Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (October 17):
Question:
In reply to a question from a Member of this Council in July this year, the Government indicated that 2,153.7 hectares and 777.7 hectares of vacant government land have been designated respectively for "residential" and "government, institution or community (G/IC)" uses. It has been reported that the Secretary for Development has indicated in September this year that excluding the 1,200 hectares of land zoned "Village Type Development" reserved for development of New Territories small houses, as well as 420 hectares of land covering slopes and roads which are not suitable for development, there are only 480 hectares of residential sites; if the 167 hectares of residential sites which may be provided in the North East New Territories New Development Areas are further excluded, only 313 hectares will remain. Officials of the Development Bureau subsequently explained that the 1,200 hectares of "Village Type Development" sites will not be used solely for small house development. In addition, in reply to a Member's question in 2010, the Government also indicated that "as at May 31, 2010, there are approximately close to 268 hectares of potential supply of private residential sites". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the definition of "vacant residential land" when the term was mentioned in the Government's replies to Members' questions and public remarks, and whether the definition covers land which, for the time being, cannot be put to immediate use because certain works projects (e.g. the Hong Kong section of Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the Shatin to Central Link) are being carried out, as well as land which can be used for residential development pending site formation works; given that the Government has planned to use the Anderson Road Quarry which is currently designated for "Other Specified Uses" for residential development, and construct public rental housing (PRH) at North West Kowloon Reclamation Site 6 currently designated as a "Comprehensive Development Area", whether land lots under these two categories of uses have already been listed as "vacant residential land"; if not, of the number of such land lots for which long-term housing planning is being conducted, as well as their exact locations, project titles and total area;
(b) regarding the vacant government land available for residential development, of the respective hectares of land lots which (i) have been included in the List of Sites for Sale by Application; (ii) have already been allocated to the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HA) for PRH development; (iii) are on lease under short-term tenancies; (iv) are currently under post-site formation study on whether they should be put on the market for sale or allocated to HA; (v) have not yet been planned for any development despite the completion of site formation works; (vi) have never been covered by any site formation works or planning; and (vii) are currently under long-term planning;
(c) among the land lots in (b), of the respective hectares of land for which all advance works and procedures may be completed for residential development within one year, one to three years, four to six years and in more than six years' time, with a breakdown by District Council district;
(d) given that the Chief Executive announced earlier that 36 G/IC sites would be rezoned for residential use, of the number of such sites which are currently vacant and their sizes; among the 777.7 hectares of vacant G/IC sites, of the sizes of sites suitable for constructing residential buildings or youth hostels, with a breakdown by District Council district;
(e) among the aforesaid 313 hectares of land, of the respective hectares of land available for PRH and private residential development; and how such figures compare with the relevant figures provided in the reply to a Member's question in 2010;
(f) given that in reply to a Member on March 12, 2012, the Government indicated that "there are about 3,147 hectares of land zoned 'Village Type Development' ('V') …… The planning intention of the 'V' zone is to reserve land for village house development", why such figure differs from the latest relevant figures provided by the Development Bureau; of the Government's present estimation on the hectare of "Village Type Development" sites which needs to be reserved for small house development, and the assumptions and criteria for making such an estimation; whether the Government has conducted any studies on rezoning some such sites for residential use; and
(g) given the variations in the land reserve figures provided by the Government recently, whether the Government has considered providing to this Council and the public a detailed account of the relevant figures and information on land planning in various districts?
Reply:
President,
The areas of "vacant land" mentioned in our reply to a Member's question on July 4, this year refer to the areas of unleased or unallocated government land under different land use zonings on statutory town plans (including Outline Zoning Plans and Development Permission Area Plans) (statutory plans). The figures, based on statistics as at the end of June 2012, are simply obtained by subtracting the leased or allocated areas under respective land use zonings from the total areas covered by such zones on the statutory plans.
