LCQ18: Quarry Bay Park
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     Following is a question by the Hon Christopher Chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (December 19):

Question:

     The Quarry Bay Park Phase II (Stages 2 and 3) Project is an outstanding leisure facility project of the former Urban Council.  The works commencement date of this project has been postponed repeatedly for many years due to various reasons and, to date, it has remained uncertain.  On the other hand, the site of this project is now temporarily allocated to the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Water Supplies Department (WSD).  In a paper submitted to this Council in April this year, the authorities have pointed out that these departments are planning the permanent relocation of their facilities to other sites, and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department¡¦s planning work for the park will tie in with the relocation schedule.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the expected commencement and completion dates for the works when the aforesaid project was first planned by the former Urban Council; the reasons why the works have not yet commenced to date;

(b) when and why the Government temporarily allocated the project site to the three aforesaid government departments; whether it has reviewed if the land allocation arrangements made at that time was necessary and urgently needed; of the respective numbers of times for which these departments were permitted to continue using the site;

(c) given that HKPF and FEHD have already planned to permanently relocate their facilities to Chai Wan, but WSD has not yet had a concrete relocation plan, of the progress of the relocation plans of these departments, the expected completion time for their relocation, and whether they have encountered any difficulties in their arrangements for facilities relocation and removal; if they have, of the details;

(d) of the current estimated works cost for the aforesaid project; whether it has assessed how much the works cost has risen since the project was first planned; when the authorities expect that they will seek funding approval from the Finance Committee of this Council in respect of the project;

(e) whether it has assessed if the facilities of the aforesaid project not being able to complete as soon as possible will lead to a problem of insufficient leisure facilities in Hong Kong Island East; and

(f) given that, at present, the site temporarily allocated to the aforesaid departments has cut into two parts the park facilities completed in Phase I and Phase II (Stage 1) of the Quarry Bay Park Project, making it necessary for users to make a detour in order to go from one part of the park to the other, and causing inconvenience to users, whether the authorities will take measures to solve this problem; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

(a) The site of the Quarry Bay Park Phase II (Stages 2 & 3) Project was temporarily allocated to the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF), the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and the Water Supplies Department (WSD) during the time of the former Urban Council.  The construction timetable for the project is subject to the availability of the site for development.  The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) consulted the Eastern District Council (EDC) on the scope of development and the progress of the project in early 2007 and February 2009 respectively.  The project is not ready for implementation as the site is not yet available for development.  LCSD will continue to monitor the relocation schedules for the facilities of the departments concerned with a view to facilitating the implementation of the Quarry Bay Park project.

(b) Details of the site occupation by departments concerned are as follows:

* HKPF : In 1995, the Lands Department (Lands) temporarily allocated the site to the HKPF as the only police vehicle pound and examination centre on Hong Kong Island in order to meet the HKPF¡¦s operational needs.  Lands have since extended the allocation five times.

* FEHD :  The FEHD Temporary Vehicle Depot in Quarry Bay has been operating since 1996.  Vehicles in the depot mainly provide transport to support environmental hygiene services provided by the Eastern District Environmental Hygiene Office in the North Point, Quarry Bay, Shau Kei Wan and Chai Wan areas.  Since 1996, Lands have twice extended the temporary government land allocation for the depot.

* WSD: In October 1999, Lands allocated the site in Quarry Bay to the WSD as a temporary works area, and has since extended the allocation four times.  The area is used as a WSD contractor's maintenance yard to accommodate operational vehicles, equipment, pipes and construction materials to handle emergency maintenance and repairs on Hong Kong Island, especially in Eastern District.

     The sites in question are allocated to the HKPF, FEHD and WSD for temporary use only.  Lands will arrange with the departments concerned to vacate the sites to facilitate the extension of Quarry Bay Park Phase II.

(c)

* HKPF and FEHD

     The HKPF, together with FEHD, the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department and the Government Laboratory, plan to construct a complex in Chai Wan to re-provide the HKPF vehicle pound and examination centre as well as the FEHD vehicle depot.  Relevant departments have started preparatory work on the project.

* WSD

     A replacement site in Chai Wan was temporarily allocated to WSD in October 2009. A WSD contractor has relocated some of the operational vehicles, equipments, pipes and construction materials to this site. However, as the area of the replacement site is only half of the area of Quarry Bay site, WSD still needs to use the Quarry Bay site to support emergency repair services on Hong Kong Island, especially in Eastern District. WSD will look for other replacement sites with a view to vacating the Quarry Bay site.

(d) In May 1997, the former Urban Council endorsed the project scope and list of facilities for the project. The tender price index (TPI) for building works at that time as prepared by the Architectural Services Department was 953. Since the design has not been completed, the project cost is not yet available. The latest TPI for building works, as at the end of the 2nd Quarter of 2012 is 1438.

(e) According to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), 2 hectares of public open space should be provided for every 10,000 people.  Eastern District has about 122 hectares of public open space (excluding the Quarry Bay Park (Phase II) site) for a current population of about 590,000 and a planned population of about 610,000, which meets the HKPSG standard.

(f) Phase I and Stage 1 of Phase II of the Quarry Bay Park are separated by the Eastern Island Corridor, a geographical constraint that will remain even after the completion of Quarry Bay Park Phase II (Stages 2 & 3).  People will be able to reach Phase II from Phase I of the Park by walking for 10 to 15 minutes via the walkway at Hoi Wan Street.

Ends/Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Issued at HKT 12:44

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