Over the past year and a half, we have taken forward a number of planning and engineering studies for the Fanling/Sheung Shui/Kwu Tung New Town, the Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area (NDA), the Tung Chung New Town Extension, Yuen Long South and Anderson Road Quarry, and have also explored the feasibility of reclamation outside Victoria Harbour and rock cavern development as medium- to long-term measures to increase land supply. However, to address the acute shortage of land in the short to medium term, we need to carry out other practical work at the same time.
The Chief Executive proposed 10 initiatives in his Policy Address to increase housing land supply in the short to medium term. Details of these initiatives have been discussed before, so I shall not repeat here as I believe that all of you are familiar with them. Overall, substantial progress has been made, which we will announce early next year. Today, I would like to talk about two of the measures of much public concern.
(A) Reviews of various land use zonings
We have been conducting a new round of land use reviews over a period of time, including reviewing government sites currently under short term tenancies, temporary land allocation or used as works sites. In addition, the Stage 2 Green Belt (GB) review will be completed soon, and we have initially identified a number of sites suitable for development. However, this does not mean that we have finished our work. On the contrary, it is just the beginning of another stage of work. If we are to develop these sites, we have to go through the procedures of land use rezoning as required, as well as overcome technical problems of different natures and levels of difficulty in terms of transport, sewerage, air ventilation, environment and infrastructure. We also have to take into account whether the development is acceptable to the public and the districts concerned.
Generally speaking, after a site is identified as being suitable for development, we have to conduct technical assessments or studies before rezoning, so as to ascertain that no insurmountable technical problems are involved in developing the site, and that adequate community facilities can be provided according to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. Upon completion of the above studies and reviews, we will consult the District Council(s) and give our response as far as practicable in order to gain local support and acceptance. Public representations and comments will also be dealt with according to the statutory planning procedures.
The GB review mentioned above has entered its second stage. We are reviewing GB sites in the fringe of built-up areas that are closer to existing urban areas and new towns. These sites are close to supporting infrastructure facilities, including those related to transport, water supply and sewerage. As these sites, though vegetated, have an insignificant buffering effect and relatively low conservation value, they are considered suitable for urban expansion.
(B) Increasing the development intensity of unleased sites appropriately
To optimise the use of land resources, we will review the development intensity of every unleased site and increase the plot ratio where feasible. In this regard, we also have to overcome the infrastructural and environmental constraints as mentioned in item (A) above, conduct technical studies and community facility reviews where appropriate, and gain local and community support. For example, we slightly raised the plot ratio of four sites in Tseung Kwan O early this year, resulting in a gain of several hundred residential flats in the district.
To increase the development intensity of the NDAs, we will also take into account the original planning vision and layout already agreed on by the community at large. Let’s take the Kai Tak Development (KTD) as an example. Public engagement and careful planning have been conducted for the KTD for more than a decade. During this period, the Government, in response to the public’s concern over Victoria Harbour, reduced the total reclamation area from the original 133 hectares, which could have helped to accommodate a population of 260 000 in the KTD, to zero under the current “zero reclamation” option, which can only accommodate about 90 000 people.
In this connection, when considering increasing the development intensity of commercial and residential sites in the KTD, we would rather put forward a well-considered adjustment proposal with reference to our efforts in planning over the years than substantially amend the overall layout plan and conduct all planning and assessments afresh, so as to avoid disputes and controversies among different stakeholders, which will be time-consuming to deal with and may delay the supply of land. In view of this, our broad direction is to minimise the impacts on the overall layout and the composition of different land uses as well as the planned parks, Multi-purpose sports complex and other community facilities in the area, while appropriately increasing the plot ratio of commercial and residential sites.
Recently, we have completed the first stage of the study and recommended that the building height restrictions for four residential sites in the Grid Neighbourhood at the North Apron area should be slightly relaxed, which would amount to an increase of about 20 per cent in the gross floor area. This is a pragmatic and expeditious way to preserve the original planning vision and layout while increasing the supply of housing flats. We are now exploring ways to adjust the planning of other land within the area in order to increase the supply of commercial and residential floor area.
Over the past year or so, my colleagues in the Planning Department, the Civil Engineering and Development Department, the Drainage Services Department, the Transport Department, the Environmental Protection Department, the Lands Department, the Water Supplies Department and other relevant bureaux have had to cope with a rising workload brought about by all kinds of work to increase land supply. They have to complete the work and overcome various difficulties within a short time. In this regard, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to them.
24 November, 2013
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