Earlier on, the Government officially embarked on the detailed planning and design work of the Northern Link (NOL), which is a new rail link in the Northwest New Territories. Upon implementation, the NOL will effectively unleash the development potential of the sites along its alignment and drive the development of the areas, bringing about more efficient and concentrated land uses to realise the infrastructure-led and capacity creating planning approach advocated by the current-term Government. The Development Bureau (DEVB) and the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB) have all along been working in close collaboration. This time, I have specially invited the Secretary for Transport and Housing (STH), Mr CHAN Fan, Frank, to talk about the NOL project......

The development process of every development project, including housing development projects, from turning “primitive land” into “spade-ready sites” to the completion of residential developments, is subject to different regulations and requirements under the planning, building control and land administrative regimes, as well as approval by relevant departments. Given the different objectives and loci of these control regimes, over time, there may be overlaps between the regulatory regimes rendering rooms for streamlining......

The Invigorating Island South initiative proposed in the latest Policy Address of the Chief Executive is inspired by the successful experience drawn from the Energizing Kowloon East (EKE) initiative. After nearly a decade of implementation, the EKE initiative has been successful in gradually transforming the old industrial areas and the former airport site in Kowloon East (KE) into an energetic, vibrant and distinctive new core business district (CBD). I have specially invited the former Head of the Energizing Kowloon East Office (EKEO), Ms Brenda AU, to share with us the experience and achievements in taking forward such a large-scale old district revitalisation project.......

The Tung Chung New Town Extension (TCNTE) is the first new town project via reclamation since 2003, following the completion of the last phase of reclamation of the new town development projects in Tseung Kwan O and Tung Chung. The project has adopted the latest environmentally-friendly reclamation technology – the non-dredged “Deep Cement Mixing” (DCM) method, which reduces impact on water quality and marine ecology nearby and takes a shorter time than the traditional reclamation method to complete the works. Last year, the Under Secretary for Development, Mr LIU Chun-san, paid a visit to the reclamation site in Tung Chung and was briefed by colleagues from the Sustainable Lantau Office (SLO) on the details of the new reclamation technology and the eco-friendly construction approach......

The Chief Executive delivered the latest Policy Address last Wednesday, introducing the current-term Government’s work progress and future work plan in terms of land creation. Last year, the Government announced its full acceptance of the recommendations tendered by the Task Force on Land Supply. We are taking forward the recommendations in full stream, and at the same time strengthening and enriching the land supply strategies to meet the demand for housing, economic and social development of the community......