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LCQ17: Management of Public Open Spaces in Private Developments
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     Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (April 30):

Question:

     I have learnt that earlier on, a member of the public was injured when he slipped and fell in the space provided for use by the public in a private development in Tai Kok Tsui, and he was taken to the hospital. Regarding the management of spaces required under lease to be provided for use by the public in private developments (public spaces), will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the current number of public spaces in Hong Kong, and among them, the number of those that are managed by the property management companies appointed by the property owners (private management) and the number of those that are open around the clock, with a breakdown by the 18 District Council districts;

(b) whether it knows the number of cases in the past three years in which members of the public were injured in public spaces under private management, with a breakdown by type of the facilities concerned;

(c) whether it received any complaint from members of the public in the past three years about mismanagement of public spaces under private management;

(d) whether a mechanism is currently in place for monitoring the management of public spaces under private management; if such a mechanism is not in place, of the reasons for that, and whether it will consider formulating such a mechanism; and

(e) whether the Government took the initiative in the past three years to carry out regular and surprise inspections of various public spaces under private management, in order to check if such spaces are suitable for use by the public; if it did, of the number of such inspections and the findings; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Generally speaking, owners of Public Open Space in Private Developments required under lease (POSPD) as referred to in the question have the responsibility under lease to properly maintain and manage the relevant public open space and to permit the public to use during the prescribed hours of a day. The said open space may be situated within a private lot or on government land outside the private lot.

     I reply to the various parts of the question as follows:

(a) Since March 2008, the Government has been compiling information on POSPD including the location and area, the level at which the public open space is located, the opening hours, as well as the site plan of the public open space, and making it available to the public through the website of the Lands Department (LandsD). There are 60 POSPD listed on LandsD's website as at end of December last year, of which 44 are required under lease to remain open to the public at all times (three of which are required to partially open to the public at all times). The above statistics, as categorised by the District Council districts, are listed out at Appendix.

(b) It is a requirement under lease for owners of the relevant private developments to maintain and manage the said open space, but there is no requirement for them to report to the authorities cases of people sustaining injuries inside the open space. In the past three years, LandsD had not received reports or complaints of injuries sustained by members of the public within the said open space.  

(c) From 2011 to the end of March this year, LandsD has received 22 complaints relating to the said open space, the nature of which includes blockage of access, misuse of space and other management issues such as lighting and decoration problems, etc. LandsD has taken follow-up action in response to the complaints, including site inspections, liaison with the owners and/or the management companies as well as issue of enquiry and/or warning letters, etc. All these cases have been handled.

(d) and (e) District Lands Offices (DLOs) of LandsD conduct site inspections of the said open space under their respective jurisdiction from time to time as well as on receipt of complaints. If suspected breach of lease conditions in respect of the management and opening of the said open space is discovered, DLOs would take timely follow-up actions (including lease enforcement actions) as appropriate. LandsD does not keep readily available statistics in respect of the said inspections.

     Owing to the large number of POSPD and the fact that they are scattered throughout the territory, the Government considers public monitoring the most effective way to ensure that the relevant owners fulfil the responsibilities of managing and maintaining the public open space, as well as permitting the public to access and use these facilities in accordance with lease requirements. The information relating to POSPD made public through LandsD's website as mentioned above facilitates public monitoring. Members of the public are encouraged to inform the relevant DLOs for follow up if it is suspected that owners are not fulfilling their relevant responsibilities.

Ends/Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:31

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