Town Councils Act

• Coming into Force: 01 July 2000
• copyrightNote: © Singapore legislation sourced from Singapore Statutes Online. It is subject to copyright of the Singapore Government and is reproduced with the permission of the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore.
• Enactment Date: 05 August 1988
• Published date: 01 July 2000
• Record Number: Cap. 329A
• Act Number: (Original Enactment: Act 12 of 1988)

Town Councils Act

(CHAPTER 329A)

(Original Enactment: Act 12 of 1988)

REVISED EDITION 2000

(1st July 2000)

An Act to provide for the incorporation of Town Councils to control, manage, maintain and improve the common property of housing estates of the Housing and Development Board, their constitution, functions and for matters incidental thereto.

[5th August 1988]

PART I PRELIMINARY Short title 1. This Act may be cited as the Town Councils Act. Interpretation 2.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires — “appointed member”, in relation to a Town Council, means a person who has been appointed to be a member of the Town Council under section 8 or 9(8); “Board” means the Housing and Development Board established under the Housing and Development Act (Cap. 129); “chairman”, in relation to a Town Council, means the chairman of the Town Council and includes an acting chairman of the Town Council; “charges” means the conservancy and service charges levied by a Town Council under section 39; “commercial property” means any building or premises vested in or belonging to the Board (or part of such building or premises) which is permitted under the Planning Act (Cap. 232) to be used wholly or partly as — (a) a market, food centre, confectionery, bakery, restaurant or bar, or an eating house; (b) an office or a place of business and for conducting administrative work; (c) a shop or premises for the carrying on of any trade or business where the primary purpose is the sale of goods by retail or the provision of services; Examples A furniture shop, department store, supermarket, dispensary, medical clinic, dental clinic, beauty salon, ticket agency, travel agency, laundry shop, dry cleaner’s shop, pet shop, video games arcade, computer gaming centre, billiard saloon, bowling alley, bank or multimedia kiosk, or an automated teller machine. (d) a place — (i) for the care or education, or care and education, of children below 7 years of age; or (ii) at which 5 or more school-going children who are 7 years of age or older but below 14 years of age are habitually received for the purposes of care and supervision before or after school hours; (e) premises — (i) for the reception, lodging and care of aged or disabled persons or persons suffering or convalescing from any sickness, injury or infirmity; or (ii) for any type of examination of the human body or of any matter derived from the human body for the purpose of providing information for the diagnosis, prevention or treatment of any disease or for the assessment of the health of any person; Examples A hospice, convalescent home or nursing home, or a dialysis centre, cancer screening centre or medical health centre. (f) a kindergarten registered under section 23 of the Education Act (Cap. 87) or an institution providing education or instruction; Examples A tuition centre, language school, computer school, music school, dance school, speech and drama school, child development centre or play school, or an art school or acting school. (g) a sports club, community centre, community club, family service centre or residents’ committee centre, or premises for community-based activities, and includes an office of such a club, centre or committee; or (h) a police post, fire station or civil defence centre, but excludes any property specified or described by the Minister, by order in the Gazette, as not to be a commercial property for the purposes of this Act; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “common property”, in relation to any residential or commercial property in a housing estate of the Board, means so much of the land and all parts of any building of the Board as are not being comprised in the flats in the building and, for any housing estate mentioned in section 54A(4), in respect of which a handover notice issued under section 54A is in effect, and includes — (a) the columns, beams, supports, external walls, roofs and storage spaces, lobbies, corridors, stairs, stairways, fire escapes, entrances and exits; [47/2004 wef 01/04/2005] (b) fire-fighting and protection system; (c) the central and appurtenant installations for services such as power, light, sanitation and water; (d) the escalators, lifts, water-tanks, pumps, motors, fans, compressors, ducts and all other apparatus and installations existing for common use; (e) the common facilities in the housing estate built for the use or enjoyment of the residents; (f) all recreational or community facilities, and gardens; (g) all directional signs and signboards; (h) the land appurtenant to the building and all other parts of the land intended for the use or enjoyment of the residents; and (i) such other property as may be prescribed, but does not include — (i) bus terminals and interchanges; (ii) drains, sewers and lightings maintained by the Government; (iii) swimming pools and other sports complexes; (iv) public