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1. MTRC plans switch over line funding

2. Proposed Kai Tak density should be halved, Liberal Party says

1. MTRC plans switch over line funding
Winnie Chong, The Standard 1 September 2006

MTR Corp has abandoned plans for a property development atop its future Kennedy Town station but is asking government permission to develop the former police quarters site in Ka Wai Man Road to fund its West Island Line.

The three-kilometer extension of MTRC's Island Line from Sheung Wan will have three new stations - Sai Ying Pun, University and Kennedy Town - with a total of 14 exits.

The new extension will cost about HK$7 billion, to be financed equally by MTRC and the government.

MTRC passed its revised proposal to the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau Thursday, canceling its previous bid to develop property on top of Kennedy Town station. The site is said to be only a single block, which is too small. Central and Western District Council is also opposed to any development of the site.

Instead, MTRC has suggested the area around Kennedy Town station be developed into leisure facilities and a public transportation interchange. At the same time, it wants the government to approve the former police quarters site at Ka Wai Man Road in Kennedy Town for property development.

If the proposal goes ahead, this will be the first time the MTRC has financed operations through property development away from stations.

MTRC senior coordinating engineer Tang Pak-hung said the move was due to public opposition to development at the Kennedy Town site, and because Sai Ying Pun and University stations were not suitable for property development.

"For this project, the police site is suitable," Tang said, adding that the final decision will be made after discussions with the government.

Tang said MTRC will consider other suggestions by the government. "We will keep all options open and are flexible," he said.

MTRC also presented the amended proposal to Central and Western District Council, where it was accepted, council chairman Chan Tak-chor said.

But Charles Chan Chiu-kwok, managing director of Savills Valuation and Professional Services, had doubts about the revised MTRC proposal, saying it was unusual for it to ask for land away from its stations.

"MTRC is an independent listed company. MTRC's request for land will violate the principle of land sales in the city. It will be unfair to other developers. It also raises questions about collusion between government and business," said Chan, who added there was no base to calculate the price of the land.

James Cheung King-tat, senior associate director at Centaline Surveyors, estimated that the price for property development on the top of Kennedy Road station is similar to that of Ka Wai Man Road , at about HK$5,000 per square foot.

MTRC will invite tenders for the project at the end of the year, with construction due to start next year. Train services are scheduled to commence in 2012.

2. Proposed Kai Tak density should be halved, Liberal Party says
ROBIN KWONG , SCMP 1 September 2006

Residential and commercial density at the former Kai Tak airport site should be half what the government proposed, according to an alternative development proposal for the area unveiled by the Liberal Party yesterday.

Party chairman James Tien Pei-chun said the party had not intended making drastic changes to the government's proposal, "but the members of our study group, our district representatives, and our consultant had the view that the proposed population was quite a lot".

"Our view is that this land is not just for the Kai Tak area but that the surrounding districts could benefit from it being a green and low-density area as well."

The Liberal Party's proposal has room for 43,250 people in 15,250 flats, and 441,250 square metres of office space. In the original government proposal, 86,500 people would live in 30,500 flats and there would be room for 700,000 square metres of office space.

The plot ratio - the floor area of the buildings divided by the area of the site - for residential areas under the Liberal Party plan would range from 1.5 to 4, compared to 3.5 to 9 for the government's plan.

Nearly all of the proposed reduction in residential areas would come from private housing, rather than public.

Study group convenor Edward Ho Sing-tin said Kai Tak should become a low-density area because population density in the surrounding districts was set to increase.

With height restrictions removed since the Kai Tak airport stopped operating, "many of the buildings could be up for redevelopment, and they would then be made much higher", he said.

Mr Ho said the new plan also addressed the issue of connections between Kai Tak and the surrounding areas, for which the original government plan has been criticised.

It proposes building a monorail system with 13 stops and increasing the number of bridges linking the former runway area with Kwun Tong and Kowloon Bay from one in the government's plan to three.

Chan Wai-kwan, chairman of the Harbourfront Enhancement Committee's subcommittee on southeast Kowloon development, said he welcomed the proposal but said there needed to be a sufficient number of residents for Kai Tak to develop successfully.

"As to whether that number is 80,000 or 40,000, that's a matter for people to discuss."

An amended outline zoning plan is expected in a month, when the public will be invited to comment.