LM216

Planning and Environmental Law

COURSE OUTLINE

1. SEMESTER/YEAR: Semester 2, 2020

2. MODE OF DELIVERY/LOCATION: Blended, Face to Face

3. PRE-REQUISITES: None

4. COURSE CO-ORDINATOR: Akanisi Nabalarua; LLB, BMS(Hons), PGDipIRSS, MSc (IPP)

5. TEACHING TEAM:

Name: Ms. Akanisi Nabalarua

Office: 003-028
Phone: (679) 323 2469
Email: nabalarua_a@usp.ac.fj
Consultation Hours: Tuesday and Friday
1pm – 2pm

6. LECTURE TIMES & VENUE*

Day Time Room

Lectures: 2x 1 hour Thursday 4pm – 6pm 014 – 028

Tutorials: Tuesday 5-6pm Zoom

Please select only one Wednesday 4-5pm 014-112
Thursday 6-7pm 014-114
*subject to change – to be confirmed by end of Week 1

7. EMERGENCY CONTACT
Name: Mrs. Fulori Liwaiono
Phone: 3232469
Email: liwaiono_f@usp.ac.fj

8. COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course looks closely at the Planning Law in USP member countries and land use
controls. In addition, the environmental laws governing planning activities will be
introduced to students. Covenants restricting land use and easements relating to land will
be discussed.

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9. COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. Explain the statutes and conventions governing environmental issues in Fiji and the
Pacific
2. Discuss the application of relevant land and environmental principles to land use
control in the Pacific to past case studies
3. Discuss the implications of relevant planning and environmental covenants,
easements and case-laws in the Pacific region with reference to case studies
4. Apply legal principles, statutes and case law to scenarios

10. USP GRADUATE OUTCOMES

The USP graduate outcomes are as follows:

1. Creativity: Graduates will generate new ideas and approaches to solve problems.
2. Communication: Graduates will choose appropriate language and modes of
communication to share ideas and capture understanding.
3. Critical thinking: Graduates will evaluate ideas and opinions before forming a
conclusion.
4. Ethics: Graduates will apply ethical reasoning to their actions and decision-making.
5. Pacific consciousness: Graduates will recognize the cultural heritage, and diversity of
Pacific societies.
6. Professionalism: Graduates will apply professional principles, values and ethics to
their work.
7. Teamwork: Graduates will collaborate with people of diverse perspectives to
achieve goals.

11. COURSE CONTENT

Week Topic
1. General Introduction & Sources of Law
2. Historical Development
3. Law of Torts
4. Planning Law in the Pacific
5. Development Control
6. Planning Permission
7. Challenging Decisions
8. MID SEMESTER BREAK
9. Relief & Betterment
10. Environmental Legislation
11. Sustainable Development
12. Environmental Impact Assessment Process
13. Waste Management and Pollution controls
14. Enforcement
15. Revision for Final Exam

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12. PRESCRIBED TEXT AND OTHER RESOURCES

 Telling, A E (2002) Planning Law & Procedure, Butterworths, London.

 Cases and materials referred to in Weekly Lecture and Tutorial Outlines
 Morgan, P & Nott, S; (1995) Development Control: Law, Policy and Practice, Butterworths,
London.
 Cullingworth, J B & Nadin, V; (2001) Town and Country Planning in the UK, Routledge, London.
Moore; (1992)
 A Practical Approach to Planning Law, Blackstone Press, London

Legislation
 Town Planning Act (Cap 139)
 Local Government Act
 Land Transfer Act (Cap 131)
 Land Development Act
 Property Law Act (Cap 130)
 Public Health Act
 State Lands Acquisition Act
 Subdivision of Lands Act
 Environment Management Act 2005
 Environmental Treaties and Conventions

13. ALIGNMENT OF LEARNING OUTCOMES, ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENT

The following table demonstrates the alignment of the course learning outcomes to
appropriate activities and assessments and the links to programme and USP graduate
outcomes.

Course Learning Associated Assessmen Programm USP Graduate

Outcome Teaching and t e Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Activities

1. Explain the statutes and Face to face Case PGO 1,2  Communicatio
conventions governing lecture series Summaries, n
environmental issues in & Weekly Tutorial  Pacific
Fiji and the Pacific tutorial Hand-ins, Consciousness
sessions & Case Study  Professionalism
eReaders
portfolio
2. Discuss the application Face to face Case PGO 1,2  Communicatio
of relevant land and lecture series Summaries, n
environmental & Weekly Tutorial  Critical thinking
principles to land use tutorial Hand-ins, and
control in the Pacific to sessions & Case Study quantitative
past case studies eReaders reasoning
portfolio  Pacific
Consciousness
 Professionalism
3. Discuss the implications Face to face Online PGO 1,2  Communicatio

