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The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Tai Po Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).
"The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development within the Tai Po area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (January 23).
The Planning Scheme Area, covering an area of about 2,438 hectares, is located in the central part of North East New Territories. The area can be broadly divided into three physical areas ¡V the Tai Po Hui and its adjacent reclamation; the valley floors and lower hillslopes to the north and south; and the steep upper hillslopes in the peripheral areas.
About 117.8 hectares, 64.1 hectares and 127.8 hectares of land are zoned ¡§Residential (Group A)¡¨, ¡§Residential (Group B)¡¨ and ¡§Residential (Group C)¡¨ respectively for private residential and public housing developments at various development densities.
Some 24.2 hectares of land at Tai Po Hui is zoned ¡§Commercial/Residential¡¨ to allow greater flexibility in combining commercial with residential uses. About 149.5 hectares of land is zoned ¡§Village Type Development¡¨ for the retention and expansion of existing villages as well as the reservation of land for the reprovisioning of village houses affected by Government projects.
A site to the north of Ting Kok Road and to the south of Fung Yuen Site of Special Scientific Interest is zoned ¡§Comprehensive Development Area (1)¡¨ (18.4 hectares) for comprehensive development/redevelopment of the area for low¡Vdensity residential and agricultural uses with the provision of open spaces and other supporting facilities.
To meet the needs of residents in the area and the territorial demand, 177.1 hectares of land is zoned ¡§Government, Institution or Community¡¨ (GIC) for the provision of a wide range of GIC facilities. Some 52.3 hectares of land is zoned ¡§Open Space¡¨ to provide land for both active and passive recreational activities and 24.6 hectares is zoned ¡§Recreation Priority Area¡¨ for a variety of recreational uses.
Some 2.4 hectares of land is zoned ¡§Other Specified Uses¡¨ (OU) annotated ¡§Business¡¨ covering six existing buildings with mixed industrial office uses. A number of sites allocated for a golf course, industrial estate, historical building preserved for cultural and community uses, railway, sewerage treatment plant, leachate pre-treatment works, petrol filling stations and bus depot are also zoned ¡§OU¡¨ (201.8 hectares).
Fung Yuen Valley and Tai Po Egretry are zoned ¡§Site of Special Scientific Interest¡¨ (43.5 hectares) to deter human activity or development within the sites and to conserve the features of special scientific interest. The Tolo Pond Mangrove, the Pai Mun Shan area, the Tai Po Kau Headland and its adjacent inter-tidal ponds are zoned ¡§Conservation Area¡¨ (75.5 hectares) to protect and retain the existing natural landscape, ecological or topographical features. Part of Tai Mo Shan Country Park is zoned ¡§Country Park¡¨ (5.7 hectares) and development control is carried out under the Country Parks Ordinance. The remaining area (1,224.3 hectares), which mainly consists of steep hillsides in the peripheral areas, is zoned ¡§Green Belt¡¨.
The approved Tai Po OZP No. S/TP/21 is now available for public inspection during office hours at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, the Planning Enquiry Counters of the Planning Department in North Point and Sha Tin, the Sha Tin, Tai Po & North District Planning Office, the Tai Po District Office and the Tai Po Rural Committee.
Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).
Ends/Friday, January 23, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:15
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