What does a municipality plan contain?

The municipality plan (kommuneplan) is the municipality's overarching governance tool. The land-use element (arealdel) of the municipality plan, with its plan map and provisions, can be decisive for what you are able to develop. Here you will gain insight into what a municipality plan consists of, what you should investigate, and which restrictions you may come up against.

Can I do whatever I want on my plot? What guidelines does the municipality have? The municipality's many plans and regulations can be decisive for what it is possible to develop on a plot. It is easy to get lost among the various plans, and there are a number of details that are decisive for the development potential. The two most important plans you need to take into account are the municipality plan and, where one exists, the zoning plan (reguleringsplan). Here we take an in-depth look at the municipality plan.

The municipality plan and the land-use element of the municipality plan

The municipality plan is the overarching governing document in every municipality. It consists of a social element (samfunnsdel) and a land-use element. In most municipalities, the municipality plan is revised every four years, often in connection with a new political term of office.

• The social element is the municipality's tool for setting the direction of community development and highlighting the municipality's strategic choices. It typically covers matters that are central to community development, such as children and young people, public health, integration, older people, business policy, etc. The social element of the municipality plan must also set out the challenges, objectives and strategies for the municipality as an organisation.
• The land-use element must follow up the social element. It must show how the municipality's land use will help the municipality achieve the objectives presented in the social element. The land-use element of the municipality plan can be decisive for property development in a given area. The land-use element is used as a management tool both to show areas where the municipality wants a particular planning effort and to illustrate areas that are important to manage in specific ways. The land-use element establishes, with binding effect, the future use of the various areas, cf. plan- og bygningsloven (the Norwegian Planning and Building Act) § 11-6. It provides a basis for drawing up more detailed plans for individual areas and for making decisions in individual cases in line with municipal objectives and national land-use policy.

The land-use element must contain:

• Plan map
• Planning description
• General provisions

Plan map

In the plan map you will find the main features of land use, as well as the land-use purposes (arealformål) and consideration zones (hensynssoner), with the associated provisions laid down in the plan. Areas are designated by land-use purpose, and consideration zones are designated where appropriate. The plan map must be unambiguous. The legend and the associated provisions must make it clear which land-use purposes and consideration zones the areas are designated for, and which restrictions and requirements apply.

Planning description

The planning description must describe the purpose, main content and effects of the municipality plan, cf. plan- og bygningsloven § 4-2. It must state which assessments led to the proposed plan and which framework conditions the plan is based on. If new areas are being made available for development, or for substantially changed land use in existing built-up areas, the planning description must include an impact assessment (konsekvensutredning).

Planning provisions

The planning provisions for the land-use element of the municipality plan are a document describing a number of matters you need to be aware of as a developer. Some of these matters may apply throughout the municipality, while others apply only to parts of the municipality, or to certain sites.

More about the plan map

In the plan map you will find six different land-use purposes, and each of them can, as required, have several sub-purposes.

1. Buildings and installations.Sub-purposes: residential buildings, holiday homes, town centre purposes, shopping centres, shops, buildings for public or private services, leisure and tourism purposes, extraction of raw materials, commercial buildings, sports facilities, other types of installations, outdoor recreation areas, cemeteries and urn groves.

2. Transport facilities and technical infrastructure.Sub-purposes: roads, railways, airports, harbours, main cycle network, public transport network, public transport hubs, car parks, routes for technical infrastructure.

3. Green structure.Sub-purposes: natural areas, walking corridors, public open spaces and parks.

4. Defence.Sub-purposes: various types of military purposes.

5. Agriculture, nature and outdoor recreation purposes, and reindeer husbandry.Sub-purposes:a) areas for necessary measures for agriculture and reindeer husbandry and farm-related business activities based on the farm's resource base.b) areas for scattered residential, holiday or commercial buildings, etc., cf. § 11–11 no. 2.

6. Use and protection of the sea and watercourses, with the associated shoreline zone.Sub-purposes: navigation, shipping lanes, fishing, aquaculture, drinking water, nature and outdoor recreation areas, separately or in combination.

In areas where the land-use plan only specifies main purposes for land use, provisions clarifying the conditions for use and protection of the areas must be laid down to the extent necessary, cf. Plan og bygningsloven §§ 11–9 to 11–11”. These areas must be shown on the map.

Consideration zones

Consideration zones are shown in the plan map. These are considerations and restrictions that affect the use of land. They may have associated guidelines and provisions, and several zones can be designated for the same area.

Consideration zones have their legal basis in Plan og bygningsloven § 11-8. “For consideration zones, it shall be specified to the extent necessary which provisions and guidelines apply or shall apply pursuant to the Act or other Acts in order to safeguard the consideration that the zone indicates.

