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1. Public forum for views on further development of TKO

2. Developers go separate ways with pricing directions

3. Housing Society to share URA projects

4. Airports warned on growth take-off

1. Public forum for views on further development of TKO
Hong Kong Government, 19 September 2002

The Territory Development Department (TDD) will stage a forum in Tseung Kwan O (TKO) tomorrow (September 20) to invite public views on further development of the new town. "Opinions, particularly those of the local residents, will contribute significantly to a feasibility study which is jointly commissioned by TDD and the Planning Department in end of July this year," a TDD spokesman said. The Feasibility Study for Further Development of TKO is an 18-month integrated planning and engineering study. "Its objective is to formulate a comprehensive plan to further develop TKO, with a vision of turning it into a new town of convenience and vibrancy, with distinctive urban design and quality living environment within 15 years," he said. "Opinions collected on key issues and directions will help formulate alternative development options which will be presented to the public in a few months' time. "Further consultation will then be held early next year," he added. The forum, the first of a series, will start at 8:00 pm at Leung Sing Tak Primary School, Hang Hau, in TKO (next to the Hang Hau MTR Station).

2. Developers go separate ways with pricing directions
The Standard, 20 September 2002

Developers are heading in different directions on pricing, with some raising prices while others lower them. Local consortium Newfoundworld yesterday launched a new batch of 16 Seaview Crescent flats in Tung Chung by offering a 10 per cent discount. Seaview Crescent - jointly developed by Hang Lung Development, Henderson Land Development, New World Development, Sun Hung Kai Properties, Swire Properties and the MTR Corp - is the first residential project launched for sale on the Tung Chung line. The 16 flats, measuring between 679 square feet and 1,800 sq ft, were priced at an average HK$2,038 psf, with a minimum price of HK$1,988 psf. ``There are several projects rolling out in the market and we hope to lure more buyers with an attractive price,'' New World Development senior manager of sales and marketing Barbara Ho said. She said around 400 units were snapped up and would generate HK$800 million for the joint venture. Income could reach HK$2.3 billion if the remaining 800 units were sold. The consortium is offering a furniture package for three-room flat buyers who applied for a HSBC mortgage. Meanwhile, Cheung Kong Holdings has raised prices by 1.5 per cent for a batch of eight waterfront Hampton Place flats in Tai Kok Tsui from the internal sale price. This came a day after Cheung Kong increased prices by 2-3 per cent for its Victoria Towers project nearby. The eight flats, measuring 587-674 sq ft each, would be sold at an average price of HK$2,599 psf, and a minimum price of HK$1.48 million per unit. Executive director Justin Chiu said the company reaped HK$217 million from the internal sale of 100 Hampton Place units on Monday. The project could go on sale by Wednesday. Separately, Wharf Holdings said the company's Bellagio project in Sham Tseng would open for subscription today. Salomon Smith Barney analyst Robert Fong believed with most developers clearing inventory and a large number of projects launched simultaneously, competition will probably intensify in the weeks ahead.

3. Housing Society to share URA projects
The Standard, 20 September 2002

The Urban Renewal Authority (URA) has entered into a partnership agreement with the Housing Society over development of urban renewal projects. Unveiling the plan yesterday, Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Michael Suen said the URA would transfer some of its renewal projects to the Housing Society. ``The Housing Society could decide the model they adopt, the ways they implement them, and even bear the costs in these redevelopment projects,'' Suen said. He said the URA would allocate renewal projects grouped in the same area to the Housing Society. Both organisations would also continue to co-operate in project management, estates maintenance and surveying. ``The partnership enables the URA to share out its workload and speed up the pace of urban redevelopment in Hong Kong,'' Suen said. `But the Housing Society will still apply the same policy and standards now adopted by the URA in assessing the removal compensation of affected residents.'' But both the Housing Society and the URA said partnership on particular projects and the amount of investments have yet to be decided. Housing Society chairman Chung Shui-ming said the number of projects the society would take over would be decided after talks with URA officials. ``As the Housing Society now only possesses cash of about HK$8 billion ... I think the estimated scale of investments will only be several billions,'' he said. ``The possibility of gaining profits from those renewal projects in a short term would be slim, but we will stick to the government target to reach a balance in the long term.'' URA chairman Lau Wah-sum said projects allocated to the Housing Society would be decided within one or two months. ``As we need to submit our latest five-year corporate plan to Financial Secretary Antony Leung by December, all of details of our plan, including those renewal projects allocated to the Housing Society in the next 12 months, will be endorsed by November,'' he said. But he stressed renewal projects would be despatched in a batch and the Housing Society could not accept only the profitable projects. With five redevelopment projects to be implemented by the URA before March next year, the authority could accomplish 225 projects throughout Hong Kong in the next 20 years.

4. Airports warned on growth take-off
SCMP, 20 September 2002

The volume of air traffic handled by the five airports in the Pearl River Delta is expected to rise by six per cent every year over the next three decades, the chief secretary said yesterday. But Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, who is on a three-day visit to Shanghai, said the cities in the delta region should avoid duplicating large-scale infrastructure development and unhealthy competition in operating the airports. "There are five airports and seven ports in the Pearl River Delta. Co-ordination among the infrastructure projects in the delta is necessary for maintaining its status as a logistics centre," he said. The airports, in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai and Macau, had formed a coalition and would step up business co-operation, he said. Mr Tsang said the Airport Authority had recently launched a global promotion campaign with the other four airports. "We hope the volume of air traffic handled by the airports in the region will grow by six per cent a year in the next 30 years," he said, adding that he was confident the target could be met with new transport networks linking to the airports and better use of facilities. The SAR delegation, led by Mr Tsang, and mainland officials are scheduled to discuss cross-border projects during the Mainland-Hong Kong Conference on Co-ordination of Major Infrastructure Projects today. "Our expectation towards the conference is that the cities in the Pearl River Delta should avoid overlapping in large-scale infrastructure investment and irrational competition in operation of the facilities concerned," Mr Tsang said. Speaking after visiting port facilities at Waigaoqiao in Shanghai, Mr Tsang said the ports of Hong Kong and Shanghai were not direct competitors in cargo handling because they served different hinterlands. "Hong Kong enjoys advantages in efficiency and proximity to source of goods compared with Shanghai," he said. The Kwai Chung Container Terminal handled 11.28 million containers last year compared to 6.34 million processed by Waigaoqiao. Kwai Chung processed 7.58 million containers between January and August this year compared to Waigaoqiao's 4.56 million from January to July. The Shanghai Port Authority estimates Waigaoqiao could process 10 million containers in 2005. SAR officials expect Hong Kong's port capacity to increase to 15 million containers with completion of Container Terminal Nine in 2004. In response to a new proposal by Airport Authority chairman Victor Fung Kwok-king on the building of a bridge linking Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, Mr Tsang stressed that a feasibility study on flow of traffic and environmental impact was necessary before making the decision. Director of Planning Bosco Fung Chee-keung said there was a degree of urgency for the Zhuhai-Hong Kong bridge in view of the soaring flow of cross-border traffic. He said the Planning Department had recently started a preliminary study on the project, including possible locations and design, environmental impact and feasibility of construction works in the Pearl River Delta estuary. He said also his department was expected to release a strategic planning study early next year for public consultation. "The proposed bridge linking Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau is one of the topics in the study."