Tanjung Bungah condo owners denied appeal over adjacent land's rezoning

Free Malaysia Today

5 hours ago

The Federal Court refused Tang Heng Lut and 48 other condominium owners in Tanjung Bungah leave to appeal the rezoning of an adjacent land with costs of RM60,000.
PUTRAJAYA : The Federal Court has denied 49 apartment owners in the One Tanjong condominium leave to appeal in their attempt to quash the rezoning of an adjacent parcel of land in Tanjung Bungah earmarked for commercial development.
Justice Zabariah Yusof, leading a three-member bench, said none of the 10 questions of law framed by Tang Heng Lut and his co-applicants met the threshold for leave under Section 96 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964.
Leave is only granted if there are novel constitutional or legal questions of public importance, raised for the first time.
The bench ordered the applicants to pay RM30,000 in costs to the Penang state planning committee and the director of its urban and country planning department.
It also ordered them to pay costs in an equivalent sum to developer Lone Pine Residence Sdn Bhd (previously known as Tanjung Marina Resorts Sdn Bhd).
Also on the panel hearing the application were Justices Ahmad Terrirudin Salleh and Lee Swee Seng.
The judicial review application had named the state committee, the state director and Lone Pine as the first, second and third respondents.
In the underlying judicial review application, the condominium owners had wanted the High Court in Penang to determine whether the first and second respondents could rezone the plot of land adjacent to theirs and change the expressed conditions of its use without public consultation.
In 2023, the application was dismissed after the High Court found no procedural impropriety or illegality in the zoning or amendment processes. It also ruled that there was no provision under the Town and Country Planning Act 1976 (TCPA) which entitled the condominium owners to participate in the process.
The decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.
State legal adviser Wan Nor Sakina Saad, lawyers Charanjit Singh and Siti Zuhairah Zulkifli appeared for the committee and department, while counsel Ong Kheng Leong and Lee Jun Leong acted for Lone Pine.
Counsel Azhar Azizan Harun represented the condominium owners.
The facts of the case showed that the land was alienated to Purerich Realty Sdn Bhd in 2005 under a 60-year lease with an expressed condition that it would be used for a marina centre. The land was not subject to any zoning at the time.
It was acquired by Lone Pine in 2015.
In November 2021, Lone Pine submitted an application to rezone the land as a 'general business zone' to facilitate the development of serviced apartments and a wellness centre.
Lone Pine's application was approved, subject to the condition that it was only to be used for retirement and health suites, which led to the present legal battle.
In the Federal Court, the applicants argued that the failure of the state authorities to prepare a local plan as mandated by the TCPA had deprived the public of its statutory and legal right to participate in the development of the areas where they live.
They also contended that the refusal of the authorities to engage the public in the rezoning process, which involved the exercise by the state of its discretionary powers, was an abuse of power.
They said a Federal Court decision was necessary to resolve conflicting judicial decisions on whether the TCPA allows for public participation in the rezoning process.