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The Government has proposed to further enhance the urban design of the Kai Tak Development to reflect the community's views on the preservation of the Lung Tsun stone bridge remnants and public aspirations for a more accessible waterfront.
"These further initiatives are in line with the Government's policy emphasis on heritage conservation and harbourfront enhancement in recent years," a spokesman for the Development Bureau said today (May 13).
"Since these latest improvements are the outcome of an extensive public consultation undertaken by the Kai Tak Office of the Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), we will proceed with the necessary planning application in order to sustain the development momentum of this important area," the spokesman added.
Implementation of the Kai Tak Development has been proceeding at full steam since the approval of the statutory Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) in 2007.
The first batch of projects is under construction with target completion in 2013. They include the cruise terminal building and its first berth, the public housing development and supporting infrastructure. Other building projects like the Kai Tak Government Offices will commence next year while two school projects are planned to commence shortly.
In terms of housing land supply, the site earmarked for the Urban Renewal Authority's (URA) "flat for flat" initiative will be handed over to the URA in 2012 while the first batch of private housing sites should be ready for disposal in 2013.
At a press conference today, the Head of the Kai Tak Office, Mr Stephen Tang, said that following the approval of the Kai Tak OZP in November 2007, CEDD conducted two stages of public engagement from May 2010 to April 2011 to collect views on the preservation of remnants of the Lung Tsun stone bridge.
After a series of public workshops and consultations with District Councils and statutory bodies, there was general support for designating a corridor to preserve the remnants in situ.
"Based on these public views, we propose to incorporate a 30-metre-wide corridor zoned as Open Space to accommodate the remnants and ancillary facilities," Mr Tang said.
"We also propose to provide a dedicated subway under Prince Edward Road East, with a heritage theme to form a linkage between the corridor and other areas in Kowloon City," he added.
In response to public aspirations for a more accessible waterfront in the Kai Tak Development, the Government has proposed to relocate two roads and the associated landscaped deck away from the waterfront to the centre of the former runway to enhance public accessibility and enjoyment.
Mr Tang said the opportunity had also been taken to relocate another road from the waterfront at the South Apron for better accessibility. The road and pedestrian linkage layout of the South Apron was also optimised to group several split-amenity areas into a usable Government, Institution or Community site, he added.
The Government will consult the District Councils and the Town Planning Board on the proposed enhancement measures in the coming few months, and will initiate amendments to the approved OZP afterwards.
Ends/Friday, May 13, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:06
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