The proposed Town Planning White Bill could see developers' plans stymied by silly objections and regulatory wrangling, according to surveyors who have studied the bill.
Members of the Institute of Surveyors and the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors say they will be seeking meetings with government officials to address some of the problems they see with the legislation.
'We are aware of certain grey areas which need to be improved,' Edward Lai Yue-wah, secretary-general of the surveyors' organisations, said.
One surveyor said there was a real chance that developers could find their plans blocked by 'spurious' complaints.
The surveyor said if the Town Planning White Bill was going to entertain all objections, it would lead to an abuse of the system.
The surveyor said: 'It is going to be very difficult for the Government to determine what is a spurious complaint or an unreasonable objection and what is not.' 'Developers won't be able to proceed with development until the Government gets that sorted out,' he said.
Hypothetically, a developer could have its project delayed as long as two years because someone did not like the height of the proposed building, even though it did not break any zoning regulations, the surveyor said.