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LCQ16: Ap Lei Chau Driving School
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     Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in the Legislative Council today (February 3):

Question:

     The Government submitted a proposal to the Town Planning Board in December 2015 to amend the approved Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau Outline Zoning Plan, in order to rezone several pieces of land at Ap Lei Chau to residential use, including the site at which New Horizon School of Motoring (NHSM) is operating Ap Lei Chau Driving School at present. If the aforesaid rezoning proposal is approved, the driving school will have to be closed down. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the respective numbers of Hong Kong Island residents who received driving training and applied for driving tests in each of the past three years, together with a breakdown by vehicle class;

(2) of the respective numbers of persons who (i) received driver training at Ap Lei Chau Driving School, (ii) received private driving instructors' driving training on Hong Kong Island, and (iii) took driving tests on Hong Kong Island, in each of the past three years;

(3) given that the Commissioner for Transport renewed the designation of the current site of Ap Lei Chau Driving School as a driving school under section 88K of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374) in June 2011, and the validity period of the designation will expire on June 15 this year, while NHSM has reportedly been leasing the site, for operating the driving school, from the Lands Department by way of quarterly-renewed tenancy contracts, whether the authorities will extend the validity period of the aforesaid designation; if they will not, of the reasons for that; and

(4) given that Ap Lei Chau Driving School is the only designated driving school on Hong Kong Island, whether the authorities are identifying another site on Hong Kong Island at present for relocating the driving school; if they are, of the latest progress; if not, whether the authorities will commence such work within a short period of time; if they will not, of the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Government has been paying close attention to the public demand for driver training and driving tests. With regard to the traffic condition in Hong Kong, a "two-pronged" approach has been adopted in respect of driver training. On the one hand, we promote off-street driver training through the establishment of designated driving schools to alleviate congestion on public roads. On the other hand, we maintain sufficient supply of private driving instructors for on-street driver training provided that such activities will not aggravate traffic congestion or causing any road safety concern.

     My replies to the various parts of the Dr Hon Kenneth Chan's question are as follows:

(1) and (2) Currently, there are a total of four privately run designated driving schools (Note 1) in Hong Kong.  There are also 17 driving test centres (Note 2) established by the Transport Department (TD) for providing services to all citizens in Hong Kong. The existing legislation does not require members of the public to arrange their driver training sessions or driving tests according to their residential addresses. Therefore, TD does not have any statistical information on how people of different districts (including Hong Kong Island) received driver training or applied for driving tests, or the number of learner drivers who received driver training by private driving instructors on Hong Kong Island.

     The numbers of driving tests held at the four driving test centres on Hong Kong Island by vehicle class in the past three years are listed in Annex.

     Since the numbers of persons receiving driver training at the Ap Lei Chau Driving School are commercially sensitive data maintained by the private operator, TD does not have such record.

(3) and (4) At present, the lot occupied by the Ap Lei Chau Driving School is undergoing rezoning, and part of the lot will be rezoned for residential development. In view of the keen demand of the public for driver training and driving test service, the Government plans to continue to use the portion of the lot that is not for residential development (together with an adjacent piece of land) for driving school by way of short term tenancy. Upon the termination of the existing short term tenancy on June 15 this year, the Government will handle the matter through established procedures to maintain the operation of the driving school.

     TD will continue to liaise closely with relevant departments, and identify suitable sites for use as designated driving schools when appropriate.

Note 1: The schools, established under section 88K of the Road Traffic Ordinance (Cap. 374), are located in Ap Lei Chau, Kwun Tong, Siu Lek Yuen and Yuen Long respectively.

Note 2: Four of them are located on Hong Kong Island, while the other 13 are located in Kowloon and the New Territories.

Ends/Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Issued at HKT 14:00

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