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 of relevant planning and lecture series Quiz, n
environmental & Weekly Tutorial  Critical thinking
covenants, easements tutorial Hand-ins, and
and case-laws in the sessions & Case Study quantitative
Pacific region with eReaders reasoning
reference to case portfolio  Pacific
studies Consciousness
 Professionalism
4. Apply legal principles, Face to face Online PGO 1,2,3  Communicatio
statutes and case law lecture series Quiz, n
to scenarios & Weekly Tutorial  Critical thinking
tutorial Hand-ins, and
sessions & Case Study quantitative
eReaders reasoning
portfolio  Ethics
 Pacific
Consciousness
 Professionalism

14. ASSESSMENT

14.1 ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIO

TYPE OF ASSESSMENT WEIGHT Comments/Rationale LEARNING
OUTCOME
CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT - 60%
Students will be given two
1. 2 x Case Summaries 10% cases to summarize according CLO 1, 2
to the template given out.
Online Quiz will be opened
for students to answer from a
2. Online Quiz 20% series of multi-choice CLO 3,4
questions based on Lecture
and Tutorial notes.
In class lectures, legislation
3. 2 x Tutorial Hand-ins 10% interpretation and theory- CLO 1 - 4
based tutorial activities
Students will be given a case
study problem to critically
4. Case Study 1 20% analyze and problem solve CLO1-4
based on legal principles from
Lectures and Readings.
Coverage from week 1 -14.
5. FINAL EXAMINATION 40% CLO 1 - 5
Application based questions.
14.2 PASSING THE UNIT

In order to be awarded a pass in this unit, students must:

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  “To pass any course where tutorials required, students must attend at least 60% of these to
be eligible to pass the course. Students who do not meet the 60% minimum requirement will
fail the course.
 Students with valid extenuating circumstances for non-compliance must receive written
approval from the Head of School for exemption from this regulation.

14.3 GRADE DISTRIBUTION

A+ A B+ B C+ C D E
85-100 78-84 71-77 64-70 57-63 50-56 40-49 0-39

14.4 ASSESSMENT POLICIES AND REGULATIONS

For detailed regulations, please refer to the USP Handbook and Calendar.

Plagiarism, copying materials from other sources without proper referencing and
acknowledge of the source is a serious offence and will be dealt with severely. In the
Regulations Governing Academic Misconduct section of the USP Handbook & Calendar
plagiarism is defined as “the copying of another person’s creative work and using it as
one’s own – without explicitly giving credit to the original creator. Work copied without
acknowledgement from a book, from another student’s work, from the internet or from
any other source”. If lecturer is satisfied that plagiarism has occurred, they will report the
matter to the Head of School. They can reduce marks appropriately. If the matter is seen
as serious enough it can be taken to the Student Disciplinary Committee by the Head of
School.

15. IMPORTANT DATES

Activity Week Weighting (%)

2 x Case Summaries Week 3 and Week 5 10%
Online Quiz Week 7 20%
2 x Tutorial Handouts Week 6 and Week 9 10%
Case Study 1 Week 12 20%

16. ADDITIONAL COURSE ATTENDANCE

16.1 TUTORIALS
Please select Day Time Location
only one
1. Tuesday 5-6pm Zoom (Online)
2. Wednesday 4-5pm 014-112
3. Thursday 6-7pm 014-114

17. STUDENT SUPPORT

17.1 ONLINE HELP & e-Learning INFORMATION

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These information will be uploaded on Moodle for your reference and you can contact your
tutor if you may require further assistance.

17.2 FACULTY STUDENT LEARNING SUPPORT (SLS) SERVICES

The Student Learning Support Services will be allocating a senior mentor for this unit. You
can contact the SLS team if you require assistance.

18. EXPECTATIONS OF STUDENTS

18.1 STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Students are expected to:

 Spend enough time on Moodle and other activities required in the course
 Attend all lectures, workshops, team meetings etc. unless hampered by illness in
which case you must inform your course coordinator and team members.
 Arrange with the team members to work in their own times on the project.
 Maintain proper attire for the laboratory, clothing, shoes etc.
 Facilitate the course coordinator with any proof that he/she was sick and unable to
attend classes or assessment at the earliest possible time to avoid getting a zero
mark for the missed assessment.

18.2 STUDENT WORKLOAD

STUDENT WORKLOAD Hours Comments

TYPE
Lecture Attendance 2 Students required to attend lecture sessions as the
main face to face teaching session
Tutorial 1 Students required to attend tutorial sessions where
tutorial questions are discussed
Preparation for tutorials 2.2 In preparation for tutorial discussion students
expected to review lecture materials and read
journals
Self-directed for learning 4.5 For better comprehension of topics and concepts
and reading covered, students encouraged to read electronic
journals regularly
Assignments 4.5 Assignment preparation during week that the
assignment is due & may require students to make
field visit and collect information.
TOTAL (per week) 10
TOTAL (per semester) 200

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