An amendment regulation which aims to clarify the criteria of "street" for the purpose of site classification under the Buildings Ordinance was gazetted today (June 30).
Under the Building (Planning) Regulations, the permitted development intensity of a site depends on its classification, which in turn is based on the number of streets the site abuts on. Currently, the law does not set out the criteria that a street has to meet before it can be accepted for the purpose of site classification.
"The amendment regulation will spell out clearly the criteria of a street to be accepted for site classification and will help remove uncertainties," a spokesman for the Government said.
In accordance with the proposed amendment, a street will only be regarded as abutting on a site for site classification purpose if it is a "specified street". A specified street shall meet one of the following criteria:
* The street is vested in the Government and maintained by the Highways Department;
* The street is constructed by the developer on his own land under the conditions of the lease of the site and is to be surrendered to Government when required to do so;
* The street is constructed by the developer on Government land adjoining the site under the conditions of the lease of the site;
* The street is one over which the owner of the site has been expressly granted a right of way; or
* The street is constructed on land owned by the owner of the site.
"It is also clarified in the amendment regulation that if one or more of the above circumstances exists with respect to different parts of a street and they adjoin one another constituting a street, this street will also qualify as a specified street," the spokesman said.
All specified street(s) of a site should be shown on the building plans submitted to the Building Authority for approval and should be completed before an occupation permit is issued if the specified street is not an existing one.
"The specified street should remain as a street insofar as the building relying on it for attaining the permitted development intensity exists," he added, stressing that the Building Authority would take enforcement action under the Buildings Ordinance to forestall such street(s) being extinguished.
The Building (Planning) (Amendment) Regulations 2005 will be tabled in the Legislative Council on July 6, 2005, and the proposed commencement date of the amendment regulation is December 31, 2005.
Ends/Thursday, June 30, 2005
Issued at HKT 15:31
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