Following is a question by the Hon Daniel Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (January 5):
Question:
Regarding the Concept Plan for Lantau, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it will adjust the development objectives and infrastructure planning of Lantau, so as to achieve balanced development of different areas in Lantau and enable the residents of different areas to share the fruit of development;
(b) whether and how the local community may participate in the projects currently proposed under the Concept Plan, which include the development of a logistics park, a theme park, a museum, an eco-tour centre, a leisure and recreational centre, as well as the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge under planning;
(c) apart from those mentioned in (b) above, of the development projects to be carried out in Lantau; and
(d) whether it will consider incorporating the planning of the islands in the vicinity of Lantau into the Concept Plan?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the four parts of the question is as follow -
(a) With the development of the Hong Kong International Airport, the Tung Chung New Town and the strategic transport links in recent years, the Lantau Development Task Force, led by the Financial Secretary, was set up in February 2004 to re-examine the future planning and development of Lantau. The Task Force has recently published a "Concept Plan for Lantau" which aims at providing a balanced and coherent planning framework for the development of Lantau. In gist, the Concept Plan has proposed the development of economic infrastructure in North Lantau to enhance Hong Kong's economic competitiveness, while nature conservation and environmentally sustainable recreational and tourism uses are proposed for other parts of Lantau which comprise high-quality landscape and ecologically sensitive natural environment. The Task Force will consider carefully the development potentials and constraints of Lautau and widely seek the views of the public through extensive consultation, to ensure a proper and coordinated approach is adopted for mapping out the development of different areas of the Island and to achieve a balanced planning objective.
(b) The development proposals in the Concept Plan are at their conceptual stage. The Task Force welcomes comments from the community, especially local residents in Lantau. From December 2004 to the end of February 2005, we will organise a series of public forums and briefings to exchange views and invite comments from the general public, local communities and stakeholders of various sectors on the Concept Plan. The Islands District Office is also considering other possible means to facilitate continuous active participation of the Lantau community and concern groups in the discussion of the Concept Plan.
As regards the proposals in the Concept Plan, it is important to listen to the views from the public at this stage with a view to reaching a consensus on which proposals should be taken forward.
(c) The proposals under the Concept Plan can be grouped under four broad themes, namely, (i) economic infrastructure and tourism; (ii) theme attractions based on heritage, local character and natural landscape; (iii) maximising the recreation potential of country parks; and (iv) meeting nature conservation needs. The detailed proposals are listed in the consultation documents. The Task Force will take into account views gathered from the public on the proposals set out in the consultation document as well as any additional proposals put up by members of the public and conduct detailed feasibility studies on the proposals selected for implementation.
(d) Although the Concept Plan focuses on Lantau, the Government has not lost sight of the development of other outlying islands. The majority of the outlying islands have been covered by relevant town plans. The plans aim at preserving the unique attractiveness of the islands while providing development plans of appropriate scale to enhance their visitors' appeal.
End/Wednesday, January 5, 2005
NNNN