Planning Controls in Honiara City

The Honiara Local Planning Scheme 2015 provides land use and development controls for all developments within Honiara City.

The Honiara Local Planning Scheme was gazetted on 13 October 2015. All developments must comply with the Local Planning Scheme. Applicants are required to submit their proposals for approval by the Honiara Town and Country Planning Board.  In the application, the applicant must demonstrate how the design and land use of the proposal complies with the Local Planning Scheme.

Under the Local Planning Scheme, there are three types of planning controls for developments within the City:

1. Zoning – which are identified on the Zoning Plans at the back of the Local Planning Scheme. Zoning controls specify what developments are allowed and not allowed in different areas or zones.
2. Overlays – which are also shown on the Zoning Plans. These are additional controls for developments on specific locations due to specific land constraints and/or other strategic initiatives.
3. Development Standards– which are additional controls to guide the design of different developments. These controls are included in the Local Planning Scheme and are provided to ensure developments are deigned in a way that do not create impacts on the adjoining properties and conform with the desired character of the City.

The Local Planning Scheme also shows the Vision of the City.  It is a strategic document to guide the growth of the City into the Future.

Honiara local planning Scheme 2015

The full Honiara Local Planning Scheme can be downloaded in here:

• Complete Local Planning Scheme 2015

The individual chapters can be downloaded in here:

• Part A – Preliminaries
  • Front Pages & Part A – Preliminaries (Chapters 1-4)
• Part B – Planning Framework and Standards
  • The Future of Honiara (Chapter 5)
  • Zoning Controls (Chapter 6)
  • Overlay Controls (Chapter 7)
  • Design Standards for Subdivision (Chapter 8)
  • Design Standards for All Developments & References (Chapters 9-10)
  • Zoning Maps (Addendum)

  • What is a Local Planning Scheme

    A Local Planning Scheme is document that controls developments in the Honiara Town boundaries.

    The purposes of a Local Planning Scheme is to:

    • (a) to assist in securing orderly development in the interests of the health, amenity, convenience and general welfare of the community;
    • (b) to indicate the general principles upon which development in the area will be promoted and controlled;
    • (c) to assist in the selection of, or to define sites for particular purposes, whether by the carrying out of development thereon or otherwise;
    • (d) to protect features or areas of social, historical, scenic or architectural importance;
    • (e) to safeguard routes for highways, pipelines and other services; and
    • (f) to indicate the stages by which development should be carried out.

    For further information, please contact the HCC Physical Planning Division at 27006/23014 or 21133/21134 extension 212, OR Physical Planning in the Ministry of Lands Housing and Survey at 28600.