Authorities further raised Kai Tak residential density, criticized for enhancing walled effect and misusing land

Increased housing units turns to high-end flats – Property speculation as root of problem

Green Sense suggests to increase HOS flat supply – Private housing should be reserved for ‘Hong Kong first-timers’

The Hong Kong government has recently proposed amendments of the draft Kai Tak Outline Zoning Plan No. S/K22/5 (‘the OZP’) to the Town Planning Board, an act which would further raise residential density of the area, and would change the land use of two open space areas into residential use. The amendments involve a total of 16 sites, 5 of them close to the Kai Tak Airport apron area and the remaining 11 situated in the middle of the runway. Multiple mid-runway sites would have their Plot Ratios increased from 3.4 – 5.9 to 5.5 -7, while their height restrictions would be extended from 45-80 m to 95-120 m.

Green Sense expressed concern that the increase in residential density would lead to a “resurrection” of walled effect buildings, blocking ventilation in the Kowloon Bay Area, and re-enacting the faulty town planning of old.

Earlier in 2013, with the same reason to “increase housing supply”, the government has already increased the plot ratio of 4 sites (1 for HOS housing and 3 for private housing) in the apron area (the future Kai Tak City Centre) from 4.5-5 to 5.5-6. The three private housing lots were put up for sale, and their off-plan apartment prices ended up reaching HKD17000-24000 per square foot, far too high to be affordable by the middle class. The total of 12 land lots in the apron area were meant to provide 9000 housing units, but after 4 of them were sold to the Chinese conglomerate HNA Group Co. Ltd. at a sky-high HKD13000 per square foot, it was expected that apartments there would be sold as luxury homes at astronomical prices. On the other hand, One Kai Tak, occupying two land lots under the ‘Hong Kong Property for Hong Kong People’ policy, has also been recently put up for tendering with prices starting at HKD16000-25000 per square foot. Under such a laissez-faire private housing policy, the lots, despite a total area of 12 hectares, have failed to provide even one single affordable flat, and are thus a waste of land and housing units.

Now the government has failed to learn from previous mistakes and applied for further amendments of the OZP, boosting density of the remaining 16 sites. Authorises ignore the root of the problem is, in fact, property speculation. Increasing planned units would benefit no one but developers and speculators.

‘The government has increased the supply of residential units by raising development density and encouraging “blind land usurping”, but real estate prices remained high, showing that these are not effective measures,’ commented Roy Tam Hoi-pong, Chief Executive (Voluntary) of Green Sense. ‘We believe that instead of providing units which would end up being speculated as luxury homes, continuously sacrificing the environment in the process, the government should tighten its housing policies.

Green Sense suggested applying certain conditions to the increase of residential density, including transforming the 16 lots for private housing to HOS use, or setting limitations in land leases stating developers should only provide ‘Hong Kong first-timer’ units – flats sold exclusively to locals as starter homes – those units are not to be transferred within a short period of time. Should a transfer be made, only those who are also local first-time home buyers would be eligible. Thus the chance of property and land speculation would be greatly reduced. If the government fails to implement the above measures, there is no reason to allow the denser development.

Caption: Another Proposed Change of Land Use to Residential (Group B) at Kai Tak, plus changes in Floor Area Ratio and Height Limits – Restrictions to private projects and increase in HOS supply the only way to help locals

Green Sense emphasized the suggestions are rational and voice of the society. Compared with freely allowing speculation, the suggested measures could better respond to housing problems while preventing the reviving of walled buildings and subsequent deterioration of air quality and landscapes in the Kowloon Bay and Ngau Tau Kok areas. We strongly urge the public to speak up during the second consultation period of the OZP, expected in mid-May.

If cycling is a part of low-carbon living style,
cycling track should not be the enemy of trees.

More than 3,000 trees will be felled in order to complete the remaining Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track (Yuen Long-Sheung Shui Section),. The felling includes trees with crown over 20 meters and age more than decades. The environmental cost is unreasonably huge.

After analyzing the route and the construction sites of the cycling track, we have found out that there are two major problems in the Tuen Mun-Sheung Shui cycling track project. Firstly, a large section of the cycling track is located along the Castle Peak Road and the New Territories Circular Road with a narrow width. This greatly increases the difficulty of the construction and thus the number of trees to be felled. Secondly, as the cycling track will be built next to the highways, cyclists will be immensely affected by the air and noise pollution from the heavy traffic. The quality of the cycling track will be worryingly low. Based on the observations we made on-site and the reports provided by the government, we have concluded that it is unsuitable to build this section.

