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1. Approved Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan amended

2. Wu's high ambition blunted

3. Private developers offered free hand

4. Project to plug flood problem

1. Approved Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan amended
Hong Kong Government, 17 April 2004

The Town Planning Board (the Board) today (April 16) announced amendments to the approved Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

The amendments involve mainly the rezoning of the area covering Shan Pui Chung Hau Tsuen and the adjacent land from "Residential (Group D)" ("R(D)") to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Pumping Station"; "Residential (Group D)1" ("R(D)1"); and "Comprehensive Development Area (1), (2) and (3)".

The "Comprehensive Development Area" zoning is to allow better planning control on the future development of the sites to ensure their compatibility with the surrounding areas.

Amendments have also been made to revise the Notes of the OZP in accordance with the revised Master Schedule of Notes (MSN) to Statutory Plans endorsed by the Town Planning Board. Under the revised MSN, various measures including broad use terms have been introduced to provide greater flexibility for change of use and reduce the need for planning application.

The general provisions under the covering Notes and the user schedules for various land use zones have been revised to expand the scope of uses that are always permitted. Besides, the planning intentions for various zones have been incorporated into the Notes to form part of the statutory plan.

The draft Nam Sang Wai OZP No. S/YL-NSW/5 incorporating the amendments is now available for public inspection during normal office hours at the following locations: * Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, 15/F, North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road;

* Tuen Mun and Yuen Long District Planning Office, 14/F, Sha Tin Government Offices, 1 Sheung Wo Che Road;

* Yuen Long District Office, Yuen Long District Office Building, 269 Castle Peak Road;

* San Tin Rural Committee, 7 Main Road, San Tin, Yuen Long;

* Shap Pat Heung Rural Committee, Main Road, Yuen Long, New Territories;

* Kam Tin Rural Committee, Kam Tin Road; and

* Ping Shan District Rural Committee, 139-147 On Ning Road, Yuen Long.

Any person affected by the amendments can submit a written objection to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board on or before June 16, 2004.

Copies of the draft OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan is viewable from the Town Planning Board's website at www.info.gov.hk/tpb.

2. Wu's high ambition blunted
Dennis Eng, The Standard 17 April 2004

Gordon Wu's dream of erecting a HK$4-billion mega-hotel in Wan Chai has received the thumbs down from the Town Planning Board in a stinging twist to the 20-year saga.

Hopewell Holdings, chaired by Wu, has submitted plans for the hotel to the board a total of 11 times in the last two decades, six of which were successful. The developer presented its latest blueprint to the board at the end of February. ``After 20 years of trying, I am disappointed,'' Wu said yesterday. ``I really thought everything was going to be okay this time.''

Wu's vision for the mammoth structure has undergone numerous reincarnations. In 1994, the board cleared the way for Hopewell to build a 93-storey tower. The height was later reduced and the tower altered to include residential and commercial space. The current plan consists of two hotels in an L-shape sandwiched between Queen's Road East at ground level and Kennedy Road 16 storeys up. The board said the ``fan-shaped'' structure would spoil the view of many tenants and worsen congestion on Kennedy Road, reasons that Wu rejected. The board said it received 523 letters, most of which rejected the project.

Wu previously said Hopewell would replant 78 trees that would have to be removed to make way for the building. Two schools in the area did not object, he added.

3. Private developers offered free hand
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 17 April 2004

The government proposes giving private developers who build public projects a free hand to build anything they deem profitable around the developments, provided no zoning bylaws are violated, officials disclosed yesterday.

The government is advocating the public-private partnership (PPP) model as a means to fund projects it cannot pay for. Developers will build and operate the public facilities.

Legislators on the home affairs panel were told that provided the developers awarded tenders for the projects gained Town Planning Board approval, they could build whatever they wanted next to the public facilities for their own profit.

Two pilot PPP projects would go out to tender this year and if they were successful the programme would be expanded, said Deputy Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Alan Siu Yu-bun.

"If there is an enthusiastic response to our tendering, it means the private sector believes it can make a profit out of it, and it also means our idea is going to work. So we will develop more projects under this model," he said.

He said it would be unrealistic to place too many limits on private investors. They would not be drawn to unprofitable public projects.

The two PPP pilot schemes are a leisure and cultural centre in Kwun Tong, and an ice rink, bowling alley and park in Tseung Kwan O.

The government has also earmarked a $6 billion redevelopment of a Sha Tin water treatment plant and a cultural centre in Tai Po to be built under the PPP.

Approval by the Legislative Council will not be required for PPP projects because they do not involve public expenditure. The relevant bureaus will handle tendering for a project.

Mr Siu said price limits would ensure private businesses did not overcharge the public. The charges would be compared with market rates and government costs.

Democratic Party legislator Andrew Cheng Kar-foo was not convinced prices could be kept affordable. "Look at what is happening to bus fares - senior officials and the public are against bus companies' refusal to lower fares, but one can do nothing to bring down fares to a reasonable level," he said.

Mr Cheng said Legco and the district councils should decide how much developers could charge.

The Frontier legislator Emily Lau Wai-hing agreed and urged the government to set up a permanent body to monitor the performance of developers.

But Liberal Party legislator Tommy Cheung Yu-yan said the new PPP model was the way forward. "Good things must be expensive. You can't ask for quality service but be unwilling to pay a good price. If you have too many restrictions, no one will invest."

4. Project to plug flood problem
NICK GENTLE and ELAINE WU, SCMP 17 April 2004

With $5 billion spent and most of the major projects out of the way, the Drainage Services Department yesterday gave an upbeat assessment of progress on its flood mitigation measures in the New Territories.

Department director Raymond Cheung Tat-kwing said the most important projects in the lowland areas of Hong Kong's northern districts were finished or close to completion.

"We have reduced the chances of flooding in the New Territories substantially," Mr Cheung said.

Flooding has been a longstanding problem in some areas of Hong Kong, particularly around Yuen Long. Last year a 47-year-old police officer was swept to his death when trying to rescue a trapped villager in Ta Kwu Ling, near the mainland border.

So bad were things on the lower reaches of Beas River, where a drainage channel was completed about two years ago, one village was called Ho Sheung Heung, or "Village in the River".

Yuen Long District Councillor Tsang Hin-keung, who is also chairman of the district's environmental improvement committee, said the projects were good for the area because they greatly reduced flood damage.

"From an environmental point of view, the impact is minimal," he said.