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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a reply by the Acting Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Yau Shing-mu, at the Legislative Council meeting today (May 19):
Question:
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities ("HKBCF") will be located at the waters off the north-east of the Airport Island on Lantau, and reclamation works will commence in the third quarter of this year. It was proposed as early as in 2006 that motels, large exhibition venues, large entertainment and shopping facilities, etc. should be developed around HKBCF area to foster a bridgehead economy, increase the traffic flow of the bridge and give an impetus to the economic development of Lantau. The authorities indicated that they would consider the proposal. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has specific plans to develop in the areas surrounding HKBCF transportation connections and the aforesaid facilities that cater for the needs of vehicles and visitors from the Mainland, so as to foster a bridgehead economy;
(b) given that I have learnt that at present, certain sites on the Airport Island are still available for new uses and that the construction works of HKBCF are still at the preparatory stage, whether the Government will consider collaborating with the Hong Kong Airport Authority in devising a detailed plan on how to use the sites concerned to develop a bridgehead economy; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) of the latest progress of the trial scheme on one-off ad hoc quotas for cross-boundary private cars planned to be implemented by the Governments of Hong Kong, the Mainland and Macao, the overall planning and method for allocating quotas; whether the scheme will be implemented in phases according to types of vehicles and vehicle ownership by Government, enterprise and individual?
Reply:
President,
(a) When we considered the landing points and the location of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Hong Kong Boundary Crossing Facilities (HKBCF), economic benefits were one of the important considerations. The HKBCF, to be built by reclamation, will be located at the northeast of the Hong Kong International Airport. The HKBCF occupies a favourable geographical location and is in the vicinity of the Hong Kong International Airport. It will accommodate road sections for traffic to and from the North West New Territories and North Lantau. Therefore, apart from providing immigration, customs and public transport interchanging facilities, the HKBCF will become a strategic multi-modal transportation hub on the west of Hong Kong. Its traffic and economic benefits will radiate to nearby areas and will significantly boost the economic development capability of these areas.
Nevertheless, since the HKBCF involves reclamation works, having regard to environmental protection and financial considerations, we should minimise the size of the reclamation (currently estimated to be about 130 hectares), and the main purpose of the land reclaimed should be to accommodate the boundary crossing and traffic and transportation facilities of the HZMB. Furthermore, as the HKBCF is located in the vicinity of the Hong Kong International Airport, its buildings need to comply with the Airport Height Restrictions (between 25 to 50 metres Principle Datum), and structures which are too bulky should be avoided as they might bring visual impact. Based on the above considerations, we do not recommend large-scale commercial developments on the HKBCF. However, we agree that where feasible, we should make good use of the space available to develop facilities related to commercial activities so as to promote the economic activities on the HKBCF and at the same time bring convenience to the travellers. On this, we will explore at the detailed design stage of the HKBCF whether it can accommodate commercial activities of appropriate scale to serve travellers and meet their needs.
To give full play to the benefit of the HZMB and HKBCF in facilitating the bridgehead economy in the nearby areas, we need to provide convenient transport services between the HKBCF and the Hong Kong International Airport, Tung Chung, other parts of the Lantau Island and Tuen Mun. These services will encourage travellers coming to Hong Kong through the HZMB to make use of the commercial facilities in these locations (for example, the Asia World-Expo, hotels in the vicinity, shopping malls in Tung Chung and tourist attractions on the Lantau Island) which will provide business opportunities to these areas. Therefore, when we plan the arrangements for the related connecting transport services, we will take this into account so that the HZMB can effectively promote the economic development of the nearby areas.
As regards the development of the areas in the vicinity of the HKBCF, the Civil Engineering and Development Department and the Planning Department will, upon finalisation of the detailed planning for the HKLR and HKBCF as well as the completion of the Hong Kong International Airport Master Plan 2030 Study, and subject to the detailed planning and study findings, determine if the planning and engineering feasibility study for the remaining development of Tung Chung could commence as soon as possible. The Administration will take into account peripheral developments during the planning and engineering feasibility study, including the HZMB and the development of the Hong Kong International Airport, in formulating development proposals. The Administration will assess the impacts of the development proposals with regard to various aspects, including the environment and traffic. Public consultation will also be conducted.
(b) The Government has granted land at the Hong Kong International Airport to the Airport Authority Hong Kong (the Airport Authority) under the relevant land grant. In accordance with the Airport Authority Ordinance (Cap. 483), the Airport Authority has to operate and develop the Hong Kong International Airport in accordance with the objective of maintaining Hong Kongˇ¦s status as a centre of international and regional aviation, and conduct its business according to prudent commercial principles and having regard to safety, security, economy and operational efficiency.
There will be about 7 hectares of land at the Northern Commercial District on the airport island available for development. The Airport Authority is planning to appoint a consultancy firm in the second half of this year to examine how to develop the land in question. In formulating a strategy for developing the land, the consultancy firm has to consider such factors as meeting the airport operational requirements, the planning of land near the airport, and making use of the economic synergies arising from enhanced connectivity between the airport and the Pearl River Delta region as a result of large-scale cross-boundary infrastructures (particularly the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge). The consultancy study is expected to take six to nine months. We believe this development strategy will help develop a "bridgehead economy".
(c) With the commissioning of new land boundary control points, the Guangdong and Hong Kong Governments consider that there is room to relax the control on cross-boundary private cars on an incremental basis so as to satisfy wider cross-boundary transportation needs and accelerate the pace of integration between Hong Kong and Mainland China. Building on the existing regular quota system for cross-boundary private cars, the two sides are discussing relaxation of the regulatory arrangements for cross-boundary private cars by introducing ad hoc quotas for private car owners who are not eligible for regular quotas, thereby enabling more people to travel across the boundary using their private cars. This proposal has now been incorporated into the Framework Agreement on Hong Kong/Guangdong Co-operation.
The relevant authorities of the Hong Kong and Guangdong Governments have reached preliminary agreement to implement an ad hoc quota trial scheme (the trial scheme) for cross-boundary private cars at the Shenzhen Bay Port. The trial scheme will be implemented in two phases, starting with the issue of ad hoc quotas to Hong Kong private cars first, to be followed by Guangdong private cars at a later stage upon satisfactory implementation of the scheme for Hong Kong private cars. The implementation details, including the number of quotas to be introduced, issuing criteria, application procedures and necessary clearance formalities etc. are being sorted out. The exact implementation date of the trial scheme is subject to the progress of discussion with the Guangdong side on the implementation details.
Other cross-boundary vehicles, including goods vehicles, coaches and hire cars, are of commercial nature. They have business needs to cross the boundary on a regular basis. The temporary nature of ad hoc quotas would not be able to cater for the business and commuting needs of these vehicles. Therefore, it would not be appropriate to include them into the trial scheme.
Separately, the relevant authorities of the Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Governments have already started to explore the regulatory arrangements for vehicles using the HZMB. Since the issue involves three jurisdictions with different laws, traffic regulatory regimes, modes of operation and road systems, the three governments would need to examine carefully the relevant regulatory matters in order to knock out a feasible arrangement which will facilitate vehicular flows among the three places. The trial scheme, if implemented successfully at the Shenzhen Bay Port, will have exemplary effect for extending the scheme to the HZMB in future.
Ends/Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Issued at HKT 16:06
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