Following is a question by the Hon Tony Tse Wai-chuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (May 8):
Question:
At present, quite a number of sites have been zoned "Comprehensive Development Area" ("CDA") for years, but up till now, they have yet to be developed. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of CDA sites newly zoned and in aggregate in each of the years from 2007-2008 to 2012-2013, broken down by region (Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories) and their current leasing status (i.e. unleased government land, land which has been/will soon be leased to quasi-government bodies, land which has been leased to the private sector, and others); the total area of such sites and their total permitted floor area for residential use;
(b) among the sites mentioned in (a), of the respective numbers and total areas of those with developments completed, in progress and pending; the overall floor area provided for residential use by those sites with developments completed; among those sites with developments pending, the respective numbers of those with and without approved master layout plans, as well as those which are originally zoned for other uses;
(c) among the CDA sites with developments pending at present, of the number of those having been zoned for such use for six years or more, as well as the total area of such sites and the reasons for them not being developed to date;
(d) of the anticipated number of sites to be zoned CDA in 2013-2014, the total area of such sites and their total permitted floor area for residential use; and
(e) whether it has regularly reviewed the implementation and effectiveness of its land development policy of zoning land as CDA; if it has, of the details and results of the review; if not, the reasons for that and whether it will conduct such a review?
Reply:
President,
To expeditiously implement or facilitate land development for the optimisation of land resources, thereby meeting the housing and various other needs of Hong Kong people, the Government has been monitoring closely the planning and development situations of different sites, including those zoned "Comprehensive Development Area" ("CDA").
The reply of the Development Bureau to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Currently, "CDA" accounts for about 4% among the land area zoned "Residential", "Commercial", "Industrial", "CDA", "Government, Institution or Community" and "Other Specified Use" on statutory plans.
Currently, there are altogether 65 "CDA" sites in the urban area (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and Tsuen Wan/Kwai Tsing districts), covering a total land area of about 160 hectares. As regards the "CDA" sites with residential use, their total permitted residential floor area is approximately 6 379 000 square metres. 19 of them were newly zoned in the past six years (i.e. 2007-2008 to 2012-2013, and the numbers of "CDA" sites newly zoned in each of these six years were 5, 1, 2, 7, 4 and 0 respectively). Five are located on Hong Kong Island (measuring about 15 hectares in total) and 14 are in Kowloon and Tsuen Wan/Kwai Tsing districts (measuring about 21 hectares in total). Among these 19 "CDA" sites, three are for development/redevelopment projects of the Urban Renewal Authority, one is designated for an MTR property development project, another two are for development/redevelopment projects of the Hong Kong Housing Authority/Hong Kong Housing Society, while the remaining ones are for private development. Nine of the sites are/partially are unleased sites.
There are currently 69 "CDA" sites in the New Territories, covering a total land area of about 560 hectares. As regards the "CDA" sites with residential use, their total permitted residential floor area is approximately 8 440 000 square metres. Eight of them, totalling about 33 hectares of land, were newly zoned in the past six years (i.e. 2007-2008 to 2012-13, with three sites newly zoned in 2010-2011 and five in 2012-2013). These eight sites (among which two are unleased sites) are all for private development.
(b) and (c) Of the 65 "CDA" sites in the urban area, 35 of them (totalling about 102 hectares of land) have their master layout plans approved by the Town Planning Board (TPB), among which six have completed development, representing about 36 hectares of land and a total residential floor area of about 1 487 000 square metres. For the 30 urban "CDA" sites without approved master layout plans, 17 of them have been zoned "CDA" for six years or more, representing about 38 hectares of land. Among these "CDA" sites, those with residential use have a total permitted residential floor area of about 1 688 000 square metres.
Among the 69 "CDA" sites in the New Territories, 40 of them (totalling about 400 hectares of land) have their master layout plans approved by TPB, among which eight have completed development, representing 66 hectares of land and a total residential floor area of about 522 000 square metres. Among the 29 "CDA" sites in the New Territories without approved master layout plans, 21 have been zoned "CDA" for six or more years, representing about 126 hectares of land. Among these "CDA" sites, those with residential use have a total permitted residential floor area of about 1 060 000 square metres.
Generally speaking, TPB will rezone a "CDA" to other land use zonings as soon as possible after completion of its development so as to reflect the actual land use. Therefore, some "CDA" sites which have been rezoned after completion of development are not included in the above statistics.
Currently, the "CDA" sites without approved master layout plans are at different planning stages. For example, the developers concerned might be conducting site assembly; carrying out thorough planning studies to assess the potential impacts of the proposed developments on traffic, environment and landscape, etc.; or preparing the master layout plans, etc. Some other "CDA" sites fall within the areas under various on-going planning studies undertaken by the Government, and developments within these sites cannot be carried out before completion of the said studies.
The number of sites zoned "CDA" in the outline zoning plans may vary from time to time due to changes in the land development and planning circumstances. The Administration does not keep statistics on the original planned use of a "CDA" site.
(d) Currently, we do not have the information on the sites intended to be zoned "CDA" in 2013-2014. Whenever there is a site suitable for proposed "CDA" zoning, we will submit the proposal to TPB for consideration in accordance with the established procedures.
(e) According to TPB's Guidelines No. 17 - Designation of "CDA" Zones and Monitoring the Progress of "CDA" Developments, TPB will conduct a first review of each "CDA" site at the end of the third year after its zoning, and subsequently conduct a review annually.
In general, to optimise land use in response to the changing land development and planning circumstances, TPB will propose to rezone suitable "CDA" sites to other land use zonings in the planning process, including "CDA" sites which have completed development, or have significant implementation difficulties and with slim chances of successful implementation.
Ends/Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:31
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