“Amending the Land Law: Numerous Localities Petition to Omit the Proposed Commune-Level Land-Use Planning Requirement.”

A proposal was made during a conference held on August 8 to gather opinions from ministries, sectors, and northern provinces and cities on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Land Law.

At the conference, Ms. Trinh Thi Thu Huyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Lao Cai province, shared her thoughts on land use planning and management. She suggested that the land use planning at the communal level should be abolished, and only the five-year land use plan at the communal level should be implemented. This suggestion comes from the reality that in the past time, many cases have just completed the planning but then had to be adjusted.

According to Ms. Huyen, land use planning at the communal level should be combined with the formulation of a five-year land use plan, instead of being separated. This should be done every five years as very few land use plans remain unchanged over ten years. Even at the district, provincial, and national levels, reviews and adjustments are often made after five years. A five-year plan sufficiently reflects the targets and land use indicators for that period. When adjustments are needed, the process will be simpler, focusing only on indicator control.

Ms. Huyen provided an example: “This year’s target is 100 hectares of residential land, and the competent authority will decide on the specific location; or 100 hectares of land for other purposes, and the locality will proactively arrange and use it. This delegation of authority provides flexibility, especially when there are new investment projects or investors outside the budget. Currently, if there is a new project and the land use plan is not suitable, adjustments will be very difficult.”

“Although the targets set for the commune this year are not many, adjustments are still needed in the planning process and related planning. According to regulations, in places with new construction or adjustments, procedures will be simpler compared to adjusting existing land use planning,” said Ms. Huyen.

Taking into account Ms. Huyen’s opinion, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Minh Ngan stated: “This content has been discussed by the Central Executive Committee before. Resolution 18 clearly states that land use planning and plans must be made from the central to the grassroots levels. However, today’s conference will gather opinions from 15 northern provinces on the suggestion to make only a five-year land use plan at the communal level, without making a land use plan at the communal level.”

According to the voting results at the conference, 12 out of 15 provinces agreed with the proposal to abolish land use planning at the communal level, including Hanoi, Ninh Binh, Tuyen Quang, Lang Son, Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh, Cao Bang, Lao Cai, Lai Chau, Hai Phong, Son La, and Thai Nguyen. The three provinces with different opinions were Phu Tho (disagree), Hung Yen (no opinion), and Dien Bien (absent).

As the only locality agreeing with the proposal to make a land use plan at the communal level, Mr. Phan Trong Tan, Vice Chairman of Phu Tho People’s Committee, stated that land use planning at the communal level is still necessary.

“Previously, the land use planning and plans at the district level were often made annually, and now it is reasonable to move it to the communal level and extend it to five years. However, it needs to be accompanied by a flexible adjustment mechanism. In one year, many programs and projects arise that we cannot foresee. Therefore, timely adjustments should be allowed, even multiple adjustments if necessary, to suit the actual situation,” said Mr. Tan.