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In response to media enquiries on the applications by some groups to use Victoria Park (VP) and Tamar Park for public activities, a spokesman for the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) reiterated today (September 19) that these applications would be handled in accordance with established procedures.
The spokesman said that the LCSD received an application from the Civil Human Rights Front, under the name of Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions, around noon on September 17 for hiring six soccer pitches and the central lawn from September 30 to October 1 afternoon for public gatherings. The department got in touch with the group that evening immediately to obtain details of the activity including its nature, scale, estimated number of participants, and space required.
According to the preliminary information provided by the applicant, a large number of participants is expected which will exceed the capacity of VP's central lawn. Besides, another large-scale activity will also be held in the same afternoon at the six soccer pitches of the park. As a general practice, the LCSD therefore contacted the group to inform it of the actual situation and request it to consider other more appropriate venues for its event with a view to reserving some facilities in VP (including the central lawn) for the general public's use to cater for different needs.
As a matter of fact, the LCSD had earlier handled in the same way two other applications submitted by a religious group and a foreign domestic helper group respectively for staging events on the central lawn on October 1. After some co-ordination efforts, the two groups rescheduled the dates for holding their activities on VP's central lawn.
The LCSD will continue to work with the applicant and consult relevant government departments in a bid to come up with some practical options.
Separately, the LCSD also received on September 17 an application from the Hong Kong Federation of Students for organising public meetings from September 22 to 28 at Tamar Park. As only limited information was provided in the original application, the department has all along kept in contact with the group and advised it of the information required for processing its application as well as the conditions of use. These conditions include the purchase of public liability insurance, provision of structure safety certificates for the temporary structures by qualified persons, proper crowd and noise control etc. The group finally submitted to the department a formal application with supplementary information this afternoon.
The department is processing the application in accordance with the established procedures, including consulting other relevant departments. The group will be notified of the result as soon as possible when all the necessary procedures are completed.
The spokesman stressed that since the scale and use of facilities of each event vary, the LCSD would deal with each application according to the actual situation. Factors for consideration include scope and nature of individual activity, duration of hiring, the usage situation of other facilities in the park during the hiring period, the impact of the activity on other venue users as well as public safety. The LCSD has the responsibility to ensure that all venue users, regardless of whether they are members of the public or participants of the activities of hired venues, can enjoy park facilities safely and comfortably.
Ends/Friday, September 19, 2014
Issued at HKT 19:52
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