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The Planning Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and the Shenzhen Municipal Planning Bureau today (June 10) announced that exercises would be launched simultaneously in the two cities, inviting the public, experts and stakeholders on both sides for their views and aspirations on the future development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop.
The public engagement exercise is the first of its kind with planning authorities of Hong Kong and Shenzhen conducting a public engagement exercise on the same issue simultaneously in their respective city. It marks a new chapter in co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Under the "Co-operation Agreement on Recently Initiated Major Infrastructural Projects" signed by Hong Kong and Shenzhen last December, the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Joint Task Force on Boundary District Development was set up to facilitate studies in relation to the Lok Ma Chau Loop.
At the first meeting of the Joint Task Force in March, it was decided that on the principle of joint study and development, academic institutions of Hong Kong and Shenzhen would be appointed to collect views on the future development of the Loop from the public and experts of the two sides. This was in order to explore the feasibility of developing the Lok Ma Chau Loop area and identifying land uses beneficial to both Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
A number of focus group discussions and public forums will be held in Hong Kong and Shenzhen between mid-June and mid-July to allow experts from various fields and the public to give views on the future development of the Lok Ma Chau Loop area. The views collected will provide input for the subsequent comprehensive study on planning, environmental, traffic and transport and engineering feasibility.
Details of the public engagement exercise have been uploaded to the websites of the Planning Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government (www.pland.gov.hk) and the Shenzhen Municipal Planning Bureau (www.szplan.gov.cn). People are welcome to visit the websites and participate in the exercise.
Ends/Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:10
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