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Following is a question by the Hon Emily Lau, and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Mr Dominic Wong, in the Legislative Council today (February 28):

Question: Slip Road J22A of Trunk Road T7 in Ma On Shan, of which funding for its construction has already been granted, will be very close to several blocks of Monte Vista, a private residential development recently put up for sale. Upon completion, the highway will have noise and visual impacts on some residents of the development. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:

(a) given that the provision of the trunk road and its slip road had been planned for a decade ago, whether they had taken into consideration the alignment of the highway when vetting and approving the building plans of the development;

(b) whether the developer of the development has been permitted to increase the plot ratio of the development; if so, of the details and whether the authorities have assessed if such permission is the cause of the aforesaid problems;

(c) whether they have assessed if there is any maladministration on the part of the relevant government departments in handling the planning of the highway; if the assessment result is in the affirmative, of the follow-up actions the authorities will take;

(d) whether they will conduct another environmental impact assessment ("EIA") of the slip road; if not, of the justifications for that;

(e) whether the buffer distance between the slip road and the development is in compliance with the relevant standards laid down in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines; if so, of the details; if not, the remedial measures in place; and

(f) of the measures to allay the dissatisfaction and anxiety of residents in the development?

Reply

Madam President,

The location and alignment of Trunk Road T7 were delineated in the land grant for Monte Vista. As a condition of the grant, the developer was required to submit to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) a proposal to mitigate the environmental impact of the development. The proposal submitted by the developer was accepted by the EPD in September 1996. Building plans were then drawn up in accordance with the layout in the proposal, and were duly approved by the Lands Department and the Buildings Department.

Under the draft Ma On Shan Outline Zoning Plan, development of the site occupied by Monte Vista is restricted to a maximum plot ratio of 5. The developer has not been permitted to increase the plot ratio of the site, and Monte Vista has been developed in accordance with this restriction.

The planning and design of Trunk Road T7 were carried out in accordance with statutory requirements, and the views obtained through wide public consultation were taken into account. There has been no maladministration.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Trunk Road T7 took into account the environmental impact of all slip roads in the project, including Slip Road J22A. The EPD issued an Environmental Permit under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance in May 2000. There is no need to carry out another EIA for the slip road.

The Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) state that new roads should not generate excessive traffic noise, defined as over 70 dB(A). The noise mitigation measures recommended in the EIA report will reduce the traffic noise impact from Trunk Road T7 to the level stipulated in the HKPSG. The HKPSG do not stipulate a mandatory distance between roads and residential developments.

Representatives of the Territory Development Department (TDD) and other concerned departments met residents of Monte Vista on February 9, 2001 to explain the trunk road project. At the meeting, the TDD proposed six measures to allay the concerns of residents, as follows:

(i) to increase to nine metres the distance between the slip road and Block 15 of Monte Vista;

(ii) to consider extending the top of the semi-enclosed noise barriers on the northbound carriageway of the trunk road by two metres to reduce traffic noise;

(iii) to increase the height of the crash barriers between Block 15 and the clubhouse of Monte Vista from 0.8 metres to 2.5 metres;

(iv) to add sound absorbing material to the back of the noise barriers on the trunk road outside Block 15;

(v) to plant vegetation on rock slopes;

(vi) to implement a programme of environmental monitoring and audit during construction of the road and to set up a complaints hotline.

The TDD will set up a liaison group with residents of Monte Vista to discuss and take forward these arrangements.

End/Wednesday, February 28, 2001

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