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1. Independence vow given on cultural hub

2. No notification of Hunghom Peninsula demolition received

3. LCQ16: Disposal of Hunghom Peninsula and Kingsford Terrace

1. Independence vow given on cultural hub
CHLOE LAI, SCMP 17 November 2004

A contender for the West Kowloon cultural hub pledged yesterday that if it won, the arts and cultural facilities would be run by an 11-member board, independent from property developers.

Directors of Sunny Development, the consortium formed by Sino Land, Wharf (Holdings) and Chinese Estates Holdings, insisted they would not intervene in the board's management or the performances and exhibitions staged at the proposed cultural complex.

At the first press conference on its bid for the massive project, the consortium gave it the name "Parc" (the Park of Arts, Recreation and Culture).

Sunny is the first of the three short-listed bidders to disclose details of how the arts and cultural facilities would be managed. Its bid has the highest development density, and is the only one that provides no breakdown on the commercial spaces.

Sunny executives urged the public to focus on the quantity and quality of the arts and cultural facilities it would provide.

Also shortlisted to make bids for West Kowloon are Dynamic Star International - a joint venture of Cheung Kong (Holdings) and Sun Hung Kai Properties - and World City Cultural Park, a subsidiary of Henderson Land.

The Tung administration wants to turn a 40-hectare plot of reclaimed land near Kowloon station into a cultural hub. The winning consortium will run the site for 30 years.

Under Sunny's proposal, the Parc development and every individual museum would be managed by bodies established by government ordinance, with independent boards of trustees.

Sunny Yeung Kwong, a Wharf representative, said no employees from the developers would be appointed to the board of governors for overall cultural facilities.

Sino Land executive director Yu Wai-wai said: "We provide more than what the government requires." He said the arrangement ensured the sustainable development of "Parc" 30 years on, when it has to be handed back to the government.

Sunny would build a 25-hectare park at the site. Its development would provide free office space and studios to 12 local arts companies. In addition to the government's requirements, it would build a 1,750-seat concert hall and a world-class recital hall plus two extra outdoor theatres. There would be a museum studies institute and a performing arts-focused secondary school.

Meanwhile, Guggenheim Foundation director Thomas Krens estimates a museum with 3 million visitors a year would come very close to breaking even, and might even make a profit.

On his first visit to Hong Kong since the foundation announced its partnership with Dynamic Star in the bidding, he said it was possible for museums to generate profit. "World-class programmes are going to bring visitors. I don't think local programmes alone can do it as we need to create a destination so people from all over the Asia and the world will come to Hong Kong."

2. No notification of Hunghom Peninsula demolition received
Hong Kong Government, 17 November 2004

In response to media enquiries, a spokesman for the Environmental Protection Department said today (November 17) that the Government had so far received no notification from the developers of Hunghom Peninsula that the development would be demolished.

"The Director of Environmental Protection, Mr Rob Law, wrote to the developers of Hunghom Peninsula in March this year urging them to avoid the need for demolishing the development.

"He also urged them to prepare a waste management plan if they did decide to do any demolition work, so as to minimise the amount of construction waste that has to be disposed of," the spokesman noted.

3. LCQ16: Disposal of Hunghom Peninsula and Kingsford Terrace
Hong Kong Government, 17 November 2004

Following is a question by the Hon Choy So-yuk and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (Nov 17):

Question:

Regarding the disposal of flats built under the Hunghom Peninsula Private Sector Participation Scheme and the Kingsford Terrace Private Sector Participation Scheme, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) in deciding to sell the flats at Hunghom Peninsula, how it assessed the possible impact of that decision on environmental protection;

(b) in putting up the flats at Kingsford Terrace for sale in the future, whether it will impose requirements such as prohibiting the demolition or reconstruction of the flats;

(c) if the authorities will impose such requirements but did not do so when selling the flats at Hunghom Peninsula, whether the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, being the principal official for this policy area, will shoulder the responsibility for such an omission; if he will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) if the authorities will not impose such requirements, how they can ensure that the flats at Kingsford Terrace will not be demolished or reconstructed after they have been sold?

Reply:

Madam President,

Under the Private Sector Participation Scheme (PSPS), private developers were invited to tender for housing sites on which they were required to build flats conforming to certain specifications stipulated by the Government. Like other Government land sales, the land title of a PSPS site was vested in the developer. The developer held legal title to the land lot and owned the entire development.

My reply to the four-part question is as follows:

(a) In considering options to deal with Hunghom Peninsula, our main concerns are to maintain the consistency and integrity of the Government's housing policy and minimise any adverse impact on the then unstable property market. After thorough examination of various options and associated policy, legal and contractual implications, the Government reached agreement with the developer through mediation, allowing the developer to modify the lease to remove the PSPS-related terms and conditions after payment of the agreed premium so that the developer can sell his property in the open market. The lease modification does not involve environmental considerations.

(b) Kingsford Terrace is also a PSPS project. Similar to Hunghom Peninsula, the developer held both the legal title to the land lot and the development. The Government had therefore adopted the same approach in dealing with Kingsford Terrace, i.e. allowing the developer to dispose of the property subject to the payment of a lease modification premium to be agreed through negotiation. Since the Government and the developer of Kingsford Terrace were unable to reach an agreement on the amount of modification premium, the Housing Authority purchased in August 2004 the domestic flats of Kingsford Terrace at the guaranteed price in accordance with the contractual provisions set out in the Conditions of Sale. At present, the site of Kingsford Terrace is jointly owned by the Housing Authority and the developer. The Housing Authority is now considering options to dispose of the residential flats. The Government must protect the right to private property in accordance with the law. Having regard to legal and other considerations, it is inappropriate to impose arbitrarily additional restrictions on demolition or redevelopment on sold land.

(c) Some sectors of the community oppose any proposed demolition of Hunghom Peninsula for redevelopment. The Government is concerned and has been closely monitoring the situation. We cannot disregard the fact that the legal title to Hunghom Peninsula is held by the developer. It should be noted that land owners have the right to formulate options to develop their own land within the parameters of planning constraints and all applicable legislation. The Government does not have the liberty to impose any additional restrictions on demolition or redevelopment. Thus, there is no question of omission in not including such restriction at the time of lease modification.

(d) The residential flats of Kingsford Terrace are now owned by the Housing Authority whereas the commercial and parking facilities are owned by the original developer. The Housing Authority is examining possible options to make the best use of the residential flats.