1 Road noise barriers to be greener and more natural looking
Tiffany Lam, SCMP 7 January 2009
The city's future noise barriers will be more pleasing to the eye and green-minded, the Highways Department said at the launch of its first design competition for the structures yesterday.
The department will spend HK$200 billion on building roads and railways in the next 10 years, with some of the money going to noise reduction.
"There will be many noise barriers and noise enclosures, depending on the outcome of the environmental impact assessments," Director of Highways Wai Chi-sing said. "Citizens are more concerned now about the appearance of the noise barriers."
The public can expect more environmentally friendly sound walls, according to Highways Department chief engineer Chow Chun-wah. Barriers were previously made from transparent panels or opaque insulating boards, Mr Chow said, describing the effect as "artificial". The new versions would be closer to nature, he said.
Some future sound barriers could consist of "growing media" that could support plant life, he said. Some walls would be made of stone wool, porous man-made fibres known to trap water and block sound effectively. Tightly spaced roads were not expected to benefit, as such structures required "sufficient space".
Obstruction to commercial activity and maintenance were the other main concerns, Mr Chow said, explaining that plants had to be constantly pruned and fertilised.
He hoped that green designs would be used on 20 per cent to 50 per cent of all soundproofed road sections, although he stressed that reducing the overall use of noise barriers remained a priority.
Large projects that the Highways Department would take on in the next financial year included finishing off the Tuen Mun Road improvement project, the widening of the Tolo Highway, building the Central-Wan Chai bypass and starting the West Island railway line, Mr Wai said.
The noise barrier design competition, also backed by the Environmental Protection Department and the Hong Kong Institute of Landscape Architects, will be open to design professionals and the public.
2 Projects on recreational and cultural facilities will create jobs
Hong Kong Government, 7 January 2009
The Public Works Subcommittee (PWSC) of the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee today (January 7) supported in principle proposals to upgrade to Category A three projects on recreational and cultural facilities. These projects, namely improvement works for Mong Kok Stadium, construction of a public library and indoor recreation centre in Yuen Long, and development of a swimming pool complex in Tuen Mun, with a total estimated cost of about $2 billion, will provide better recreational and cultural facilities to the public, as well as create over 1,000 jobs, including over 900 for labourers and over 100 for professional/technical staff.
Fund allocation applications of the three projects will be later submitted to the Legislative Council’s Finance Committee for consideration. Once approved, work on the projects will start this year and they are expected to be completed in 2011-2012.
A spokesman for the Home Affairs Bureau said that the Mong Kok Stadium had been a major base for staging high level football matches and other events for over 48 years. Most of the facilities, however, no longer meet present-day service requirements. The improvement project will help to attract more spectators to football matches and sustain the community’s interest and participation in football, as well as meet the training needs of local athletes. The administration will, taking into account the views of the PWSC, consider further upgrading the stadium's facilities.
The proposed project in Yuen Long will provide a full range of library and sports centre services and facilities in the district. The project will meet the recreational and cultural needs of local residents with better use of resources.
The only public heated pool in Tuen Mun is at the Tuen Mun Swimming Pool, which is outdoors. The proposed swimming pool complex in Tuen Mun includes indoor heated swimming facilities. They will provide all-weather facilities for local residents to enjoy the fun of swimming, which helps promote “sports for all” in the community.
The spokesman also said that the above-mentioned projects together with the redevelopment of the Hong Kong Sports Institute (costing $1.8 billion) are expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.
3 LCQ10: MTRCL property development projects
Hong Kong Government, 7 January 2009
Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (January 7):
Question:
Regarding the property development projects at the TW5, TW6 and TW7 sites at the West Rail Tsuen Wan West Station which are under planning by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the updated details of the above development projects, including the numbers of blocks to be built, their height, orientation and disposition, the numbers of floors, level of podiums and numbers of residential flats of the proposed buildings, the numbers and width of breezeways, the respective residential and non-residential gross floor areas, together with the permitted site-coverage percentages and the plot ratios of these development projects;
(b) whether it knows if MTRCL has carried out air ventilation assessments for the above development projects; if so, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) as the Government announced in November last year the lowering of the development densities of the above-station property development projects at the Nam Cheong Station and the Yuen Long Station of the West Rail, whether the primary considerations in reaching such a decision are also applicable to the above-station development projects at the Tsuen Wan West Station; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) among the above development projects, whether it has plans to lower the development densities of those which have not yet been put to tender, so as to improve the air ventilation and the living environment in the district; if so, of the details of such plans; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the four-part question is as follows:
(a) The three property development projects located at the TW5, TW6 and TW7 sites of the West Rail Tsuen Wan West Station fall within the "Comprehensive Development Area". The Master Layout Plans (MLPs) for these developments were submitted by the applicant (the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation) to the Town Planning Board for approval and were granted planning permissions between 2000 and 2001. The major development parameters for the approved MLPs are shown in Annex.
