Antiquities Advisory Board releases report on policy review on conservation of built heritage

The following is issued on behalf of the Antiquities Advisory Board:

The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) has completed the policy review on the conservation of built heritage and released its report today (January 9).

The AAB Chairman, Mr Andrew Lam, said, "Heritage conservation involves such aspects as private property rights, allocation and utilisation of public resources, and demolition for redevelopment. By conducting the review 'Respecting Our Heritage While Looking Ahead', the AAB seeks to examine past experiences, understand public expectations and propose principles and directions on key issues for advising the Government and taking forward the policy to cope with social changes."

The AAB recommended that the Government should set up a dedicated fund on the conservation of built heritage. The fund should provide funding for public education and publicity activities, academic research, public engagement and consultation programmes. It should also cover certain existing government initiatives and activities on built heritage conservation. On individual conservation projects and issues at the district level, the community could be better consulted through collaboration with partners including District Councils and other non-government organisations.

The AAB also recommended the Government to consolidate and scale up the existing economic incentives and facilitation to encourage private owners to preserve, revitalise and maintain in a timely manner their historic buildings. Prevailing incentives such as relaxation of plot ratio and land exchange should be offered through a more systematic and well-publicised mechanism according to the scale, building conditions and heritage value of the privately owned historic buildings. Other initiatives should be explored, such as through practice notes and guidelines, to promote the adoption of "performance-based" alternative approaches in revitalisation works in meeting the requirements under the Buildings Ordinance. The Government should review the Buildings Ordinance without jeopardising building safety and health standards.

"We have explored the issue on whether public funds should be used to purchase or resume privately owned historic buildings. However, the views received from the public consultation and the telephone surveys showed that there are diverse views in the community. We therefore consider that this should not be pursued," Mr Lam said.

Regarding the requirements on public access to historic buildings, the AAB considered that the Government should allow flexibility if it is justified on grounds such as privacy or building stability, and should ensure that other forms of access to the buildings are available for public appreciation. The AAB also recommended the Government to examine the setting up of a statutory grading system in the longer run for protection of graded buildings while safeguarding private property rights.

The AAB recommended that the Government should conduct a study to explore the feasibility of conserving and protecting selected building clusters with unique heritage value under the "point-line-plane" approach in the long run. In the medium term, the Government should arrange thematic surveys or mapping exercises on building clusters with heritage value for drawing up appropriate conservation strategies and protection measures if necessary and for future planning.

The AAB accepted the invitation of the Development Bureau to assist in conducting a policy review on the conservation of built heritage in February 2013. Since the second half of 2013, the AAB has arranged a number of meetings with the key stakeholders to gauge their views, and has launched a series of programmes to raise public awareness on heritage conservation issues, including roving exhibitions, public lectures, workshops, a dedicated website and a short video. In June 2014, the AAB published the consultation document "Respecting Our Heritage While Looking Ahead: Policy on Conservation of Built Heritage". About 100 written submissions were received during the two-month public consultation. The AAB also commissioned an independent survey company to conduct some 4 000 telephone interviews in mid-2014 to gauge the views of the general public on key issues raised in the policy review. The AAB completed the review last December.

The AAB report is available on the dedicated website on the policy review (www.builtheritagereview.hk) for public viewing.

Ends/Friday, January 9, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:42

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