We advise extensively on land use planning and expropriation matters. We have prepared submissions on land use applications, appeared in appeals in terms of section 62 of the Local Government Municipal Systems Act, provided training on legal developments to government entities and acted in litigation both in defence of and in challenging the award of land use rights. We regularly provide advice on the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, provincial planning laws, and, in particular, the Western Cape Land Use Planning Act, and various municipal planning by-laws.
We complement our land use planning expertise with expertise in environmental law (including protected areas), heritage law, constitutional law, administrative law, local government law generally and the regulation of municipal land, building plan approvals, major hazard installations, the regulation of special economic zones and strategic infrastructure projects. This enables us to provide our clients with holistic advice so that they can take practical steps to avoid the trip wires that may undermine development projects.
Our broader expertise in land law extends to advising clients on expropriations, including negotiations with the government in respect of voluntary acquisitions of land, and challenges to expropriation decisions and compensation determinations.