The orientation and disposition of the buildings can be found in the approved MLPs. As for the layout of buildings, breezeways are retained and indicated in the MLPs. The site-coverage percentages are not shown in the MLPs. The developer is required to comply with the Buildings Ordinance when drawing up the detailed building design. The public can view the relevant MLPs at the Land Registry.
(b) As the three development projects to be carried out at the TW5, TW6 and TW7 sites had already been approved before the promulgation of the "Technical Circular on Air Ventilation Assessment" and the incorporation of the Qualitative Guidelines on Air Ventilation in the "Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines" in 2006, the applicant does not need to submit air ventilation assessment reports for the projects.
(c) & (d) After detailed consideration, apart from reviewing and revising the above-station property development projects at the Nam Cheong Station and the Yuen Long Station as pledged by the Chief Executive in the 2007-08 Policy Address, the Government has no plan to lower the development densities of other above-station property development projects along the West Rail which have not yet been put to tender. The development projects will continue to proceed under the existing mechanism. For projects with approved planning scheme, the detailed design stage will endeavour to enhance the design as far as possible. For those without approved planning scheme, the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) will carry out the planning and design work following the latest planning standards and design guidelines, including the undertaking of air ventilation assessments where required. The projects to be carried out at the TW5, TW6 and TW7 sites are amongst those with approved planning scheme, and the MTRCL has already awarded the development contract of the TW7 site to a developer.
4 LCQ17: Taikoo Shing Phase 5 Development
Hong Kong Government, 7 January 2009
Following is a question by the Hon Kam Nai-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mrs Carrie Lam, in the Legislative Council today (January 7):
Question:
Some residents of Taikoo Shing Phase 5 (TKS5) have told me that when they purchased their existing units, there were only open space and non-restaurant shops on the podium of the estate. The lease of the land concerned also contained provisions on “restrictions on such operations as food supply and lodging house” in the estate, but the leaseholder could be exempted from the restriction of the provisions concerned temporarily after obtaining a waiver from the Lands Department. As the developer of the estate has planned to convert the open space and shops on the podium of TKS5 into restaurants, the residents are worried that the developer will further develop the podium into a restaurant zone, so as to attract customers from the nearby One Island East and outside the estate, and thus may have negative impact on the environmental hygiene and the health of the residents of the estate, as well as on the community as a whole. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the Government has received complaints from the residents about the restaurants in the estate in the past two years; if so, of the number and contents of the complaints;
(b) of the current land use and restrictions stipulated for the podiums of the estate, and whether restaurants are permitted on the podiums; if so, of the permissible number of restaurants and their total area;
(c) of the progress of the application by the developer for a waiver to temporarily relax the restrictions in the lease of land concerned and the Government’s procedure for handling the application;
(d) given that more than 1000 residents of the estate have signed a petition against the application, whether the Government will reject the application on the basis of the residents’ views;
(e) of the gross floor area of One Island East and its usage distribution, and among them, of the respective areas for which applications for providing restaurants and clubs had been submitted and approved;
(f) of the number of applications received for providing restaurants in One Island East so far and the progress of such applications; and
(g) how the Government will safeguard the interests of the residents of private housing estates in the light of the above case and prevent developers from converting the open space and shops on the podiums of the estates concerned into restaurants after selling the residential units?
Reply:
President,
Some Government leases in the old days contain an offensive trades clause. Under this clause, the lessee shall not, during the continuance of its term, operate certain nuisance-generating or offensive trade or business on such premises. Given changing circumstances and coupled with the gradual establishment of independent licensing mechanisms (such as food and beverage supply) governing various business activities, restrictions on such trade or business through leases have become archaic. Hence, the lessee may apply to the Lands Department (LandsD) for a licence to remove such restrictions, to avoid such obsolete clauses from hampering normal business activities.