However, the Legislative Council has already approved financial funding to the project. We therefore have immediately contacted the responsible governmental department to raise our request for tree protection. We arranged a meeting with the representative from the Civil Engineering and Development Department in September. After reviewing tree reports, we arranged an on-site investigation with the officials in October in hope of proposing modifications to the project. We have given a series of suggestions to avoid tree felling, including a change in route, partial reduction in the width of the cycling track (the current guideline is a minimum of 3.5 metres), and an adoption of gallery road.

The response from the government is positive and they are currently considering our suggestions. We will continue the follow-up on this project to reduce tree felling as much as possible.

]]> http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/11/%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e7%b9%bc%e7%ba%8c%e8%b7%9f%e9%80%b2%e5%b1%af%e9%96%80%e8%87%b3%e4%b8%8a%e6%b0%b4%e6%ae%b5%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e3%80%80%e5%96%ae%e8%bb%8a%e5%be%91%e8%88%87/feed/ 0 http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/09/%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e7%b5%b1%e8%a8%882015%e5%b9%b4%e5%9c%9f%e5%9c%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%8a%83-%e8%bf%9160%e5%85%ac%e9%a0%83%e5%b8%82%e5%8d%80%e7%a9%ba%e9%96%93%e8%ae%8a%e7%9f%b3%e5%b1%8e/ http://greensense.org.hk/en/2016/09/%e7%92%b0%e4%bf%9d%e8%a7%b8%e8%a6%ba%e7%b5%b1%e8%a8%882015%e5%b9%b4%e5%9c%9f%e5%9c%b0%e6%94%b9%e5%8a%83-%e8%bf%9160%e5%85%ac%e9%a0%83%e5%b8%82%e5%8d%80%e7%a9%ba%e9%96%93%e8%ae%8a%e7%9f%b3%e5%b1%8e/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2016 03:33:02 +0000 editor http://greensense.org.hk/?p=2408

“Blind land development” sacrifices the quality of life in the existing community
North Point ventilation corridor WAS preserved
but high-rise buildings will be built soon!

The shortage of Public Open Space in Hong Kong is a planning concern for a long time. However,  open space areas are continuously rezoned for housing purpose by the government in recent years. Instead of maintaining the quality of life in response to the citizens’ demand, the construction of dense residential buildings worsens the problem of urban heat island effect.

From the government’s land-rezoning applications approved by the Town Planning Board in 2015, Green Sense found out that in a total of 58.53 hectares of land were converted to residential land use in 24 projects, including “Green Belt” (32.96 ha), “Open Space” (4.25ha), “Government, Institution or Community facilities sites (GIC)” (21.3 ha). Due to the long developed urban growth in Hong Kong, most of the “Open Space” and “GIC” are located at the essential ventilation corridor of the inner city area. If high-rise buildings are constructed at the corridors, the urban density will increase and the micro-climate will be cramped further.

From the current draft of North Point Outline Zoning Plan (S/H8/25) consulted by the Town Planning Board, the Tin Chiu Playground in North Point is to be rezoned to “Residential (A)” use, in order to provide 240 units, in at most 110 metres high public housing. Nevertheless, the rezoning site, the playground, is the main entrance of the North-easterly wind to the North Point inner city area. Once the high- rise buildings are built, the sea breeze will be blocked and weakened the ventilation of the urban area of North Point. The most ironic is that, in order to keep the ventilation corridor during the former North Point Estate development, the mentioned site was preserved from development by the government of the last term. This obviously shows that the blind land development has made the urban planning a chaos.

In order to beautify the land supply ability of the government, our society has already sacrificed too much public space and natural environment. Disputes over land continue, the defence for land raises in all districts in Hong Kong. Green Sense suggests, there is an urgent need of population control, the pressure for land supply can be relieved. The community has to treat population policy as a tool of alleviating housing problem, managing the number of immigration (including the One-way Permits for mainland people and other immigration applications), in order to slow down the population growth, and more importantly, to prevent such blind land development from bothering Hong Kong continuously.

Kai-to ferry departs from Aberdeen to Po Toi

Visitors could reach Po Toi by Kai-to ferries that depart from Aberdeen or Stanley. Take a walk from the Po Toi Pier, you could find a few stalls and a seafood restaurant, selling all kinds of local specialties. One of the must-buy items is Po Toi seaweed. Visitors have the opportunity to appreciate the natural beauty of the Island, and also support local businesses full of local characteristics and memories. The ecotour offers a taste of the fishing village specialties while promoting the Island economy, which fulfils the principle of sustainability. Meanwhile, participants could have a glimpse of local lifestyle by getting in touch with the Island residents. Due to its remote location, Po Toi Island still does not have stable electricity supply. The Island is only powered by diesel generators from 6am to 6pm, causing inconvenience to the residents. Even when summer heat peaks, they could only use rechargeable electric fans to cool down. Isn’t it quite unbelievable that Hong Kong has such a primitive place?

