Lewis Kebble 1969 defines Urban and Regional Planning as the art and science of ordering the use of land and the character and sitting of buildings and communication routes so as to secure the maximum practicable degree of economy, convenience and beauty.
According to this definition however, the primary purpose of Urban and Regional Planning is to enhance the use of land in relation to the spiritual, social, political and economic needs of man. Abercombie, 1993 also defines Urban and Regional Planning as a course of study that seeks to proffer a guiding hand to the trend of natural evolution, as a result of careful study of the place itself and its external relationships. The result is to be more than a piece of skillful engineering, or satisfactory hygiene or successful economics: it should be social organism and a work of art. From the foregoing, it can be noted that the essentiality of Urban and Regional Planning is to ensure orderliness in the use of land and to use the various environmental components as instruments of social order. Urban and Regional Planning also means environmental planning in some countries or jurisdictions. Based on this, environmental planning is defined according to Wikipeadia, as the process of facilitating decision-making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural enviroment,social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to achieve sustainable development. In the same vein, the term Urban and Regional Planning also operates within the principles of environmental laws as may be decided by the law makers of a particular territory, country, state and local government area. The purpose of environmental law as an integral part of Urban and Regional Planning as stated clearly by Wikipedia, Environmental law is a collective the term describing the network of treaties, statutes, regulations, and common and customary laws addressing the effects of human activity on the natural environment. Lewis Keeble appeared closely to these major principles of environmental law in relation to Urban and Regional Planning in the use of land that, ‘’No noise, smell, and so on, perceptible to neighbors which is attributable the use’’. The fundamentality of environmental law as applied to Urban and Regional Planning as stated by Oluremi Obateru(2005) that the existing use of land or existing use or occupancy of a building or structure is normally continued provided (a) the use or occupancy is not detrimental to the users or occupiers or to the safety and welfare of the public (b) there is no material change in the use of land, building or structure. But when the use or occupancy of land by one land owner diminishes or cause harms or deprive the adjoining land users from enjoying their land, the adjoining land users can sue the land user for strict liability under the rule of Rylands vs Fletcher. According to M. Ademola A. Taiwo (2xxx), “ Country/City or Town Planning control is inevitable, solely aimed at checking nefarious activities of developers, landowners, land speculators and estate quacks from building their houses as they like at the detriment of the public interest. The main fact is that a development plan cannot work in the absence of planning regulations. “ Hazardous wastes is a constraint to the protection and sustainability of our environment. From the view of an environmentalist, Professor Dharmendra S. Sengar (an Indian) states that “industrial civilization has led to an explosive growth of industries including the hazardous ones. Companies and industries have not only exploited the natural resources to their maximum, but the discharge of toxic effluents and emissions from hazardous industries have also polluted the surrounding environment. Thus, industrialization has resulted in a high degradation of the environment and caused enormous to human health MR. Ademola A. Taiwo(2xxx:). ”
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE ASSIGNMENT
In the rule of Rylands and Fletcher as cited by MR. Ademola A. Taiwo(2xxx:), “ The Courts have been alive to their responsibilities under civil liability since all the laws already mentioned come under criminal law. Rylands vs Fletcher (1868 LR 3 HL p 330) is the umbrella under which the courts have dealt vividly with various environmental cases. The principle involved in this case is known as “Sic utere tuo et alienum non laedas” meaning “that one should not use one’s property or exercise one’s rights in such away as to interfere with the rights of others. In Rylands vs Fletcher, Blackburn J. held that: a person who for his own purpose brings on his land and collects and keeps there anything likely to do mischief if it escapes, must keep it at his peril, and if he does not do so it is prima facie answerable for all the damages which is the natural consequences of its escape. In the same vein, Nuisance is an offensive thing which impairs the enjoyment , health or property of another. This is where the of rule of Rylands vs Fletcher and Urban and Regional Planning are relevant because the rule of Rylands vs Fletcher is rudimentary to environmental law in the adjudication of land disputes, tress to land, civil or strict liability, nuisance and many more and environmental law is an important integral component of Urban and Regional Planning.
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