In view of public concerns on those figures, the Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Lands Department (LandsD) have re-examined and analysed the relevant land information, and set out a number of land types that are considered not suitable for development, not yet available for development, or with low development potential. They are (1) roads/passageways, (2) man-made slopes, (3) land allocated under the Simplified Temporary Land Allocation (STLA) procedures, and (4) fragmented sites (sites less than 0.05 hectares in area). Information on the land area analysis and the map showing the site boundaries were uploaded onto the website of DEVB on October 17, this year for public inspection. A summary of the further analysis is at Annex.
According to the statutory plans of Hong Kong, there are a total of 2,153.7 hectares of unleased or unallocated government land which are zoned "Residential", "Commercial/Residential" or "Village Type Development" (including 952.5 hectares of "Residential" and "Commercial/Residential" sites, and 1,201.2 hectares of "Village Type Development" sites). Excluding roads/passageways, man-made slopes, land allocated under the STLA procedures and fragmented sites, there remain 391.5 hectares of "Residential" and "Commercial/Residential" sites. Excluding roads/passageways, man-made slopes and land allocated under the STLA procedures, there remain 932.9 hectares of "Village Type Development" sites.
It must be pointed out that amongst the above 391.5 hectares of unleased or unallocated land under "Residential" and "Commercial/Residential" zonings, there remain a number of sites with irregular shapes (e.g. empty space between buildings, back lanes and narrow strips of land alongside existing developments, highways or other amenities) and they may not be suitable for housing development. Besides, these 391.5 hectares of land, save for those already included in the Application List for land sale, may not necessarily be land immediately available for development as some will require technical studies to ascertain their development feasibility. Indeed, some of those land have already been included in various such studies.
The suitability of individual sites for development depends on a series of factors, such as the adequacy of related infrastructural facilities, compatibility with neighbouring land uses (e.g. whether the site is too close to existing or planned buildings) etc. Generally speaking, for land with potential for development, the Administration will review and assess its development feasibility under the established mechanism. Furthermore, when a plot of land is ready for development, the Administration will make appropriate arrangements, such as allocating it for public housing development, including it in the Application List for land sale, or allocating it for other uses.
For the above reasons, we are not able to compile statistics on how much land among the 391.5 hectares, save for those already included in the Application List for land sale, can be made available for housing development. I would also like to point out that these 391.5 hectares of government land is only one of the sources of housing land supply. Other housing land supply sources include public housing redevelopments, redevelopment projects of the Urban Renewal Authority, topside developments of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, private property developments etc.
In addition, the Government is adopting a multi-pronged approach to actively expand land resources and build up a land reserve, with a view to meeting the land demand for housing and other developments. The Administration has put forward six measures for increasing land supply, namely releasing industrial land, exploring the option of reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour, rock caverns development, looking into the use of "green belt areas", examining the "Government, Institution or Community" (G/IC) sites and examining the agricultural land in North District/Yuen Long currently used mainly for industrial purposes or temporary storage, or which is deserted. The Planning Department is also conducting a number of planning and engineering studies for new development areas, as well as land use studies and reviews. Excluding land that may be produced or released under the initiatives of reclamation on an appropriate scale outside Victoria Harbour and rock caverns development, the above initiatives cover over 2 500 hectares of land, viz.:
* North East New Territories New Development Areas (involving about 787 hectares of land)
* Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area (involving about 790 hectares of land)
* Tung Chung New Town Extension (involving about 287 hectares of land)
* A number of quarries sites (involving about 168 hectares of land)
* Kam Tin South West Rail Kam Sheung Road Station/Pat Heung Maintenance Depot and adjoining areas (involving about 138 hectares of land)
* Review of the agricultural land in North District/Yuen Long currently used mainly for industrial purposes or temporary storage, or which is deserted (involving about 257 hectares of land)
* Review of industrial land (involving about 60 hectares of land)
* Review of "green belt areas" (involving about 57 hectares of land)
* Review of G/IC sites (involving about 27 hectares of land)
My reply to the Hon Wu's question is as follows:
(a) On the definition of "vacant land" mentioned in the Administration's reply to a Member's question on July 4, please refer to the first paragraph above. Those figures were compiled on the basis of information on land use zonings as at the end of June 2012, which did not include land which was unzoned or for which zoning was being studied. Neither do the figures include land currently zoned "Other Specified Uses" or "Comprehensive Development Area", and land allocated for temporary use as public works sites. As mentioned above, identification of suitable land for housing development is an ongoing task. The Administration will seek to identify sites potentially suitable for development, assess their development feasibility, and where appropriate, changing the land use zoning through statutory procedures. As the relevant works are still ongoing, at this juncture, we do not have any statistical information about the rezoning of land under "Other Specified Uses" or "Comprehensive Development Area".