Residence and restaurant along the Po Toi Pier 

You could walk into history as long as you leave the inhabited area. Take the stone steps and you will find Po Toi School, as if a time machine brings you back to an old village school. Although it is now abandoned, you can still see the classroom and the structure that are filled with an old school atmosphere. The single building structure that contains only one classroom stands as a sharp contrast to the well-equipped schools nowadays. Keep walking the steps, you will be led to another abandoned building – Mo’s Family House. You might have a general idea about how people used to live based on the House’s architectural style and structure. It was built between hillsides. The magnificent walls and luxurious stairs design demonstrated the high status of Mo’s family at that time. These rare historical remains serve as an important platform for later generations to understand lifestyles in the past. They are more meaningful than the words written in textbooks.

Po Toi School 

Tired after walking uphill? You may take a rest near the stalls and refresh yourself before heading to the next destination – Rock Carvings on Po Toi. The Carvings are one of the declared monuments in Hong Kong, a status that indicates its historical significance. Although the totems and words are not clear or understandable, but you could feel the hard work done by our forefathers who did not have books or electronic devices to record and express their reverence for nature.

Rock Carvings on Po Toi

If you keep walking on the hiking trail, you will find a paved trail that leads you to the southernmost tip of Hong Kong. On the way you could appreciate the many faces of granite rocks after different levels of weathering and erosion, such as block disintegration and honeycomb weathering, which resulted in the interesting shapes of the rocks. You could find a lot of great spots for photography, for example, the Palm Cliff that has experienced block disintegration, the Tortoise Rock that looks like it is treading uphill, and the Monk Rock. Every rock is unique, and therefore it is worth visitors to understand how the geography in Hong Kong has shaped the process of rock formation. Once you finish this section of the hiking trail, you could reach the Lighthouse 126 where you could enjoy the wonderful panorama of the South China Sea. No wonder so many tourists pitch their tents here. Although the walk is not an easy one, it is worth the effort in order to see the natural wonders with our bare eyes.

The Monk Rock

On the way to the southernmost tip of Hong Kong

Ecotour is not only about appreciating the nature, but also about understanding the interdependent relationship between human development and environment protection, in which land planning is one of the issues that should be in the spotlight. Po Toi Island is facing a controversial change of land use, which is the plan of property developers to build niches in the name of increasing the supply of niches. The dozens of Island residents disagree with the plan. Many see the property developers as ignorant to the natural habitat of the Island. Po Toi is a natural reserve of ecological diversity. Any construction could destroy its ecological balance, and its habitat should be preserved. The ecology should not be ruined to build niches, luxury homes or hotels for the sake of city development. Some people argue the lack of stable water and electricity supply is the reason to develop Po Toi Island. However, it is unknown whether the residents’ basic needs would be satisfied after the development. It is crucial to balance development and conservation. Visiting Po Toi Island could stimulate one’s reflections on the needs of the residents and the importance of ecology. The Island’s development must be carefully considered.

Will it be a positive change for Po Toi if it is to become a country park? Despite the fact that economic development is limited in a country park, the residents are guaranteed a better living standard as well as protected homes. It is therefore not surprising to see this suggestion being backed by the residents. They care more about their daily lives than big-scale economic development. In fact, the Po Toi land use controversy is only the tip of an iceberg – Hong Kong has a lot more land planning issues that worth our attention.

Tai Po Green Belt illegal use for open storage and construction waste storage

Located next to The Education University of Hong Kong, area up to 9 of football field

The Satellite imagery shows the illegal storage covers areas are expanded, including lands owned by Wheelock Properties

Planning Department has been ineffective in its law enforcement regarding to years of complaints by the University and the residents nearby

Since the illegal land filling nearby at Tai Shui Wai, Kingswood Villas has been reported, the public were concerns about the fly-tipping and unauthorized developments. Green Sense have investigated an area in 9 hectares in Tai Po Located next to The Education University of Hong Kong. We found the illegal use of the land but the Planning Department has been ineffective in its law enforcement,   from the Land search and look over the Satellite imagery for past 10 years.

According to the Tai Po outline Zoning Plan, the land should be zoned as Green Belt. The vegetation cover was stripped and trees were removed since 2000. The green area have strunk and turned to open storage for construction waste, large machines, temporary containers etc. Now the violation of land use is up to 9 football fields (see below).

