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Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (January 9):
Question:
Recently, some Tung Chung residents have relayed to me that the former Secretary for Development indicated in June 2012 when attending an event that the authorities would shelve the project to construct public rental housing (PRH) on the residential site in Tung Chung Area 56 (the site) as the residents in the district had expressed reservation about the project, and the authorities would hold further discussions with the residents. The authorities so far have not conducted any consultation activities but the site has been enclosed and a series of advance works are being carried out on it. Quite a number of Tung Chung residents have expressed concern in this regard, and hope that the authorities could give a detailed account of the PRH project on the site and the related ancillary transport facilities. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether the authorities have already commenced the project to construct PRH on the site; if they have not, of the purposes of enclosing the site and carrying out advance works at present; if they have, the scale of the project (including the number of PRH blocks, the number of floors in each PRH block, as well as the number of flats to be provided in the whole project); and
(b) whether the authorities have considered providing comprehensive ancillary transport facilities for the aforesaid project, such as providing sufficient franchised bus routes and green minibus routes for residents to travel directly to Tung Chung town centre and other areas in Hong Kong; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Our response to the two parts of the question raised by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung is as follows:
(a) The Government and the Housing Authority (HA) are committed to providing public rental housing (PRH) to low income families who cannot afford private rental accommodation. In view of the increasing demand for PRH, the Government and the HA are working actively to identify suitable sites in different parts of the territory, including Tung Chung, for PRH development so as to maintain the average waiting time for PRH at about three years. Since 2001, Tung Chung Area 56 has been zoned "Residential (Group A)" on the Approved Tung Chung Town Centre Area Outline Zoning Plan No. S/I-TCTC/18. The PRH development complies fully with the planning intention, and the relevant development plan has never been shelved.
In February 2009, the HA consulted the Islands District Council (DC) on the PRH development proposal at Tung Chung Area 56. In response to the views of Islands DC Members and the local community, the PRH development proposal was revised. Compared with the proposal in 2009, the four domestic blocks in this revised proposal had been reduced from 47 to 49-storey to 41-storey. The overall building height would be below 140mPD. The overall population would also be reduced from the original 10 300 to 9 900. The Islands DC was consulted on the revised proposal in June and again in August 2011. The foundation work of this project commenced in May 2012 and the project is expected to be completed in 2016. The HA will continue to maintain liaison with the Islands DC and the local community so as to respond to their concerns.
In addition to the construction of four 41-storey domestic blocks with about 3 600 PRH flats for about 9 900 persons, the PRH development in Tung Chung Area 56 will include other provisions such as a carpark, open space, retail facilities (including a wet market) of about 3 500 square metres, and various community and welfare facilities, so as to serve the residents of both the PRH development and the neighbouring community.
(b) For the development of PRH projects, the Government will provide adequate transport facilities. To cope with the development in Tung Chung and the additional traffic volume that will be brought by the PRH residents in future, a new road will be constructed to connect different sites in the area to the existing Ying Hei Road and Man Tung Road nearby. The new road will be divided into southern and northern portions with the provision of lay-bys suitable for the use by public transport. This scheme is scheduled for completion in 2015/2016 to tie in with the completion of the PRH development in Tung Chung Area 56. The Transport Department will closely monitor the demand for public transport alongside the increase in population arising from the PRH development in Tung Chung Area 56 and its surrounding areas and will suitably adjust the transport provision in the district so as to provide sufficient public transport services.
Ends/Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:38
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