In response to the report by the Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICI) on the Sai Wan Ho Development on Inland Lot No. 8955 released today (May 9), the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, said the Government accepted the conclusions and recommendations by the Committee on the Building Authority's exercise of discretion in relation to the development and had commenced follow-up work.
Mr Suen said the Government was grateful to the ICI for its careful and in-depth inquiry.
The ICI report examined the procedures in approving the site classification, gross floor area (GFA) exemption for the public transport terminus (PTT) and bonus GFA for dedication of the reserved area for public passage in respect of the Sai Wan Ho building plans application, including how and under what circumstances the Building Authority (BA)'s discretionary powers were exercised.
It has also reviewed and advised on whether BA's discretionary powers had been exercised properly and related aspects, and put forward its observations and conclusions.
"The Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau will carefully examine and follow up the ICI's recommendations," Mr Suen said.
He said that some of the recommendations in the report have already been implemented. "For instance, the Buildings Department (BD) has revised the relevant practice note to state clearly that all PTTs would account for GFA, unless the relevant Outline Zoning Plan stipulated other requirements or a specific planning permission had been granted," Mr Suen said.
The report recommended that the Government study the imposition of maximum GFA in land leases as one of the measures to control the development density. "The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) made similar suggestions," Mr Suen said.
"We consider that there are certain trade-offs between enhancing the certainty of lease conditions and maximising land development potential to attain higher land revenue. In responding to PAC's suggestions, the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau has agreed to review whether it is appropriate to impose a maximum GFA clause in the leases of future sale sites of Government land. To this end, we have already started the review," he added.
On the control of building height, bulk and density, the ICI made some observations on the current policy to offer GFA exemption as incentives to promote green and innovative buildings. "Although the policy concerning green and innovative buildings fell outside the terms of reference of the ICI, the Government was grateful to the committee's views," Mr Suen said.
"The committee held a positive view towards the policy, which is on par with that of the Government all along. Given that the green features policy has been in place for a period of time, an inter-departmental working group led by the BD has been formed to review the effectiveness of the GFA concessions and their effect on building height, bulk and density. We will now expand the terms of reference of the working group to cover whether there is a need for a cap on all GFA concessions granted under the Buildings Ordinance, and put the working group under the steer of the Director of Buildings," he said.
Mr Suen pointed out that incentive measures for green buildings were included in the policy objective of the then Planning and Lands Bureau towards the end of 2000. The aim to promote green features was to improve building design and living environment as well as enhancing the quality of living, and was formulated out of the overall interest of society. The green features policy was welcomed by industry and users, supported by the Legislative Council and acknowledged by the ICI.
Since developers have to pay for the costs of constructing such green facilities, the Government has offered the possibility of exempting such facilities from GFA calculation as incentives to encourage the provision and construction of these facilities, which would benefit users. Measures are also in place to ensure that the ultimate beneficiaries of these facilities are the building owners and residents.
The BD, together with the Lands Department and the Planning Department, issued Joint Practice Note 1 and 2 relating to green and innovative buildings in 2001 and 2002 respectively. The two Joint Practice Notes clearly set out the green features concerned. The BD, taking into account the special circumstances of individual cases, would consider exempting those green features, which comply with the Buildings Ordinance and the department's building design and requirements, from the GFA calculation.
"In order not to unduly burden the bulk of the building itself, certain caps are already in place to govern the granting of GFA concessions, such as a 5% cap of the domestic GFA for clubhouse, an 8% cap of the total permitted GFA of the development for green features that will add to the building bulk, and a 20% cap of GFA permitted on bonus GFA granted in return for the dedication of private areas for public passage," Mr Suen said.
The ICI report also made some observations on the application of Section 42 of the Buildings Ordinance in considering the exemption of green features from GFA calculation. Mr Suen said that the application of Section 42 of the Buildings Ordinance for the exemption of certain facilities from GFA calculation had been a long-standing practice and has all along been operated well. Buildings Ordinance Section 42 clearly stipulates that where in the opinion of the BA special circumstances render it desirable, the BA may permit modifications of the provisions of the Buildings Ordinance. Therefore the BA could consider whether special circumstances are found in a specific case and decide on whether to allow certain floor areas to be exempted from the GFA calculation, including green features. It is, from the legal perspective, proper for the BA to give permission for such kind of modifications.
At the special meeting of the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in March this year, the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau mentioned that a review on the efficacy of promoting green and innovative buildings was under way. "In the light of the ICI's views on the matter, we will expand our existing committee working on the review and will expedite our work with a view to completing it in six to nine months. These will include reviewing the effectiveness of the GFA concessions for green features, their effect on building height, bulk and density and the appropriateness of imposing a maximum GFA clause in land leases," Mr Suen said.
Ends/Tuesday, May 9, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:39
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