The Town Planning Board today (January 8) announced the publication of the draft Sham Wat and San Shek Wan Development Permission Area (DPA) Plan.

     The draft Sham Wat and San Shek Wan DPA Plan covers an area of about 179.59 hectares, including two small pieces of land to the west of San Chau along the coastline. It is located on the north-western part of Lantau Island fronting the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Hong Kong Link Road. The area is characterised by a rural ambience which comprises a natural landscape of woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, vegetated slopes and knolls, streams, wetlands and coastal features, with village settlements, fallow and cultivated agricultural land.

     A spokesman for the Town Planning Board said the general planning intention is to protect the ecologically sensitive areas (including the San Chau Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Ecologically Important Stream at Sham Wat), to maintain the unique rural and natural character, landscape value and the cultural heritage of the Area, and to prevent it from encroachment by unauthorised development and from undesirable change of use.

     It is noted that human disturbances in the form of footpath and road widening and slope cutting activities are found in the area, resulting in adverse impacts on the natural environment and rural character of the area. There is, therefore, an urgent need to prepare a DPA Plan to provide interim planning control with a view to avoiding further proliferation of undesirable uses and degradation of the natural environment and rural character of the area. Owing to the urgency of preparing the DPA Plan, except the area recognised as the San Chau SSSI of about 6.52 hectares being zoned "Site of Special Scientific Interest", the remaining area of about 173.07 hectares has been designated "Unspecified Use", pending detailed analysis and studies to establish the appropriate land uses in the course of preparing an Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). The DPA Plan will be replaced by an OZP as soon as possible.

     The draft Sham Wat and San Shek Wan DPA Plan is now available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters of the Planning Department in North Point and Sha Tin, (iii) the Sai Kung and Islands District Planning Office, (iv) the Islands District Office and (v) the Tai O Rural Committee.

     Any person may make written representations in respect of the draft plan to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board on or before March 8. Any person who intends to make a representation is advised to read the revised Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 29B on "Submission and Publication of Representations, Comments on Representations and Further Representations under the Town Planning Ordinance" (TPB PG-No. 29B) which were promulgated in November 2018 and took effect in 2019.

     Submission of a representation should comply with the requirements set out in TPB PG-No. 29B. In particular, the representer should take note of the following:

* If the representer fails to provide his or her full name and the first four alphanumeric characters of his or her Hong Kong identity card or passport number as required under TPB PG-No. 29B, the representation submitted shall be treated as not having been made; and
* The Secretariat of the Town Planning Board reserves the right to require the representer to provide identity proof for verification.

     The Guidelines and the submission form are available at locations (i) and (ii) above and the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     Copies of the draft DPA plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).
 

Ends/Friday, January 8, 2021
Issued at HKT 16:00

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