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The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Yau Ma Tei Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).
"The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Yau Ma Tei area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (May 16).
The Planning Scheme Area, covering about 122 hectares of land, is located in West Kowloon. It is bounded by Jordan Road and Gascoigne Road to the south, the MTR East Rail Line to the east, Dundas Street to the north, and West Kowloon Reclamation to the west.
About 6.8 hectares of land is zoned "Commercial". This zone is restricted to a maximum plot ratio of 12 and covers both sides of Nathan Road, which is the commercial spine of the area.
About 13.8 hectares of land is zoned "Residential (Group A)", generally covering an established high-density residential area to the west of Nathan Road. About 7.4 hectares of land covering mainly the medium-density residential development in the King's Park area is zoned "Residential (Group B)".
About 30.5 hectares of land is zoned "Government, Institution or Community" for the provision of various GIC facilities to serve local and district needs. Major facilities include Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kwong Wah Hospital, King's Park Hockey Ground, Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market and Kowloon Government Offices. Another one hectare of land is zoned "Government, Institution or Community (1)" to provide land for higher educational use and railway facilities.
About 18.7 hectares of land is zoned "Open Space" to provide outdoor open-air public space for both active and passive recreational uses. The existing grass pitches within the ex-British Military Hospital site, i.e. King's Park Sports Ground, are retained for open space purposes.
About 8.5 hectares of land is zoned "Other Specified Uses" for such uses as sports and recreation clubs at Gascoigne Road and Wylie Road.
About 2.2 hectares of land is zoned "Green Belt" to retain its natural state. The zone mainly covers steep hill slopes not suitable for urban development.
About 0.4 hectare of land bounded by Waterloo Road, Shanghai Street, Man Ming Lane and Portland Street including Yunnan Lane and a section of Shek Lung Street is designated as Land Development Corporation (LDC) Development Scheme Plan Area. (The Urban Renewal Authority was established on May 1, 2001 to replace the LDC and to take over the on-going urban renewal projects from the LDC.) The site has been developed for residential use with a public open space at ground level. The red-brick building at 344 Shanghai Street, which is of significant historical value, has been preserved.
The approved Yau Ma Tei OZP No. S/K2/20 is now available for public inspection during normal office hours at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, the Planning Enquiry Counters in North Point and Sha Tin, the Tsuen Wan and West Kowloon District Planning Office and the Yau Tsim Mong District Office.
Copies of the approved plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. An electronic version of the plan can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (http://www.info.gov.hk/tpb).
Ends/Friday, May 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:55
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