The following consideration zones may be established:

a) Safety, noise and hazard zones, stating the cause of the hazard or the environmental risk. Provisions may be laid down that prohibit or set conditions for measures and/or activities, cf. § 1–6, within the zone.

b) Zone with special infrastructure requirements, stating the type of infrastructure. Provisions may be laid down on infrastructure requirements in a development area, either as prohibitions or as orders pursuant to § 11–9 no. 3 and no. 4.

c) Zone with special consideration for agriculture, reindeer husbandry, mineral resources, outdoor recreation, green structure, landscape or the conservation of the natural or cultural environment, stating the interest concerned. For the buffer zone around national parks and protected landscapes, provisions to prevent significant deterioration of the conservation values in the protected area may be laid down at the same time as protection regulations are adopted for a new protected area, or protection regulations or management plans for established protected areas are revised. Guidelines may be issued on restrictions on activities and conditions for measures in order to safeguard the interest in the zone. Guidelines may be issued on which considerations are to be given weight when applying other legislation, insofar as the municipality has been granted authority under the relevant Act.

d) Zone for reservation of land (båndlegging) pending a decision under plan- og bygningsloven or other Acts, or which has been reserved on such a legal basis, stating the purpose. Reservation pending a decision under plan- og bygningsloven or other Acts is limited to four years, but may be extended by four years following an application to the ministry.

e) Zone with a requirement for joint planning for several properties, including special forms of cooperation or ownership, as well as transformation and renewal. Provisions for this zone may stipulate that several properties in an area are to be subject to joint planning and that special implementation measures are to be used. Provisions may also be laid down pursuant to § 11–9 no. 3.

f) Zone where the existing zoning plan is to continue to apply unchanged. When using this consideration zone, the municipality must assess whether the zoning plans are consistent with national and regional interests”.

Consideration zones must show important considerations and interests and apply regardless of which land-use purpose applies in an area. Consideration zones can be linked to natural or statutory conditions that directly restrict land use, or to requirements for quality and design set out in provisions for the consideration zones. They also form the basis for further case processing and zoning, and can be used, for example, to show where joint planning is required for several areas. The extent to which consideration zones are used is assessed together with land-use purposes and provisions. Plan og bygningsloven intends them to be limited to significant matters.

More about planning provisions

As illustrated above, there are a number of areas that can be subject to various provisions. As a developer, the planning provisions are a document you should be familiar with in addition to the plan map. The planning provisions are usually easy to find on the municipality's website. Their legal basis is in three sections of plan og bygningsloven:

• § 11-8 Provisions for consideration zones ( discussed above)
• § 11-9 General planning provisions for the land-use element of the municipality plan
• §§ 11-10 and 11-11 Provisions for the individual land-use purposes in the land-use element

General provisions for the land-use element of the municipality plan

Regardless of land-use purpose, the municipality may adopt provisions for the land-use element of the municipality plan on:

• requirements for a zoning plan for certain areas or for certain projects, including that an area zoning plan (områderegulering) must be in place before a detailed zoning plan (detaljregulering) can be adopted,
• the content of development agreements (utbyggingsavtaler), cf. § 17-2,
• requirements for specified solutions for water supply, sewerage, drainage, roads and other transport in connection with new building and construction projects, including prohibitions on or orders for such solutions, and requirements for the individual facility, cf. § 18-1.Provisions may also be laid down on preparing for the supply of water-borne heating to new buildings, cf. § 27-5,
• phasing requirements (rekkefølgekrav) to ensure that community services (schools, for example), technical infrastructure and green structure are established before areas are taken into use, and the timing of when areas can be taken into use for building and construction purposes, including the order in which development takes place,
• building lines, development volume and functional requirements, including universal design, play areas, outdoor areas and recreation spaces, signs and advertising, parking, payment in lieu of parking spaces under § 28-7 and use of the housing stock under § 31-6,
• environmental quality, aesthetics, nature, landscape and green structure, including temporary and movable structures and installations,
• considerations to be taken regarding the conservation of existing buildings and other cultural environments,
• matters to be clarified and examined in further zoning work, including provisions on environmental follow-up and monitoring.

The general provisions can apply to the entire area of the municipality or to sub-areas within the municipality in question. These can be followed up through specific requirements in zoning plans.

For land-use purposes 1-4 (buildings and installations, transport facilities and technical infrastructure, green structure and defence), provisions may be laid down on a number of matters. Under plan og bygningsloven § 11-7, provisions may, to the extent necessary, be laid down on:

• smaller development projects not requiring a further plan if provisions have been laid down on development volume and outdoor space, and the relationship to the transport network and other legislation has been addressed,
• the physical design of installations,
• which areas are to be for public purposes or common areas,
• location, use and restriction classes for accesses onto roads,
• in which areas Forsvaret (the Norwegian Armed Forces) may itself make decisions on activities, buildings and installations pursuant to § 20-7.

