1 International boarding school to be built in HK
Nick Gentle, SCMP 30 December 2008

An international boarding school for at least 1,200 students is planned for Tuen Mun with land and - if necessary - financial help from the government.

A Legislative Council brief distributed yesterday outlines a plan, approved by the Executive Council and Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen on December 16, to assist in the development of the school through a land grant and interest-free loans.

The move is part of a plan, outlined in Mr Tsang's 2007-08 policy address, to build the city's reputation as a regional education powerhouse.

The proposed new school would cater to a minimum of 1,200 students, at least 50 per cent of whom should be from outside Hong Kong. It would be built on former military land in Castle Peak Road, So Kwun Wat.

In a policy shift, the government will also support the development of boarding facilities on the grounds of already established international, private and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools, the paper says. This does not apply to public-sector schools because they are needed to cope with demand from Hong Kong students.

The Tuen Mun site is one of four undeveloped potential sites for international schools for which the government sought expressions of interest in March.

An Education Bureau spokeswoman said it was hoped a decision on who would operate the school would be made by the middle of next year.

"We will invite in the next few days the interested organisations to submit formal applications and detailed school proposals for consideration and vetting by the School Allocation Committee ... which will make a recommendation to the Education Bureau," she said.

The successful organisation will be granted the land for a nominal premium for 10 years and will, if needed, be offered an interest-free loan to help pay for the building.

Legco education panel member Lee Cheuk-yan said that while the plan had yet to be discussed, the lack of boarding facilities in the city had been a matter of concern.

"We welcome the government moving to meet this demand," said Mr Lee, representative for New Territories West. "There may also be demand from China now - they already account for about 10 per cent of our university places. I think it will  encourage parents to think about sending their children from the mainland to secondary school in Hong Kong to prepare for university.

"There is definitely an opportunity for Hong Kong to develop as an education hub for the region and as a springboard for mainland students."

Fellow New Territories West lawmaker and panel member Leung Yiu-chung said it was important that local students were also catered for.

"Some of these local students really need to be independent of their parents," he said. "Some of them can be quite spoiled, and once they are in the boarding experience, it will teach them to be more independent."

 

2 26 building plans approved
Hong Kong Government, 30 December 2008

The Buildings Department approved 26 building plans in November - 13 on Hong Kong Island, six in Kowloon and seven in the New Territories.

Of the approved plans, six were for apartment and apartment/commercial developments, 11 were for commercial developments and nine were for community services developments.

In the same month, consent was given for work to start on 16 building projects that, when completed, will provide 60,539 square metres of gross floor area for domestic use, involving 484 units, and 31,044 square metres of gross floor area for non-domestic use. The department has received notification of commencement of work for 10 building projects.

The department also issued 14 occupation permits - four on Hong Kong Island, five in Kowloon and five in the New Territories.

Of the buildings certified for occupation, the gross floor areas for domestic use were 70,308 square metres, involving 592 units, and 60,466 square metres for non-domestic use.

The declared cost of the new buildings completed in November totalled about $2.4 billion.

In addition, six demolition consents involving six building structures were issued.

The department received 1,980 complaints against unauthorised building works in November, and issued 1,271 removal orders on unauthorised works. 

The full version of the Monthly Digest for November can be viewed by the public on the Buildings Department's homepage, www.bd.gov.hk.

 

3 Lists of public facilities in private developments updated
Hong Kong Government, 30 December 2008

The Lands Department and Buildings Department have updated and released today (December 30) the lists of private developments which are required under land leases or deeds of dedication to provide and manage various public facilities, such as open spaces, pedestrian passages and walkways, footbridges and car parks.

The list released by the Lands Department now contains 450 developments completed since 1987, an addition of 150 developments to the list released in August this year in respect of developments completed since 1992. With the addition of one new development, the Buildings Department's list now contains 320 developments.

In line with the previous practice, a separate list of open spaces in these private developments available for public use is also provided for reference. The update has identified seven additional private developments with open space available for public use in North Point, Central, Admiralty, Wan Chai, Sham Shui Po, Yau Ma Tei and Tsuen Wan. A location plan and photos in respect of each of these seven open spaces are made available for public reference.

The above lists are uploaded onto the websites of the Development Bureau (www.devb-plb.gov.hk), Lands Department (www.landsd.gov.hk) and Buildings Department (www.bd.gov.hk).

A spokesman for the Development Bureau said that the release of the information was intended to enhance transparency and public accessibility to those public facilities. The Lands Department and Buildings Department have written to all relevant owners, owners' corporations or management companies of those private developments to remind them of their obligations under land leases or deeds of dedication in respect of these public facilities.

Since the release of first batch of public facilities in March this year, follow-up action in response to complaints has been promptly taken by the Lands Department and Buildings Department, and generally compliance by owners has been observed. The two departments will also continue to conduct spot checks on these facilities to ensure compliance with the requirements.

The Lands Department will continue to retrieve information on private developments completed between 1980 and 1986, which is likely to be the last batch to conclude this exercise, with an aim to release the updated lists in the first half of 2009. Thereafter, the Lands Department and the Buildings Department will update their lists as and when necessary.

People may contact the relevant District Lands Office or the Buildings Department through the telephone numbers provided in the lists should they wish to obtain more information about the public facilities, or to report any non-compliance with the specified uses.