Contents
  1. Purpose of Publicity
  2. Statutory Requirements for Publicity Measures
  3. Site Notices
  4. Adjacent Land Owner/Occupier Notification
  5. Press Notices
  6. Representations/Objections

Purpose of Publicity

The purpose of publicity is to notify the public of development that may affect them so the decision-makers can consider their views.

Section 29(1) of the Planning and Development Act 2019 requires specific applications to be publicised. Under these provisions, the planning applications that must be published are listed in the Fourth Schedule of the Planning and Development (General Development) Order, 2021. How applications must be publicised is set out in Table 1.

Information on recent planning applications that fall in this category is available on our Active Publicity Notices page.

Statutory Requirements for Publicity Measures

The applicant must publicise applications using the following:

  • displaying a notice in the prescribed form in at least one place on or near to the land to which the application refers for not less than 21 days, in a conspicuous and accessible location, clearly visible to members of the public;
  • serving a copy of the notice on the owners or occupiers of adjacent land; and
  • publishing the notice in at least one daily newspaper in general circulation in Barbados.

Site Notices

Applications for publicity will be discussed during the pre-consultation phase with the assigned planner, who will inform the applicant of the wording to go on the sign, including the graphics. The specifications for the site notice can be found here.

All site notices must be completed in full, and all details included on the site notice must correspond with the details of the planning application. The applicant should submit photographs of the displayed notice(s) to the planner within five (5) working days of the request being made by the Department to display the notice. The email should be titled with the application number and the word “Publicity Photo”. One photo should be a long range photo showing the sign within the context of the area and a close-up photo showing the text.

If this information is not submitted within the required timeframe or does not comply with the requirements, the Director shall determine that the application has been withdrawn by the applicant and may cancel and return the application to the applicant. The applicant is not entitled to a refund of any application fee paid with respect to the application or to any form of compensation.

Adjacent Land Owner/Occupier Notification

The applicant must notify adjacent property owners and occupiers about planning applications. Adjoining land owners and occupiers are those whose properties have a common boundary with the application site.  Properties separated by a road from the application site are not considered adjoining.

Adjoining or adjacent landowners’ notification shall be in the following format (example):

  • on paper sized 8.5 x 11
  • blue font on a white background of type Arial size 12; the heading should be of a size 14
  • NOTICE TO DEVELOP LAND shall be the centre heading with the following statement below “An application has been submitted to the Planning and Development Department to carry out the following development:”
  • This is followed by: a) Applicant’s name; b) Application Number; c) Address of proposal; d) Description of Proposal; e) Date of display of notice.
  • The Planning Department shall provide a description of the proposal.
  • The application file can be viewed online at the Department’s website at www.townplanning.gov.bb or at the Department in the Warrens Office Complex, Warrens, St. Michael. Any person wishing to submit a representation/objection to the application should do so no less than 14 clear days after the date the information is first published on the website. This information should be submitted to the Planning Department via email at representations@planning.gov.bb or by letter to the Director, Planning and Development Department. All objections must include specific grounds of complaint, the application number, the name, address and email of the person objecting and be signed by the person objecting.

Press Notices

The information outlined in the above notice should be published in at least one daily newspaper circulating in Barbados.

Representations/Objections

Anyone wishing to make an objection, representation or comment about a publicised application should email the details to the Planning and Development Department at representations@planning.gov.bb placing the application number within the subject and the body of the email should contain your comments along with your name and address.

All comments are public and will be shared with the Planning and Development Board and in the event of an appeal, comments will be shared with the Tribunal. Confidential or anonymous comments will be disregarded.