roads and parking places; and (v) such other property as may be prescribed; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “constituency” means an electoral division under the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218) and includes a group representation constituency; “elected member”, in relation to a Town Council, means a Member of Parliament for any constituency comprised within the Town for which the Town Council is established; “finance manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council and is primarily responsible to the Town Council for — (a) the supervision and administration of the accounting systems of the Town Council, including — (i) keeping proper accounts and records of the Town Council’s transactions and affairs; (ii) ensuring that all payments out of the Town Council’s moneys are correctly made and properly authorised; and (iii) ensuring that adequate control is maintained over the receipt, custody, investment, safekeeping and expenditure of moneys and other assets of, or in custody or control of, the Town Council; (b) the preparation and revision of estimates of the revenue and expenditure of the Town Council under section 37; (c) ensuring that the financial statements of the Town Council comply with this Act; and (d) generally all financial matters relating to the Town Council; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “Financial Rules” means the rules made under section 43; “flat” means a horizontal stratum of any building or part thereof, whether the stratum is on one or more levels or is partially or wholly below the surface of the ground, which is used or intended to be used as a complete and separate unit for the purpose of human habitation or business; “general manager”, for a Town Council, means an individual (other than a member) who occupies a position in the Town Council having the general control and management of the administration of the Town Council, and includes any individual, by whatever name called, who exercises such general control and management; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “group representation constituency” means any electoral division declared to be a group representation constituency under the Parliamentary Elections Act (Cap. 218); “housing estate” means any housing estate built on any land vested in or held in trust for the Board; [Deleted by Act 34 of 2017 wef 01/01/2018] “inspector” means an inspector of Town Councils appointed under section 43E; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “key officer”, for a Town Council, means any of the following individuals, whether or not an employee of the Town Council: (a) the secretary to the Town Council; (b) the general manager of the Town Council, if there is one; (c) a finance manager of the Town Council (however designated); (d) an individual who is appointed a deputy to any officer in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) (however designated); (e) a chairperson of any committee of a Town Council where formed under section 31 for any of the following matters: (i) internal audit; (ii) finance; (iii) procurement of goods or services; (iv) publicity and public relations; (v) estate management; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “lease” includes an agreement for a lease or tenancy and “leased” shall be construed accordingly; “managing agent”, for a Town Council, means a person (whether or not the person carries on any other business) who is engaged or appointed, for monetary or other reward, to exercise any power or perform any function or duty of the Town Council under this Act, such as (but not limited to) all of the following: (a) managing common property within the Town of the Town Council; (b) controlling the use of common property by residents of the housing estates within the Town or other persons; (c) maintaining and repairing common property or engaging appropriately qualified tradespersons to do so; (d) arranging building inspections and reports; (e) keeping and maintaining documents and records relating to any function, duty or power of the Town Council; (f) undertaking the financial management of the Town Council’s funds and books of account; (g) paying disbursements and expenses incurred in connection with the person’s management of the Town Council; (h) arranging for insurance for the Town Council; (i) paying accounts in relation to the Town Council, such as accounts for water and electricity charges, but excludes the following individuals when performing any activity that is a function, duty or power of the Town Council under this Act: (i) a member of, the secretary to or other employee of the Town Council; (ii) an employee or similar officer of a managing agent of the Town Council; [Act 17 of 2017 wef 01/05/2017] “member” means an elected member or an appointed member; “owner”, in relation to any property sold by the Board, includes a person who has purchased a leasehold interest in the property and a purchaser under an agreement for a lease; “residential property” means any building or other premises vested in or belonging to the Board or any part of the building or premises which is permitted to be used pursuant to the Planning Act or any other written law wholly for the purpose of human habitation; “secretary” means any person appointed by a ...