Living in a busy city like Hong Kong, a pleasant and verdant living environment would be enjoyable after a long day of work. Whether trees can grow healthily and robustly is dependent on our efforts in proper tree care.
Within the area of private properties, common parts of the premises are co-owned by all property owners who are responsible for the proper maintenance of common areas of the premises, including the growth of trees there. If property owners are found negligent in providing proper tree maintenance and care, and eventually cause death of or bodily injury to third parties, owners' corporations and property owners may be held civilly liable and face a huge amount of compensation.
We are aware that while private property owners do want to manage trees within their properties, they are concerned about how they should carry out tree management. In this regard, the Tree Management Office (TMO) has been playing the role of facilitator to help owners understand their responsibilities and proper tree care through various measures, including online information and seminars on tree care.
To further assist private property owners in proper tree care, the TMO has prepared a Handbook for Tree Management to provide guidelines and standards of good practice on tree management. For instance, before the wet season and after typhoons or heavy rainstorms, owners should commission qualified arborists to conduct risk assessments on trees, and carry out mitigation measures, such as pruning, supporting or removing trees at risk, as appropriate. The Handbook also helps owners understand the importance of regular tree inspection and tree maintenance.
In collaboration with the Home Affairs Department, we are planning to add a new section on tree safety in the Code of Practice on Building Management and Maintenance under the Building Management Ordinance. Incorporating the Handbook under the Code can help raise awareness of responsibility and improve the knowledge and standards of practice among private property owners, management agencies and owners’ corporations, thereby enhancing the level of public safety in respect of tree issues. The enforcement will provide a practical and feasible method to strengthen tree management in areas within private properties before the right time for enacting a new legislation.
We will continue to offer our assistance to private property owners, owners’ corporations and property management companies in keeping up standards of practice in tree care. Working together with private property owners, we hope to raise awareness of responsibility in proper tree management so as to ensure public safety and to achieve harmony between people and trees.
15 November, 2015
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