Town Planning And Building Control : (b) Machinery of Control of town planning in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba), British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 782. Chapter XVIII: Town Planning and The Problem of Housing : Section 1:

CHAPTER XVIII.

3. The most important change which this Bill is designed to effect relates to planning rates; the provisions of the existing law in regard to betterment tax have proved to be unworkable and, on this account, local authorities have been unable, for lack of funds, to undertake many desirable town planning improvements; where it has been possible to make such improvements at public expense the effect has been to enhance the value of private properties without any proportionate compensation to the public purse. The Bill provides for the imposition both of a general planning rate upon all owners of land in a planning area so as to meet expenses upon the preparation and execution of all schemes within that area and also a particular planning rate to meet the expense of a particular planning scheme, to be levied only upon the owners of property affected by such scheme. The income from such rates should enable authorities to carry out a reasonably extensive long term planning programme and to introduce many public amenities the need for which has long been felt.

4. The new Ordinance, which it is hoped will be enacted Early , will consolidate and bring up to date existing scattered legislation and thus present to Government and the public a handbook in convenient form containing the whole law relating to building and planning. It will contain inter alia a uniform set of rules of procedure affecting such matters as the payment of fees, the presentation of schemes and the issue of permits, for which provision has hitherto been made in a multitude of separate rules and by-laws.

(b) Machinery of control.

5. The Town Planning and Building Ordinance is operated by six District Building and Town Planning Commissions. The areas of jurisdiction of these District Commissions coincide with those of the six administrative districts. They are bodies consisting of officials only, the District Commissioner being Chairman and the Town Planning Adviser and representatives of the Attorney General, the Director of Medical Services and the Director of Public Works being the only members; the inclusion of the Town Planning Adviser in all six Commissions ensures uniformity in application of major principles. 'These Commissions were created to implement a policy of decentralization agreed upon in 1936; before that year there existed only one Central Town Planning Commission which attempted to guide and assist town planning projects throughout the country. It may be necessary, however, before

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