Following is a question by the Hon Albert Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (November 13):
Question:
At present, some parts of Sai Kung and Cheung Chau are not included in any statutory plan such as Outline Zoning Plans ("OZPs") and Development Permission Area Plans ("DPAPs"). In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the areas which are not yet included in any OZPs or DPAPs and the reasons for that;
(b) whether the Administration consults residents of the area when it prepares the statutory plans; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) whether it has assessed if the lack of statutory plans for any area will hinder its new development and cause inconvenience to local residents; if it has made such an assessment and the conclusion is in the affirmative, of the measures the Administration will adopt to improve the situation; if the conclusion is in the negative, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) At present, areas which are not covered by any Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) or Development Permission Area Plan (DPAP) include country parks, the frontier closed area, sparsely populated and remote areas, and some outlying islands. For the areas within country parks, since their use is governed by the Country Parks Ordinance, there is no need to separately prepare statutory plans for these areas. The rest are mainly remote areas with a small population. Our objective is to draw up statutory plans for these areas gradually. We are now preparing the OZPs for the Sai Kung Town Centre and Cheung Chau, the work of which is expected to complete next year.
(b) In the process of preparing a statutory plan, we always consult residents of the district concerned. After preliminary consideration of a draft OZP by the Town Planning Board (TPB), we will consult the concerned District Council and Rural Committee for their initial comments. Their feedback will be submitted to TPB for consideration before the plan is gazetted and exhibited for public inspection. Those who are affected by the plan, including local residents, may lodge objections during the exhibition period. In addition, we will explain in detail the contents of statutory plan to the District Council and other concerned residents' associations and listen to their views.
(c) Apart from country park areas and the frontier closed area, areas not yet included in any statutory plan are mostly remote and scantily populated which have no pressing need for development. Moreover, most of these areas are covered by Outline Development Plans or Layout Plans. These government plans, having been examined by concerned government departments and approved by the relevant committees after public consultation, may serve as development control guidelines for individual development and redevelopment projects. It should therefore not hinder new development in the areas concerned or cause inconvenience to local residents.
End/Wednesday, November 13, 2002
NNNN