On 31 December, 2018, the Task Force on Land Supply (Task Force) submitted its report to the Government. Once again I would like to express my wholehearted thanks to the Task Force for its effort on increasing land supply and forging consensus in the community over the past year and a half. In particular, the five-month public engagement exercise conducted under an all-embracing, cross-sectoral and multi-channel approach has heightened public awareness of issues of land resources and effectively engaged the public in discussions on and prioritisation of different land supply options. The Government decided to give full acceptance to the Task Force’s recommendations on land supply strategy and eight land supply options worthy of priority studies and implementation after detailed examination of the report.

Hong Kong has always been plagued by the problem of land shortage. We fully agree with the observations of the Task Force on land demand forecasts and establishment of a land reserve, and will accordingly implement a multi-pronged, more robust and visionary land supply strategy to sustain and significantly increase land supply to solve housing and other livelihood issues, and ensure delivery of sufficient land on time with a view to facilitating economic growth, improving the living environment and avoiding recurrence of the dilemma of land supply-demand imbalance. One of the strategies is to adopt an infrastructure-led and capacity creating approach in planning and providing strategic transport infrastructure to enhance the land use in the neighbourhood.

Resuming 32 hectares of Land of the Fanling Golf Course

The Government agrees with the Task Force’s observation that we have a critical shortage of land supply in the short-to-medium term. We have to leave no stones unturned in examining options which may provide land supply in the short-to-medium term. After giving holistic consideration to and trying to balance the short-to-medium term land shortage and the development need of sports, the Government has decided to adopt the broad directions recommended by the Task Force to develop the 32 hectares (ha) of land east of Fan Kam Road of the Fanling Golf Course (FGC) for the specified purpose of housing development with emphasis on public housing.

As suggested by legislators and local residents, the carrying capacity of transportation and ancillary facilities in the vicinity must be taken into account in the implementation of relevant developments. We hope to commence a detailed technical study in the second half of this year to ascertain the highest flat yield attainable from the site, as well as assessing the scope of infrastructural works required to support such development; identifying environmental, ecological and other constraints, formulating relevant mitigation measures; and coming up with a concrete implementation plan. If all goes well, our aim is to complete the study by early 2021 after going through town planning procedures and obtaining funding approval from the Legislative Council (LegCo), and commence construction by 2024 the earliest for completion in four to five years.

Striking a Balance between Land and Sports Development

The Government has no plan to pursue any alternative land uses for the remaining 140 ha of land for the FGC. As pointed out by the Task Force, regarding whether the remaining 140 ha of land should be released for development in the longer run, the Government should consider identifying a suitable site to relocate the golf course, the lead time for relocation, impact on the ecology and conservation values of the site, as well as the necessary ancillary infrastructure and more. In fact, there are more options for increasing land supply in the medium-to-long term which can provide more land and planning feasibility than those in the short-to-medium term.

Due consideration and assessment have been made before the government made public the partial development option and such a decision is not an easy one. In the diversed society of Hong Kong, it is normal for different stakeholders to hold different views on the same issue. However, you cannot have your cake and eat it. As a responsible government, we must be very cautious in our examination and assessment before the implementation of policies, so as to strike the right balance that serves the best interests of the overall community.

Finding and Creating Land at Full Steam

The Government’s next step forward is to pull together the efforts of relevant bureaux and departments in following up the implementation of the eight prioritised land supply options recommended by the Task Force to find and create land at full steam.

It is the community’s aspiration to develop brownfield sites. New development area (NDA) projects under planning and implementation will cover about 340 ha of brownfield sites in total. Funding approval from the LegCo for the Kwu Tung North/Fanling North and Hung Shui Kiu NDAs will be sought this year. The relevant statutory planning procedures for Yuen Long South Development will start in 2019. The Phase One study on New Territories North NDA covering the San Tin/Lok Ma Chau area with 65 ha of brownfield sites will be brought forward to start in the third quarter this year. As for the remaining 760 ha of brownfield sites, the Planning Department will commence a study to assess their development potential. Meanwhile, the two brownfield-related studies (one on distribution and profile, and another on feasibility of accommodating brownfield operations in multi-storey buildings) are expected to be completed shortly and the Government will formulate policy measures accordingly with reference to the findings of the study.

Also, we will seek funding approval from the LegCo in the latter half of this year for the detailed studies on three near-shore reclamation projects, namely Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun, Sunny Bay and Siu Ho Wan in Lantau. The study on Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun will include River Trade Terminal in Tuen Mun and its adjacent areas. As for the Land Sharing Pilot Scheme, it is expected that the Government will invite applications in the second half of the year upon the formulation of relevant criteria.

Regarding cavern and underground space development, we will pursue the relocation of the Sha Tin Sewage Treatment Works and Diamond Hill Fresh Water and Salt Water Service Reservoirs to caverns, and continue with the studies on underground space development in strategic urban areas.

Focusing on the Study for Reclamation for the Kau Yi Chau Artificial Islands

The fact that major reclamation had at one time almost come to a complete halt is a key reason for the drastic reduction of land supply in recent years. We need to resume reclamation to address the dire land shortage and build up land reserve effectively.

The Chief Executive put forward the Lantau Tomorrow Vision, including a 1 000-ha reclamation at Kau Yi Chau and another 700-ha reclamation at Hei Ling Chau, to build several artificial islands. At this stage, we will focus on the studies for the development of the 1 000-ha artificial islands near Kau Yi Chau and will consult the LegCo Panel on Development in March. Subject to funding approval by the LegCo Financial Committee, we plan to commence studies for the reclamation and related infrastructure in the second half of this year. For the 700 ha at Hei Ling Chau, the Government has no implementation timetable at the moment, by conducting studies, however, we will be able to collect some initial data for the project. We will conduct another public engagement exercise when we kickstart this 700-ha reclamation project in the future.

The problem of land shortage must be addressed without delay. The Government is determined and confident to implement the various land supply options. As the saying goes, “A thousand-mile journey must always begin with the first step”; I hope that the community can set aside differences and join hands to work for our common goal.