My reply to the seven-part question is as follows:
(a) In the past two years, the Government received a total of two complaints about the restaurants in the Taikoo Shing Phase 5 development (the TKS5 development), also known as “On Shing Terrace”. One complaint alleged infestation of cockroaches in a restaurant, while the other complaint concerned two restaurants, where the allegations included the emission of oily fumes, restaurant staff discarding cigarette butts, defecating and urinating in staircases, and the infestation of rodents and mosquitoes in the vicinity due to the improper disposal of refuse by the restaurants in the TKS5 development. Following investigations, none of these problems were spotted. Nevertheless, officers of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) already reminded the persons in charge of the restaurants concerned to take appropriate action and required the Taikoo Shing (Management) Limited to step up pest control work within the development.
(b) The TKS5 development falls within the “Residential (Group A)” zone on the draft Quarry Bay Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/H21/25. According to the Notes of the OZP, “Eating Place”is one of the uses which are always permitted on the lowest three floors of a building within the “Residential (Group A)” zone. As such, it is not necessary to apply to the Town Planning Board for planning permission for using the shops on the podium on the second floor of On Shing Terrace as restaurants.
Nevertheless, such uses still have to conform to any other relevant legislation and the conditions of the government lease concerned. The shops in the TKS5 development (the properties) are regulated by the land lease for the Quarry Bay Marine Lot No. 2. The land lease is an old Government lease with no restrictions on uses. Nevertheless, trades such as food supply and tavern operation are restricted by the offensive trades clause contained in the land lease as mentioned above. As a result, if the properties on the lot are to be used as restaurants and hotels etc., the owners concerned are still required to apply to LandsD for a licence to remove such restrictions.
According to the building plans approved by the Buildings Department (BD) under the Buildings Ordinance (the Ordinance), the gross floor area of the non-domestic parts for shops in the TKS5 development is 3,384.88 m2. There is no provision in the Ordinance restricting the total area and the number of restaurants in a building as long as the restaurants are designed and constructed in compliance with the requirements of the Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation, including plot ratio, structural stability, fire escape, fire resisting construction, etc.
FEHD has received two applications for restaurant licences in respect of the TKS5 development and is seeking the views of BD, the Fire Services Department (FSD), the Planning Department (PlanD) and LandsD.
(c) & (d) After receiving the licence application from the property owner (i.e. the Swire Properties Ltd.), LandsD submitted the application together with the views of the residents and other parties to the District Lands Conference (DLC) for consideration on December 12 in accordance with the established processing procedures. The factors considered by the DLC included the following: the restaurant use was always permitted under the OZP and was no longer considered offensive nowadays; the restaurant operators had to comply with the prevailing statutory requirements and obtain and comply with all necessary licences or permissions that might be required; and the owners had to ensure that the restaurant use of the properties complied with the relevant Deed of Mutual Covenant. Having considered the above factors, the DLC approved the licence application in respect of the properties. It is worthy to note that, in processing such applications for licences in respect of the offensive trades clause in old Government leases, having regard to the above-mentioned historical background, LandsD cannot recklessly or unreasonably deny such applications, and shall ensure that each case be considered in a fair and consistent manner.
(e) and (f) As for One Island East, according to the building plans approved by BD under the Buildings Ordinance, its uses include offices and ancillary facilities and the gross floor area of One Island East is 142,791.8 m2. As regards its land leases, these are also old Government leases, and LandsD has already approved similar licence applications in respect of the offensive trades clause. Up to now, FEHD has not received any applications for restaurant licences from One Island East nor issued any restaurant licences in respect of any premises there. The Office of the Licensing Authority under the Home Affairs Department has not received any applications for Certificates of Compliance for club use in One Island East either.
(g) Owners and operators must use their shops within their premises in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Deed of Mutual Covenant. They may use their shops as restaurants in accordance with the land lease conditions including having obtained a licence from LandsD, and the conditions for the restaurant licences as required by FEHD. Regarding the environmental and hygiene concerns as raised by the residents, this will be followed up by the relevant departments including FEHD.
f