The Education University of Hong Kong and the residents nearby have complained many times. It is impossible that the Planning Department and Lands Department shut their eyes to this situation. However, the government has not enforced the law which allowed landowners to cut down the woodland and leave the land contaminated.

According to the Land registry, the Land is owned by many owners. Among them, Wheelock Properties owns most of the lots. We are concerned that the land was destroyed deliberately in order to turn it to “Brown Field” systematically. It is obvious a case of “destroy first, develop later”. The Government should not condone this.

Meanwhile, a piece of land at Tai Po Lo Fai Road with thousands of trees will be planned by the government to build luxurious residential units and it is already for the land sale. The proposed alteration of land use is still under judicial review.

The Chief Executive (voluntary) of Green Sense, Roy Tam said “ The Government’s land management in the New Territories is totally reckless, they allow landowners and properties developers to destroy the natural environment wantonly. On the other hand, the government alters the land use from Green Belt to build the luxurious residential house.”

We solemnly urge the Lands Department to clarify whether the 9 hectares of land is government land. We also requested to the Lands Department and the Planning Department to enforce the Town Planning Ordinance and the land lease conditions in order to request those landowners to restore the Green Belt as soon as possible.

Postscript: The follow up

After holding a press conference by Green Sense, the Planning Department replied the land is not covered by Development Permission Area Plans. Therefore, they cannot carry out prosecution.

Green Sense believes this is only an excuse. There was so much evidence proving the violation of land use stated in the outline zoning plan. If no department can carry out any enforcement in this situation, the legislation should be amended as soon as possible. The Planning Department should state clearly what action should be taken after the violation of the outline zoning plan. We cannot accept the department to turn a blind eye.

Note:

Development Permission Area Plans (DPA) – areas not covered by Outline Zoning Plan or the country park enclaves; the Planning Department can have control to unauthorized development in these areas. DPA will be replaced by Outline Zoning Plan later.

Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) – the violation of land use mentioned above is covered by Tai Po Outline Zoning Plan and listed as Green Belt.

Only 7 Sites “Genuine Housing Supply”

Even Less if Marketed as Luxurious Developments

22 Sites “Bogus Housing Supply”

Low Density Development or above HK$9000 per sq. ft.

60:40 Public Private Split of Housing Supply Non-scientific

Should Consider the Housing Policy of Singapore

“Bogus Housing Supply”? The Secretary for Development, Mr. Paul Chan, announced the new Land Sale Programme at the end of February, comprising 29 residential sites allegedly capable of providing about 16,000 flats. However, the devil is always in the details. How many of them are affordable flats?

Green Sense has analysed all sites in the latest Land Sale Programme and compared them with the recent and neighbouring second-hand property transactions. In our analysis, “Genuine Housing Supply” (i.e. affordable by the general public) and “Bogus Housing Supply” (i.e. Hard to afford or luxurious property) are differentiated by the following criteria: 1) whether the purchase price of a flat is HK$9,000 or above per square feet (saleable area); and 2) whether it is a low density development. Based on the analysis, we have estimated the purchase price of the flats of these 29 residential sites.

The research result reveals that only 7 out of 29 sites may have the purchase price of flats below HK$9,000 per square feet (saleable area). The price, at the end of the day, depends on whether or not the developers decide to package these sites as luxurious developments. The remaining 22 sites are mainly either of low density developments or likely to have flats priced at more than HK$9,000 per square feet (saleable area), which are unlikely to be affordable by the general public. We are of the opinion that these 22 sites are “Bogus Housing Supply”.

On one hand, the Government always alleges there is lack of land. On the other hand, it wastes so much land for developments which are unaffordable for the general public. The governmental policy for the public-private ratio of housing supply as 60:40 is not scientific. In fact, the Land Sale Programme is the main source for supply of housing for the general public. The Government should consider designating some of the sites in the Land Sale Programme for the Home Ownership Scheme, after taken into account the surrounding facilities and transportation. We suggest designating part of the site of Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks (Pak Shek Kok) as development under the Home Ownership Scheme, turning “Bogus Housing Supply” into “Genuine Housing Supply”.

There has been serious tension among the Government and the community and green groups because of the rezoning of Green Belt sites and Open Space. The Government should be focus on genuine housing supply but not casually dismiss or criticise the views of the local communities and the green groups. If there is no genuine housing supply after the rezoning, the sacrifice (including the ecology, the environment and the local culture) will be made for nothing. We sincerely hope that the Government will plan for affordable genuine housing supply, but not simply blames the members of the local communities or the green groups for its housing policy failure.