(b) and (c) As described above, not all the land under "Residential" or "Commercial/Residential" zoning are suitable for development. Therefore, "vacant land" area under those zonings is not equivalent to the area of land immediately available for housing or other development purposes. Within the 391.5 hectares of "vacant land" that remains upon deduction of land types such as roads/passageways, man-made slopes, land allocated under the STLA procedures and fragmented sites, 19 sites have been added to the 2012-13 Application List for land sale (offering approximately 18.9 hectares of land for sale). As for sites that have been handed over to the Hong Kong Housing Authority for planned public housing development and sites that are being leased out by way of short term tenancies, they are counted as leased or allocated land and thus not "vacant land". Apart from the sites which have been included in the Application List as mentioned above, the Administration will continue to identify land suitable for housing development. When there are sites ready for development, they will be allocated for public housing development or added to the Application List. At present, we do not have any statistics of the land mentioned in items (iv) to (vi) of Part (b) of the question. The land under long-term planning has been set out in the seventh paragraph above.
(d) Of the 36 G/IC and government sites designated for residential development, 16 (involving about 9.1 hectares of land) are unleased or unallocated government land. As always, the Administration will review the uses of G/IC and government sites from time to time. If suitable sites are identified for residential development, we will, in accordance with established procedures, change their zoning through statutory procedures for residential purposes. At present, we do not have any statistics on sites that are suitable for residential or youth hostel development.
(e) The figure provided by the Transport and Housing Bureau in 2010 comprised both government and private sites available for housing development. Thus, it is inappropriate to compare it directly with DEVB's statistics on the total area of government-owned "vacant land". Out of the 391.5 hectares of "vacant residential land" mentioned above, apart from those included in the Application List, the Government will continue to look for sites suitable for housing development and will allocate them for the construction of public housing or add them to the Application List once they are ready for development. As mentioned above, before making further systematic and detailed assessment and verification, we are unable to provide statistics on the area of land within the 391.5 hectares that are suitable, or are being prepared, for residential development.
(f) The figure provided by the Administration in the reply to a Member on March 12, 2012 was the total land area zoned "Village Type Development" on all statutory plans at that time. What the Annex has set out is the areas of unleased or unallocated land zoned "Village Type Development" on all statutory plans as at late June 2012. The main planning intention of the "Village Type Development" zone in the indigenous villages in the New Territories on existing statutory plans is for small house development by indigenous villagers. The demand for small house development will change because of factors such as birth and growth of indigenous villagers. Besides, whether or not an indigenous villager will apply for a small house grant is a matter of personal decision based on his own circumstances and wishes. Not all eligible indigenous villagers aged 18 years or above will submit an application. It is thus impossible to accurately estimate the land requirement for small house development. Given the prevailing small house policy, the Government needs to reserve a certain amount of land for small house development.
(g) As mentioned in the second paragraph above, in view of public concerns on the size of "vacant land", we have uploaded the further consolidated and analysed land information to the website of DEVB for public inspection. A summary of such information is set out at Annex.
Ends/Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:31
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The land area analysis and the maps showing the concerned site boundaries as mentioned in the reply, please go to