Following is a question by the Dr Hon Lam Tai-fai and a reply by the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan, in the Legislative Council today (February 6):
Question:
The Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has all along been seeking the Government's grant of the entire site of the former campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee) at Renfrew Road in Kowloon Tong for the construction of student hostels and a Chinese medicine teaching hospital. However, on a radio programme on the 17th of last month, the Chief Executive (CE) indicated that the Government and HKBU had reached an agreement that half of the site would be used for constructing student hostels and the other half would be retained by the Government for residential development. Yet, HKBU had subsequently issued a statement pointing out that it had not reached the aforesaid agreement with the Government, and emphasising that since 2005, it had all along been applying to the Government for the grant of the entire site. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of the agreement mentioned by CE;
(b) whether it supports the construction of a Chinese medicine teaching hospital by HKBU; if it does, whether it will allocate land to HKBU for this purpose; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) as the Government indicated on the 8th of last month that, after assessment, it considered that the southern portion of the aforesaid site was no longer required to be retained for other "Government, Institution or Community" uses, and it was suitable for rezoning to residential use, and the Planning Department has therefore submitted a proposal to the Town Planning Board to rezone such portion of the site for residential use, of the justifications for arriving at such assessment outcome by the Government?
Reply:
President,
I understand that Legislative Council members and the general public are very concerned about the use of the site on Renfrew Road, Kowloon Tong whereby the former campus of the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (Lee Wai Lee) was situated (ex-IVE(LWL) site). As the issue involves policy areas of the Education Bureau (EDB), Food and Health Bureau (FHB) and Development Bureau (DEVB), I represent the three Policy Bureaux to jointly respond to this question. Given that this case involves three Policy Bureaux and its relatively complex content, in order to let you have a more comprehensive understanding of the case, I would like to explain in greater detail the background of the case and so my reply will be a bit lengthy. Secretary for Education is also at the meeting today and he will respond to Members' supplementary questions on education policies.
The introduction and first part of the question are related to the policy of land use of post-secondary institutions. In this regard, the Administration and the University Grants Committee (UGC) have all along been supporting UGC-funded institutions in the development of publicly-funded academic facilities and student hotels in accordance with well-established policies and calculation criteria. EDB, DEVB and the Planning Department (PlanD) have been catering for such development needs of UGC-funded institutions in accordance with established policies.
For the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), in terms of academic facilities, HKBU currently has about 80 000 square metre of teaching space (in terms of total net operational floor area (NOFA) including the space to be provided by projects under detailed planning). Apart from the Communication and Visual Arts Building completed earlier, HKBU has also been given approval to use public funding of $945.1 million for a campus development project to redevelop and construct new academic buildings in meeting the needs arising from the implementation of the new academic structure. Construction of the two new buildings has largely been completed and the two buildings have already been put to use.
Besides, the Administration has implemented various measures to provide additional facilities to HKBU in order to meet its requirements for academic space.
As regards student hostels, HKBU currently has 1 710 publicly-funded student hostel places in use and another 150 under construction. According to the established calculation formula applicable to the UGC-funded sector, HKBU will require an additional 1 331 student hostel places by the 2014/15 academic year. The above calculation has already taken into account additional hostel needs arising from the implementation of the new academic structure and made the assumption that HKBU will be able to recruit non-local students up to the prevailing quota, i.e. 20% of total enrolment (HKBU's ratio of non-local students was 10.5% in the 2011/12 academic year). HKBU, to cater for such purpose, has submitted a proposal for developing new student hostels to UGC, suggesting that new hostel blocks be constructed on part of the ex-IVE(LWL) site, which are capable of accommodating more than 1 331 student hostel places.
EDB has reviewed the long-term use of the ex-IVE(LWL) site in Kowloon Tong since the relocation of the ex-IVE(LWL) to Tseung Kwan O. EDB considers that granting the northern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site to HKBU can already provide an NOFA of about 20 000 square metre, whereby HKBU's requirements on academic space and student hostel places can be met in full under prevailing policies if HKBU can make the best use of this portion of the site in adherence to the established calculation formula and policies. Therefore, the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site is beyond the requirements of HKBU under prevailing policies.
Separately, EDB has also considered whether the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site can be used by other UGC-funded institutions for expansion purposes. EDB takes the view that land resources are scarce and hence they should be deployed for the most optimal uses. In deciding whether a particular site should be reserved for use by UGC-funded institutions, the Administration should take all relevant factors into account, e.g. whether there are any additional requirements for space by the institutions under the prevailing policies or whether the institutions' campuses are fully utilised. In fact, EDB is in discussion with some of the institutions with a shortfall of hostels and academic facilities, with a view to exploring the feasibility of constructing hostels or academic facilities in various places in Hong Kong. The southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site is not among the sites identified. Taking a holistic account of the above factors, EDB considers that there is no need to retain the southern portion of the site for the purpose of expansion by other UGC-funded institutions or for higher education purpose; EDB thus proposes to surrender the southern portion of the site to the Government for other uses.
