20-year EEC town plan tweaks land utilisation
The cabinet yesterday approved the new town plan for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
The plan stipulates land utilisation for five areas: urban and community area; industrial area; remote and agriculture area; conservation and forest area; and water.
The EEC town plan spans 8.29 million rai of land in 30 districts of three provinces: Chon Buri, Rayong and Chachoengsao. The land is designated for development from 2017 to 2037 in the EEC.
Under the new town plan, urban and community areas will increase by 279,008 rai from 2017 to 1.09 million rai in 2037, with industrial areas increasing by 165,085 rai to 424,854 rai.
Rural areas and farmland will fall by 673,743 rai to 4.85 million rai, while the natural resources and environmental conservation areas will increase by 1.67 million rai. The forest areas are maintained at 1.34 million rai.
Other areas, including water and military, will decline to 239,833 rai.
The Department of Public Works and Town & Country Planning reported that landowners of 673,747 rai are expected to benefit because land prices will increase or they can develop their own property projects.
The department said the environment will see a slight effect from EEC development now that the city plan has designed a buffer zone between industrial factories and communities spanning 13,577 rai.
The population in the EEC area is forecast to reach six million by 2037, up from 4.01 million in 2017.
After the cabinet’s approval, the department will create a detailed plan for each district.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the cabinet’s approval will help boost investor confidence now that the land use issue is settled.
He said the government has been speeding development of key infrastructure projects for the EEC, including the high-speed railway linking three key airports and the third phase of Map Ta Phut seaport.
A Charoen Pokphand Group-led consortium signed a contract with the State Railway of Thailand on Oct 24 to build the high-speed airport rail link.
On Oct 1, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand signed a public-private partnership contract with Gulf MTP LNG Terminal to develop the third phase of Map Ta Phut seaport, worth 55.4 billion baht, on 1,000 rai.