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Following is a question by Dr the Hon Yeung Sum and an oral reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao, in the Legislative Council meeting today (June 2):

Question:

It has been reported that a real estate developer has submitted to the Chief Executive's Office (CE's Office) a development proposal for Sham Chung, which has subsequently been forwarded to the Tourism Commission for action. The Commission has sought and received the views of the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau, the Home Affairs Bureau, the Lands Department and the Planning Department on the proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the views of the above bureaux and government departments, and the details of the follow-up actions taken by the Commission;

(b) whether it will consider including Sham Chung in the outline zoning plan, or designating the area as a site of special scientific interest or a conservation area; if so, of the details of its consideration; if not, the justifications for that; and

(c) of the number of proposals submitted by real estate developers to the CE's Office in the past three years, together with the details of such proposals, including the developers involved, the locations, sizes and intended land uses of the sites concerned, the responsible government departments and the reasons for submitting such proposals to the CE's Office?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Last November, the Tourism Commission received a development proposal for Sham Chung from a private developer referred to it by the Chief Executive's Office. Following the usual practice, the Tourism Commission consulted the relevant bureaux/departments, including the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau, the Environment, Transport and Works Bureau, the Planning Department (Plan D), the Lands Department, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) and the Tai Po District Office, on the proposal. The bureaux/departments mainly indicated in their response that all proposals had to comply with the existing requirements. They also pointed out the issues that needed to be addressed (such as the impacts on the environment, biodiversity, habitats and traffic) should the developer wish to further pursue the proposal, as well as the steps to be taken for taking forward the proposal, including the land exchange or lease modification procedures depending on the content of the proposal.

The Tourism Commission had reflected the views of the relevant bureaux/departments in its reply to the developer last December. Since the proposal was still conceptual in nature, the Tourism Commission did not comment on its feasibility in the reply. Up to now, the Tourism Commission has not received any response from the developer, and hence no further follow-up action has been taken.

(b) At present, Sham Chung is not included in any statutory outline zoning plan. According to the findings of past studies and the information obtained from the latest ecological surveys conducted by AFCD, the ecological value of Sham Chung hinges mainly on its wetland habitats that support a rich diversity of insects and some freshwater fish. Sham Chung is also one of the 10 sites or so where the endemic Hong Kong Paradise fish have been recorded. AFCD's preliminary view is that the ecologically important part of the site could be zoned as "Conservation Area" or "Coastal Protection Area" to conserve the existing habitats. AFCD will follow up with Plan D on the matter.

Generally speaking, if an area is to be included in a statutory outline zoning plan, the Town Planning Board (TPB) shall prepare a draft plan in accordance with the Town Planning Ordinance taking into account the relevant study findings and the views of professional departments. When the draft plan is ready, TPB shall make it available for public inspection as required by the Town Planning Ordinance. It shall conduct a hearing for objections, if any, received and consider whether any amendments to the draft plan are required. Subsequent to the publication of the draft plan and the completion of the public objection procedure, TPB shall submit the draft plan to the Chief Executive in Council for approval.

(c) The Chief Executive's Office does not have the statistics on the number of proposals submitted by real estate developers in the past three years. According to the established procedure, letters received are referred to relevant departments for follow-up action.

Ends/Wednesday, June 2, 2004

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