The second part of the question is related to HKBU's proposal to develop a Chinese medicine hospital. Currently there are three institutions in Hong Kong offering UGC-funded Chinese medicine programmes. At present, the Administration does not have a policy for supporting the funded institutions to establish Chinese medicine teaching hospital. Nonetheless, FHB will consider proposals from any organisations interested in developing Chinese medicine hospital. The Chinese medicine hospital will mainly provide Chinese medicine in-patient services and if needed, training opportunities for institutions in Hong Kong offering Chinese medicine courses. The organisation setting up and operating a Chinese medicine hospital is not limited to institutions and it is not a must that its location should be within or close to the institution campus.
HKBU informed FHB in November 2011 and September 2012 respectively that HKBU had found common ground with Tsim Sha Tsui District Kai Fong Welfare Association (TSTKFWA) and suggested redeveloping part of the TSTKFWA's building in Tsim Sha Tsui into a HKBU Chinese medicine hospital. HKBU sent in detailed proposals for developing a Chinese medicine hospital at the site. FHB all along supports HKBU's proposal for developing a Chinese medicine hospital with TSTKFWA and has been in close communication with HKBU on studying and following up on the proposal. HKBU mentioned at a meeting with FHB in October 2012 that it was interested to develop a Chinese medicine hospital on the ex-IVE(LWL) site, but had not submitted any detailed proposal or followed up on the suggestion.
The third part of the question is related to the long-term use of southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site. As EDB agreed that the southern portion of the site need not be retained for higher education purpose, DEVB and PlanD have considered the long-term use of it in accordance with established practice since 2011. The site is currently zoned "Government, Institution or Community(9)" ("GIC(9)") on the approved Kowloon Tong Outline Zoning Plan (OZP). After assessment and consultation with relevant Government bureaux and departments, the Administration considers that the southern portion need not be reserved for GIC uses and is suitable to be rezoned for residential purpose. Thus, in late 2012, PlanD submitted to the Town Planning Board (TPB) a proposal to rezone the southern portion for residential use with a view to meeting house needs of the community.
This proposal is based on the consideration that, given the generally low-density residential developments and relatively small population in the Kowloon Tong area, the demand for GIC facilities to serve the area is relatively low. Based on the Hong Kong Planning Standard and Guidelines and the population of the area, apart from a post office as well as an integrated children and youth service centre, there is no deficit of general GIC facilities in the area. Nonetheless, such facilities can be incorporated into a non-domestic building or the non-domestic portion of a commercial/residential development. There is no need to reserve a stand-alone site for development of such GIC facilities. Other relevant Government departments have confirmed that the site is not required for other GIC uses. Given that the areas to the west and south of the site are mainly for residential purpose and there are no incompatible uses in its vicinity, the Administration has made an assessment and considers that the site is suitable for medium-density residential development to meet the housing needs of the community.
The Metro Planning Committee of the TPB at its meeting on January 25, 2013 agreed to the proposal to rezone the southern portion from "GIC(9)" to "Residential (Group B)" after considering the Administration's relevant rezoning proposal and information provided by EDB as well as FHB. The amendments to the relevant OZP will be gazetted under section 5 of the Town Planning Ordinance (the Ordinance) and exhibited for two months. The public can make representations to the TPB concerning the amendments during the OZP exhibition period. Thereafter, the TPB will exhibit the representations for public inspection. The public can submit comments on the representations to the TPB within the first three weeks of exhibition. TPB will, at a later date, conduct public hearings in respect of all representations and comments received.
Based on the above background, I would like to point out that the Administration has all along been handling and supporting the need of academic facilities and student hostels of HKBU as well as other UGC-funded institutions in accordance with established education policies. The northern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site can fully meet HKBU's needs under prevailing policies; the southern portion is beyond the requirements of HKBU under prevailing policies. At present, the Administration does not have a policy on supporting the funded institutions to establish Chinese medicine teaching hospitals. At the same time, the Administration is in communication with HKBU on its proposal to develop a Chinese medicine hospital in Tsim Sha Tsui and has not received any detailed proposal from HKBU for developing the southern portion of ex-IVE(LWL) site for such purpose. As for the planning of the southern portion of the ex-IVE(LWL) site, it is conducted in accordance with the established planning procedures and its rezoning to residential use is based on the consideration of optimising land resources.
Until recently, HKBU sent in a letter to the Secretary for Education on January 14, 2013 indicating its intention to abandon the proposal with TSTKFWA and to study the feasibility of developing the Chinese medicine hospital at the ex-IVE(LWL) site. FHB all along supports the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and the establishment of Chinese medicine hospitals in Hong Kong. FHB will consider and study detailed proposals from any proponent. We consider that rezoning the ex-IVE(LWL) site for residential use can expedite the optimisation of its use. It does not conform to the principle of land use optimisation if the site is left vacant for a long period of time.
Ends/Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:43
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