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The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

A spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (March 2) that the approved OZP would establish a statutory land use framework to guide development and redevelopment in Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau.

According to the 1996 By-Census, the total population of the Planning Scheme Area of about 784 hectares was around 165,000 persons. Upon full development, the population is estimated to be about 190,000 persons.

The area is characterized by a mixture of land uses with Tin Wan and Aberdeen areas mainly for commercial/residential uses, the Wong Chuk Hang area predominantly for industrial uses, and Ap Lei Chau and the area along Nam Long Shan Road mainly for residential uses and other specified uses.

Most of the residential developments in the area are zoned "Residential (Group A)" ("R(A)") covering 58.34 hectares.

Existing "R(A)" developments include five public rental housing estates, two Home Ownership Schemes (HOS), two Private Sector Participation Schemes (PSPS), one Sandwich Class Housing development, the "South Horizons" development and other private housing developments.

Proposed "R(A)" developments include a PSPS development at Shum Wan Road (South), a HOS development at Welfare Road and a mixed Government subsidized and private residential development at Ap Lei Chau.

An area of 0.4 hectare at Island Road is zoned "Residential (Group C)" for low-density residential development in order to preserve the low-rise and low-density character as well as the public views and amenity of the area near the Ocean Park.

Besides, four sites in Tin Wan, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau, totalling 3.48 hectares, are zoned "Residential (Group E)" ("R(E)") to encourage the phasing out of existing residual industrial buildings in these areas and to allow adequate planning control on new residential developments. The zoning is to address the industrial/residential interface problems.

The "R(E)" site at Ap Lei Chau Praya Road is designated as "R(E)1". A maximum plot ratio of 5 is stipulated in the Notes to ensure that the development intensity of the site would not overstrain the existing and planned traffic capacities.

Other private residential developments are zoned "Commercial/Residential" ("C/R") and take up 10.82 hectares.

In addition to the Wong Chuk Hang industrial area which is the largest industrial site in the area, some areas at Tin Wan, Wong Chuk Hang, the south-western and eastern parts of Ap Lei Chau and to the west of Shum Wan Road (South) are also zoned "Industrial" ("I") covering 18.41 hectares.

The long-term land use of the sites east of Ap Lei Chau Praya Road and west of Shum Wan Road are currently under review.

Other land uses scattered in the area are "Government, Institution or Community" ("G/IC"), "Other Specified Uses" ("OU") and "Open Space", taking up 101.89 hectares, 92.28 hectares and 12.81 hectares respectively.

Some of the existing major G/IC facilities include the Grantham Hospital, Academy of Medicine, Police Training School, Aberdeen Sports Grounds and market complexes.

The existing major "OU" developments include Ocean Park, Chinese Permanent Cemetery, a number of private sports and recreational clubs, an utility and operational headquarters of Hong Kong Electric and a transit depot for Liquefied Petroleum Gas and oil products at Ap Lei Chau, and a commercial development with multi-storey public lorry park.

The rest of the area is mainly conservation in nature with part of the Aberdeen Country Park covering 101.73 hectares zoned "Country Park" and the western part of the Nam Fung Road of 1.98 hectares zoned "Site of Special Scientific Interest" in the north, and the coastal area and Ap Lei Pai totalling 28.35 hectares zoned "Coastal Protection Area" in the south.

Besides, a large portion of land located at the fringe of the existing and planned built-up areas are zoned "Green Belt", covering 210.77 hectares.

The approved OZP No. S/H15/14 is now available for public inspection at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board and Hong Kong District Planning Office in North Point Government Offices, 333 Java Road; and the Southern District Office in Ocean Court, 3 Aberdeen Praya Road.

Copies of the plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in Yau Ma Tei and North Point.

End/Friday, March 2, 2001

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