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The Planning Department today (June 23) launches a two-month Stage 3 Public Participation Programme under the Kai Tak Planning Review to seek the community's views on the draft Preliminary Outline Development Plan (PODP) for the Kai Tak development.
Speaking at a press conference, the Director of Planning, Mr Bosco Fung, said that the comments and proposals received in the previous rounds of public participation programme had been taken into account in preparing the draft PODP.
"The Stage 3 Public Participation Programme aims to facilitate early feedback from the public on the draft PODP before it is finalised. The comments and proposals received at this stage and the outcome of the Preliminary Technical Assessments would also be taken into account in finalising the PODP."
The community, Mr Fung added, had responded enthusiastically to the first two rounds of public participation programmes and there was general support to leisure-oriented lower density developments in Kai Tak.
"We are proposing a mix of land uses in this large site of Kai Tak, which is about 328 hectares, to meet public needs and aspirations, as well as to address various policy initiatives of the Government," he said.
To guide the planning and development of Kai Tak, the vision of developing a distinguished, vibrant, attractive and people-oriented Kai Tak by the Victoria Harbour has been adopted so as to realise the ideal of "returning the harbour to the people".
The Harbour Planning Principles and a number of other planning principles have also been applied in preparing the PODP. These include promoting continuous public participation; planning Kai Tak as a sustainable and environmentally friendly development and as a hub for sports, recreation, tourism, business and quality housing; promoting quality urban design and landscaping, pedestrian-oriented environment, integrated public spaces and maximising the waterfront for public enjoyment; preserving the heritage assets in Kai Tak; and integrating Kai Tak with its surrounding and enhancing opportunities for revitalising the surrounding districts.
"On the basis of 'no reclamation', the draft PODP has proposed a balance of residential, commercial office/hotel, sports and tourism developments in Kai Tak. The future Kai Tak development is proposed to accommodate an overall population of about 87,000 and to provide about 85,000 job opportunities.
"In main, the draft PODP proposes to create a new urban node at Kai Tak, supported by a belt of office developments, several residential neighbourhoods and a variety of Government, institution or community (GIC) facilities, a multi-purpose stadium complex fronting Victoria Harbour, a cruise terminal cum tourism node at the end of the ex-runway and a Metro Park in the northern section of the runway and surrounding the Kai Tak Approach Channel," Mr Fung said.
Under the draft PODP, there will be six main sub-areas of Kai Tak, namely Kai Tak City Centre, Sports Hub, Metro Park, Runway Precinct, Tourism and Leisure Hub, and Mixed Use Corner.
The proposed Kai Tak City Centre, to be located in the northeastern part of the north apron area, will be the main development area of Kai Tak. The area mainly consists of an office belt to meet the long-term demand in office space as recommended under the Hong Kong 2030 Study, inter-mixing with hotel developments. The Shatin to Central Link Kai Tak Station and the surrounding Station Square would form the centre of this new district.
The Station Square is full of trees and green open spaces. A Government centre is proposed to the east of the Station Square, comprising a Government offices building and a Government joint user building. To the south of the Station Square is a tree-lined Kai Tak residential neighbourhood (this is a small podium-free residential area comprising rows of town houses and medium-rise blocks in each street block) and a variety of Government, institution or community facilities. The committed public housing development sites with piling works completed are located in the eastern part of the area.
A multi-purpose stadium is planned at the waterfront areas. The stadium would become a new icon in the Victoria Harbour and would give a very strong impression of Kai Tak when entering the site from To Kwa Wan. The stadium complex, commanding a clear vista towards Lion Rock, would be connected to the Metro Park and to the Kai Tak Station through a convenient and easily accessible landscaped walkway and open space.
The Metro Park surrounding the Kai Tak Approach Channel will be connected with a long promenade around the runway and along the south apron area. This would be the waterfront park of Victoria Harbour in providing venues for passive and active recreation, and is planned to be the ˇ§central parkˇ¨ of East Kowloon. The park with a planned area of about 24 hectares is 1.4 times of Victoria Park.
Apart from the proposed Metro Park, the Kai Tak development will be supported by a network of district and local open spaces. The major open spaces include: Metro Park (24 hectares), Station Square (7 hectares), Sung Wong Toi Park (5 hectares), Runway Park (5.6 hectares), Hoi Sham Park (2.5 hectares) and waterfront promenade (25 hectares).
The Runway Precinct will be a low-density residential development with shop frontage at ground level. A continuous waterfront promenade is proposed on both sides of the Precinct to bring people to the harbour.
A two-berth cruise terminal and tourism node is proposed at Kai Tak Point, which will be two major anchor projects to attract local and overseas visitors. The Runway Park at the tip of the runway will provide the opportunity to include facilities of aviation theme, such as reprovision of the ex-air traffic control tower. A heliport is proposed abutting the cruise terminal at the runway tip to meet the forecast growth of cross-boundary helicopter services in the longer term. The heliport will create synergy with the cruise terminal and share the use of the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine facilities.
At the lower part of south apron area, a variety of commercial and residential, and GIC (including hospital) uses is proposed to help rejuvenate this waterfront area of Kowloon Bay. Apart from the open space corridor and waterfront promenade, a waterfront bazaar is also proposed as a venue for community activities.
Initiatives to ensure connectivity of Kai Tak with surrounding districts such as Kowloon City, San Po Kong, Kwun Tong, To Kwa Wan, Choi Hung and Kowloon Bay have been proposed, including enhancement to existing road, railway and pedestrian connections, construction of walkways and subways, bridges as well as waterfront promenade.
The Stage 3 Public Participation programme will last until August 23. During the period, the Government will consult the Legislative Council, Town Planning Board, Harbour-front Enhancement Committee, District Councils, related advisory committees, professional institutes and concerned groups.
A territory-wide public forum in Tsim Sha Tsui will be arranged on July 8, and district forums for Kwun Tong, Kowloon City and Wong Tai Sin will be organised on July 15, July 29 and August 5 respectively. Exhibitions of the draft PODP proposals, including a physical model, will be held at these forums as well as in other public venues during the two-month period.
The finalised PODP will provide the basis for revising the Kai Tak Outline Zoning Plans (OZPs) and for embarking on the engineering feasibility and environmental studies. The amended OZPs will be published for further public consultation under the statutory planning process.
The public can visit the Planning Department's website (http://www.pland.gov.hk) for more details of the Stage 3 Public Participation Programme of the Kai Tak Planning Review and the public consultation digest.
The Kai Tak Planning Review commenced in mid-2004, during which the Stage 1 Public Participation had initiated community discussion on the vision for Kai Tak development. The public had also expressed views on the Outline Concept Plans in the subsequent Stage 2 Public Participation, which was completed early this year.
Ends/Friday, June 23, 2006
Issued at HKT 20:34
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