did not have the documents to show for it. He asserted that it is not wickedness, that if the government has been to Alagbaka is not the issue, because if really there are constructions there that are not approved of, the government will still visit the area to demolish these buildings as well. The Automart area being mentioned is an industrial area, so the government is being just in bringing down these buildings, as you cannot change the designations of this area without the government’s approval. He said if they have the necessary required documents from the government i.e. the CofO, and the building approved plan and the government brings down the building, he said you can protest this by suing the government and you’ll get reimbursed by them. On the ownership of the setback, the land use decree of 1978 stated clearly that it is only the governor that can administer the uses of a land, so the setback belongs to the government not an Oba or Baale. He asserted that even if you have a land and you have your CofO, if the road setback is on your land, that setback does not belong to you, it belongs to the government so they can do with it as they please, so if the buildings on this land are illegal, paying rent to Obas or Baales does not hinder the government from demolishing or removing these containers or kiosks on the government lands. He added that when seeking your approval permit, on your architectural drawing for your building there are setbacks on the plan, a setback of 6m to the road that you must not construct anything on, if you put a container or a kiosk on it, the government can demolish it anytime they want, and you will pay them for it.
“Lounge within a petrol station is increasing in Akure metropolis these days, is this advisable?”
He said he is not sure if they got approval for this, however if they managed to get approval there is no problem with this. As we have filling stations with restaurants.
“One man bought a property near my house, demolished it and constructed a church what can I do?”
If your neighbourhood is a residential area, before an approval for building a church can be accepted, there must have been a letter from the community approving this. So he advised the individual to go to the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development to demand if the perfusion got an approval and if the individual got the approval but did not go through the required steps, you can question this and you’ll get justice.
“Can a petrol station be sighted near an existing petrol station?”
He answered that a petrol station shouldn’t be sighted near an existing petrol station even adjacent it, the minimum distance required to be between petrol stations must be 500m.