As mentioned in My Blog previously, we are actively rezoning suitable sites for housing development in the short to medium term to address the urgent problem of housing land shortage. At the same time, we are expediting the implementation of various new development area projects to make available housing land as soon as possible. The Hung Shui Kiu (HSK) New Development Area (NDA), the Stage 3 Community Engagement of which has just commenced, is an example of these medium to long-term NDA projects. It will be the next-generation new town for Hong Kong, providing more space for living, employment and development.

Apart from providing housing land, the HSK NDA will capitalise on its geographical advantage to become a “Regional Economic and Civic Hub” for the North West New Territories (NWNT) providing economic, community, recreational and leisure facilities for the whole of the NWNT. In addition, it will also help to resolve the prevalent problem of “brownfield sites”, thus bringing about great benefits to society as a whole. Let me briefly elaborate on a few key points of the latest planning of the NDA.

Housing and economic development
The HSK NDA will provide housing sites for the construction of about 60 100 housing flats for a population of about 173 000. Among these flats, about 51 per cent or 30 800 units will be public rental housing or subsidised sales flats. The proportion of public housing is set at this level in light of the over-concentration of public housing in the nearby Tin Shui Wai. In our view, a fundamental key factor for a diversified community and a robust local economy for a new town is the co-existence of different types of housing in which people from different social strata can find suitable accommodation. Thereby, the community can accommodate a broader range of economic activities and job opportunities so as to bring benefits to different sections of society as a whole. The public-private housing mix of the area will be 69 per cent to 31 per cent if we combine the populations of the NDA and neighbouring Tin Shui Wai.

Another feature of the HSK NDA is that it will reserve a larger proportion of economic sites (about 107 hectares) for the development of commerce, logistics, technology and various other industries. Together with the commercial facilities inside the residential developments, it is expected that the HSK NDA will provide about 5.6 million square metres of gross floor area including some 2 million square metres of commercial space. This is roughly equivalent to four Pacific Place (I & II) in Admiralty or two and a half times the equivalent of Harbour City’s in Tsim Sha Tsui in terms of scale, making the HSK NDA a regional economic hub in the NWNT. Such planning will make good use of HSK’s geographical advantage. Apart from being close to Tin Shui Wai, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long in terms of transport infrastructure, HSK will eventually be connected to the airport and northern Lantau to the south through the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, while to the north it will be connected to the Qianhai area in Shenzhen through the Kong Sham Western Highway. By accommodating various economic developments and industries such as offices, retail, hotels, logistics, innovative technology, testing and certification, coupled with proposed government and community facilities, it is estimated that some 150 000 new jobs will be created in the HSK area for local residents, relieving the need for them to work in other districts.

Community development and transport infrastructure
Apart from providing housing and economic land, another objective of the HSK NDA is to make it a regional civic hub of NWNT. The planning of the NDA is based on the people-oriented principle, which will provide sufficient recreational, government, and community facilities to serve the residents in HSK and the entire NWNT. The NDA will also enhance the transport network of HSK and that of the NWNT. These include a proposal for a new HSK railway station and the introduction of the Green Transit Corridor and the Artery Cycleway to create a comfortable and walkable environment for the community.

Addressing “brownfield” problems
There are currently about 190 hectares of “brownfield” within the NDA. These are pieces of rural land in the New Territories that have been used for container storage, logistics, construction materials/machinery storage, car repair workshops, recycling yards and rural workshops, and some include squatter homes and other temporary structures. Although we appreciate that such “brownfield” operations have a certain economic value for Hong Kong, they are often messy and occupy large tracts of land. They do not make efficient use of our resources and they sometimes have a negative effect on the environment. As such, a major objective of the HSK NDA is to convert these somewhat damaged rural lands to more suitable uses through comprehensive planning and enhanced infrastructure. The Government will explore the feasibility of developing multi-storey industrial buildings at suitable locations or of adopting other means for optimal use of the land to provide space for certain operations to continue.

Rehousing arrangement
While the planning of the NDA has minimised the impact on the existing residents as far as possible, it is inevitable that some existing structures would have to be cleared. The Government will devise suitable arrangements for all existing residents who will be affected by the NDA development, such as providing local rehousing to eligible affected households, and will also consider special compensation and rehousing arrangements for those affected, making reference to the compensation and rehousing package for the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North NDAs.

The Stage 3 Community Engagement commenced in mid-June and will last for three months. I invite all of you to express your views on the Recommended Outline Development Plan of the HSK NDA. For details, please visit the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area Planning and Engineering Study website at http://www.hsknda.gov.hk.