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Following is a question by the Hon Sin Chung-kai, and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (March 27):
Question:
As at the end of June last year, 55 out of the 73 private recreational leases (PRLs) granted by the Government at nil or nominal rents to sports clubs of social welfare organisations and private sports clubs (sports clubs) had expired. The recreational and sports facilities provided on the leased land by such sports clubs are mainly used by their members and they are only required to allow public access to the facilities on a limited scale under the PRLs. Some members of the public have pointed out that since lands are precious public resources in Hong Kong, the Government should introduce lease conditions upon renewing the PRLs so as to ensure that those sports clubs make effective use of government lands and extend the hours during which their facilities are open to non-members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the market rate of the annual rentals of each PRL at present and the actual rents charged by the Government respectively; whether the Government will consider charging sports clubs rents at market rates when renewing their PRLs; if it will not, of the reasons for that; of the Government's policy in place to ensure that it will not directly or indirectly subsidise the operating expenses of those sports clubs; whether the sports clubs concerned have requested the Government to grant more lands to them in renewal of their PRLs; if they have, of the details;
(b) as the Government indicated that the sports clubs would be required to further open up their sports facilities under the new PRLs, whether the sports clubs accepted the requirement; if they did not, how their renewal applications were handled and of the details; how the Government monitors whether the sports clubs have actually fulfilled the requirement on opening up facilities and drawn up a set of reasonable terms and conditions for use of the facilities by non-members; and
(c) as the Government indicated that it would specify in the new PRLs the requirement for the sports clubs to open up their facilities for not less than 50 hours each month (i.e. to meet the requirement, the sports clubs only need to allow 10 hours' public access to any five of the facilities provided inside the club house each month), how the Government ensures that the public have reasonably sufficient time for using such facilities; whether the Government has assessed the increase in the number of public users using the facilities of the sports clubs after the new PRLs have come into effect, and whether the continued grant of precious lands to the sports clubs on lease at rents far below market rates is warranted?
Reply:
President,
Hong Kong has a long history of community organisations operating sports and recreational facilities on land leased under Private Recreational Leases (PRLs). By investing in the development and management of their facilities over the years, PRL lessees have contributed to meeting the sporting needs of the community by allowing outside bodies access to their facilities. As explained to the Legislative Council previously, we consider that PRL lessees continue to play a role in this respect. However, we also feel that there is a scope for them to do more in this regard. In this connection, our policy is to renew PRLs that expired in 2011 and 2012, on condition that lessees comply with the renewal criteria to allow greater access to outside bodies, in line with the Government' policy objectives for sports development.
When the current round of PRL renewals is completed, we will review the policy on PRLs. The review will take account of sports development policy, land use considerations, interests of the lessees' members and the wider public interest with the objective of formulating a way forward for the policy on PRLs. In order not to prejudice the outcome of this review, we will advise PRL lessees when handling their lease renewal that there should be no expectation that their leases would be further renewed upon expiry, or that if the leases are further renewed, they might not continue to be subject to the same terms and conditions.
My specific reply to the three parts of the question is as follows:
(a) For PRLs, the amount of Government rent payable is equal to 3% of the rateable value of the land leased as assessed by the Rating and Valuation Department.
According to the Lands Department, it has not received any application from the lessees concerned for additional land.
(b) We have briefed private sports clubs and other lessees on our requirements that they allow greater access to outside bodies and lessees have shown a willingness to meet these requirements. Lessees will also be required to publish information on their facilities on their websites. This information will also be provided on Home Affairs Bureau website.
As regards monitoring, we will require PRL lessees to submit a quarterly report on the extent to which they are opening up their facilities to outside bodies. We will also conduct random checks, and act on complaints and carry out appropriate follow-up action.
(c) To ensure a reasonable degree of access by outside bodies to the facilities of private sports clubs, we will incorporate new conditions in their renewed leases. We have asked lessees to open up their facilities to greater extent than the minimum amount, where circumstances allow. Based on the submissions made by lessees so far, most clubs have undertaken to open their sports facilities to outside bodies for periods in excess of 50 hours monthly, with some clubs far exceeding this minimum requirement. We will also require private sports clubs to give priority to outside bodies in the hiring of sports facilities at certain designated times.
With the implementation of the greater access requirements and improved publicity about the facilities available for use by outside bodies, we expect there to be a marked increase in the amount of public use of lessees' facilities. We do not have an estimate for this figure as lease renewal is still in progress. When reviewing the policy on PRLs, we will take account of the degree to which lessees' facilities are used by outside bodies when determining the way forward.
Ends/Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 11:31
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