For land-use purposes no. 5 and 6 (agriculture, nature and outdoor recreation purposes and reindeer husbandry, and use and protection of the sea and watercourses, with the associated shoreline zone), provisions may, to the extent necessary, be laid down under § 11-7 of plan og bygningsloven on:

• the extent, location and design of buildings and installations for agriculture and reindeer husbandry as referred to in § 11-7 second paragraph no. 5,
• scattered residential, holiday or commercial buildings and other buildings being permitted through the processing of individual applications or a zoning plan when the purpose, scale and location of the buildings are specified in the land-use plan,
• use and protection of the water surface, water column and seabed,
• permitting necessary buildings, small installations and storage in the 100-metre belt along the sea for the purposes of agriculture, reindeer husbandry, fishing, hunting and trapping, aquaculture and maritime traffic,
• prohibiting specified building and construction projects in areas up to 100 metres along watercourses. In such areas, provisions may also be laid down to secure or maintain riparian vegetation and to secure public access to the shoreline zone,
• traffic in areas with special conservation considerations and at sea,
• which species groups or species of aquaculture may be established individually or in combination.

Six main types of provisions

• The first type of provision, under plan- og bygningsloven § 11-9 no. 1, means that a zoning plan (area zoning and/or detailed zoning) may be required. A zoning plan must be adopted before specified building and construction work can be carried out in areas of the land-use element where the planning requirement applies.
• The second main type of provision, under plan- og bygningsloven §§ 11-9 no. 5, 11-10 and 11-11 nos. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, relates to building areas, LNFR areas (agriculture, nature, outdoor recreation and reindeer husbandry) with scattered development, and the shoreline zone along the sea and watercourses. These cover criteria for the location of buildings and installations, and what buildings and areas may be used for. Such provisions can also be used to determine the scale and volume of new development, that is, controlling plot utilisation and the number of units (the number of buildings, not the number of dwellings). Functional requirements and requirements for the design of buildings and installations may also be imposed. Requirements may also be set for outdoor solutions and the landscaping of outdoor areas, etc., at the same time as the buildings.
• The third main type of provision, under plan- og bygningsloven § 11-9 no. 4, concerns phasing. Planning provisions can either coordinate the order in which the individual projects in a building area are carried out, or set the time, or the requirements that must be met, for when an area is considered ready for building. Development can then be coordinated with the establishment of higher-level infrastructure or other necessary public services. Such provisions can also relate to matters outside the plan area, for example so that projects within the area of a municipal sub-plan (kommunedelplan) cannot be carried out until higher-level infrastructure outside the plan area has been established and put into operation.
• The fourth main type of provision, under plan- og bygningsloven § 11-11no. 5, 6 and 7, concerns outright building bans. This could, for example, be a ban on carrying out specified building and construction projects in the 100-metre belt along watercourses.
• The fifth main type of provision covers design, environmental and functional requirements, cf. plan- og bygningsloven § 11-9 nos. 3, 5, 6 and 7 and § 11-10 no. 2. This can, for example, include requirements for technical solutions and installations, building lines, functional requirements for outdoor areas and buildings, requirements for environmental quality and aesthetics, and considerations to be taken regarding the conservation of buildings and cultural environments, etc.
• The sixth type of provision relates to matters to be followed up in further zoning work, including environmental follow-up and monitoring, cf. § 11-9no. 8.

General trends in municipal land management

Norwegian municipalities face fairly divergent, often partly conflicting challenges. Many municipalities are experiencing depopulation, while some have limited access to land to support the growth they want. Nevertheless, there are some common challenges that most municipalities face and that shape development in most municipalities. There is an increased focus on retaining and/or increasing the extent of agricultural soil and potential food-producing land. Consequently, it is increasingly important to map the land type of a given area, as it is often more demanding than before to develop on cultivated land.

The climate challenges we face are also leading to greater attention to high land utilisation in town centres and around public transport hubs. A number of centrally located municipalities want to densify and transform these areas rather than take new development areas into use. The climate challenges are also causing the weather to change, and there is also ever greater awareness of preserving biodiversity in flora and fauna.

How Placepoint can help you uncover matters in the municipality plan

In Placepoint you can easily find the municipality plan and zoning plan for the plot you are investigating. From there, we have linked to the individual municipality's website. Different municipalities have different solutions, but it is usually relatively easy to find the municipality plan and its provisions once you have opened a plot or an area. We also have a number of other map layers that reveal matters it is becoming increasingly important to be aware of, maps showing the land type, nature and cultural areas, cultural heritage sites, protection plans for watercourses (verneplan for vassdrag), the shoreline zone and the forest boundary (markagrensen), to name a few.