Cap. 356 Art. 2Interpretation.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

"action plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 26;

"advertisement" means any word, letter, model, sign, placard, board, notice, device or representation, whether illuminated or not, in the nature of and employed wholly or in part for the purposes of advertisement, announcement or direction, including any boarding or similar structure used or adapted for use for the display of advertisements;

"advertisement regulation order" means an order made under and for the purposes of article 49;

"agency of Government" means a body corporate established by law and a company in which the Government or such body corporate, or a combination thereof has a controlling interest or which is a subsidiary of such a company; ''application'' means a development permission application; ''application report'' means the final development permission application report; "the Authority" means the Malta Environment and Planning Authority established under article 3 and includes any body or other person acting on its behalf under powers delegated by the Authority under this Act;

"building" includes any structure or erection and any part of a building, but does not include plant or machinery comprised in a building; "building levy" means any charge or contribution levied under article 41 or 42; "building or work" includes waste materials, refuse and other matters deposited on land; "building operations" includes rebuilding operations, structural alterations of or additions to buildings, and other operations normally undertaken by a person carrying on business as a builder; ''the Chairman of the Board'' means the Chairman of the Authority appointed in terms of article 3(4); "conservation order" means an order made under and for the purposes of article 46; "the Commission" means the Development Control Commission established under article 13; "the Committee" means the Planning Consultative Committee established under article 12; "development" has the meaning assigned to it by article 30(2); ''development brief'' has the same meaning assigned to it as in ''development plans'' includes the structure plan, subject plans, local plans, action plans and development briefs; "development order" means an order made under and for the purposes of article 31; "the Director of Planning" and "the Director" mean the Director of Planning appointed under article 6 and includes any person acting on his behalf or under his authority;

''enforcement notice'' is any notice issued under article 52 and may include any notice which the Authority may issue from time to time in terms of articles 51 to 55; "engineering operations" includes the formation or laying out of roads and of means of access to roads; "erection" in relation to buildings, includes extension, alteration and re-erection; "exempt works" means any works or development which do not require a development permission under Part IV; "financial year" means the period of twelve months ending on 31st December of any year: Provided that the financial year which commenced on the 1st October, 2007 shall be for a period of fifteen months and shall terminate on the 31st December, 2008; "functions" includes responsibilities, powers and duties; ''House'' means the House of Representatives;

"land" includes a building; ''local council'' means a local council established under the Local

Government Act; "local plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 25; ''the Mediator'' means a Planning Mediator appointed in terms of article 32A(1); ''minerals'' includes all minerals and substances (including oil and natural gas) in or under land of a kind ordinarily worked for removal by underground or surface working; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for development planning; ''official manual'' means the official manual referred to in article 5(2)(c); ''owner'' means -

(a) a person who in his own right or as agent for another is entitled to receive the rent of the land or, where the land is not let, would be so entitled if it were let;

(d) any one of the spouses, where the land to which the development relates forms part of the community of acquests; "the Planning Appeals Board", "the Appeals Board" and "the Board", mean the Planning Appeals Board established under article 14; ''planning policy'' means a policy approved in terms of article 29A or article 29B or article 29C; ''planning position statement'' means a statement issued by either the Minister or the Authority in order to provide a detailed technical explanation justifying a position with respect to a specific planning issue; "prescribed" means prescribed by regulation, rule, order or other instrument made as provided in the provisions of this Act empowering the making of any such instrument; "public officer" has the meaning assigned to it by article 124 of the Constitution; "road" means any highway or road, whether public or private, and includes any street, square, court, alley, lane, bridge, footway, passage or quay, whether thoroughfare or not;

"scheduled buildings" and "scheduled trees" have the meaning assigned to them by article 46 and 48, respectively;

''Standing Committee'' means the Standing Committee on Development Planning established in terms of article 17B(1);

"structure plan" has the meaning assigned to it by articles 18 and 22;

"subject plan" has the meaning assigned to it by article 24; ''subsidiary plans'' shall have the same meaning assigned to it in article 23; ''Temporary Provisions Schemes'' means a planning scheme prepared and approved in accordance with the Building Permits (Temporary Provisions) Act;

"tree preservation order" means an order made under and for the purposes of article 48;

"use", in relation to land, does not include the use of land by the carrying out of any building, engineering, mining or other operations thereon; "Users’ Committee" means the Committee established under article 17A of this Act.