Develop properly but not blindly
Development in East Lantau should be reduced to preserve the precious peace of Mui Wo and Peng Chau
The issue is not lack of land supply, but flats are affordable
Green Marks for Policy Address: 20 marks (Fail)

There are a crazy number of land exploitation methods in dramatic scale proposed in the Policy Address 2014. Even if there is significant demand for housing in Hong Kong, we believe the need of increase of land reserve should at the same time be balanced with adequate recreational spaces, community facilities, breezeways of the city and the conservation of eco-environment.

Roy Tam, Chief Executive of Green Sense remarks, “The government is trying more and more fiercely to obtain land but with “blind” eyes. Mr. C.Y. Leung is determined to turn Hong Kong into a huge construction site, contrary to his another goal of air quality improvement.” Such Policy Address is to declare war against the environment and the ecological system. We give it 20 marks as regards to its environmental aspect. In other words, it clearly fails.

Mr. C.Y. Leung proposes that, except for the north of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula, which are more densely populated, the maximum domestic plot ratio for all other areas should increase by 20%, which was worrying. There is high density of multi-stories buildings in Hong Kong. There is already too deep and too common an impression of “Concrete Forest” for Hong Kong. Many newly developed areas are designed to have lower density than the Kowloon Pennisula in order to provide a better quality of life and living environment. The proposal contradicts the current town planning principles and is sloppy.

Sai Kung and Lantau Island are gardens of Hong Kong people. Unfortunately, North Lantau has fallen in recent years (as construction of massive infrastructure in progress). Now, the Eastern of it may be developed to “Eastern Lantau Metropolis”. Such policy suggestion is not cost-effective and non-environmentally friendly. If it is to build an artificial island, it will surely cost thousands of billions. Mui Wo and Peng Chau are also famous holiday attractions for Hong Kong people and are quiet places to live in. Therefore, we in principle oppose reclamation and development of the “Eastern Lantau Metropolis” in the eastern waters off Lantau Island and neighbouring areas.

The issue of housing is not the lack of land supply and therefore the resolution is not the increase of the same. The major problem is that flats constructed are simply unaffordable. Such problem cannot be solved by increase of land supply to the developers, as they would hoard the new supply or to develop luxurious flats, as it is what they usually do with the current pieces of land. The price of flats will still be very expensive anyway.

It is regrettable that there is no mention of the capacity of Hong Kong in the Policy Address. If we are to tackle housing problems, not only should we look at the supply of land, but also the population growth.

Evidence Shows Debates between Gov & Provisional Regional Council
Gov Argued Sand Loss & Too expensive

Tai Po District Councillors Request Extension of Ting Kok Road
Difficult, Require Reclamation & Sacrifice Cycleway
Severe Opposition from Green Groups

Official documents in 1998 showed that the government disagrees the construction of artificial beach at Lung Mei

The Government is now forcing to have the Lung Mei Bathing Breach constructed, despite its strong opposition against such construction. According to the official documents on meetings between the government and the Provisional Regional Council, Lung Mei alliance found that the former was in fact not favour the idea of constructing an artificial breach and had raised numerous reasons.

In the meeting held on 12 May 1998, the government put forward 5 major objections against the construction of Lung Mei Bathing Breach, namely, the tiny beach left at low tide, sand loss, disturbance on ecology, potential inappropriate use of carparks and the huge construction cost. (Note that the Provisional Regional Council was merged with and replaced by other bureaus and departments in 2000. The proposal of the construction of Lung Mei Bathing Breach was then pursued by the Tai Po District Council instead.)

The Lung Mei beach will increase the traffic load and may need to extend the Ting Kok Road. What is the fate of the cycleway?

However, these reasons were not accepted by the Provisional Regional Council.

Interestingly, the objections raised by the government in those days were very similar to those by the green groups today. The radical change of the government views is confusing and may indicate irrationality and unpredictability. The approval of the artificial breach was very likely to be a political, rather than scientific and professional, decision made by the former Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

In the discussion of the construction of Lung Mei Bathing Beach, we must also consider the necessary transportation implication – aggravating the nearly saturated Ting Kok Road. Recently, members of the Tai Po District Council have been demanding an extension of Ting Kok Road. Green Groups clearly stated their opposition. They pointed out that many sections of Ting Kok Road were in fact near the coastline and therefore hard to expand. It is irrational and unacceptable to have land reclamation or to sacrifice cycleway for an extension of Ting Kok Road for the purpose of visiting an artificial beach.