Government dId listen

A review of the departmental comments in the document prepared by Planning Department for the meeting of the Rural and New Town Planning Committee on 14 January shows that several departments took on board comments made during the public consultation exercise. Key extracts from the document follow. These all provide fertile ground for follow up with the respective departments at the appropriate time.

Refer to the original document here.

Land Administration

(District Lands Officer/Islands)

Right of Development

The Principal Deed of Mutual Covenant (PDMC) dated 30.9.1982 has notionally divided the Lot into 250,000 undivided shares. The applicant will have to apply to LandsD for approval to amend the Master Plan. In the processing of the application for amendment of the MP, the applicant shall substantiate its right and capacity to develop the Site and demonstrate, amongst others, that the development will not prejudice the provisions in the PDMC and that they have sufficient undivided shares retained by them for allocation to the proposed development.

ExCo’s Endorsement

The Audit Commission in 2004 recommended that the D of Lands should seek ExCo’s endorsement before approving any major changes to the concept of a development if the concept has been approved by ExCo when approving the land grant. Should the Board approve the subject application, the applicant has to apply to LandsD for approval to amend the MP so as to implement the proposed development under the subject rezoning application. Upon receipt of such application, LandsD will process the application according to the established practice and seek endorsement of ExCo if the proposed development will result in a change of the development concept of the Lot. There is however no guarantee that such approval will be given by LandsD.

Environment

(Director of Environmental Protection)

The applicant has demonstrated the commitment to include a nitrogen removal system in the proposed STW for the Site.

Drainage and Sewerage

(Chief Engineer/Hong Kong & Islands, Drainage Services Dept.)

It is noted from the revised Environmental Study that emergency overflow pipe from the proposed STW at Area 6f will be connected to existing SPS No. 1 for discharge to Siu Ho Wan STW during emergency situation.

  • The proposed measures, as specified in the revised Environmental Study, shall be implemented properly to avoid overflow during normal condition;
  • The applicant shall exercise due diligence to resume normal operations of STW as soon as possible;
  • The applicant could submit detailed hydraulic calculations to demonstrate that the public sewerage facilities have adequate capacities to handle the additional discharge from the proposed development during emergency situations in the design stage, or otherwise new sewers shall be constructed and maintained by the developer at his own cost to his satisfaction;
  • The developer shall pay for the sewage service charges same as the normal condition.

Water Supply

(Chief Engineer/Construction, WSD)

It is noted that the applicant has revised the water supply proposal for the development such that the private water supply system is exclusively for Area 6f, including water treatment works, service reservoir and water mains, and will be totally separated from the water supply system (include service) conveying WSD water for the rest of Discovery Bay.

Geotechnical

(Head of Geotechnical Engineering Office, CEDD)

The proposed development is overlooked by steep natural hillside and meets the Alert Criteria requiring a Natural Terrain Hazard Study. It will also affect or be affected by man-made features. Based on the GPRR submitted by the applicant, it is considered that the information provided is insufficient to demonstrate the geotechnical feasibility of the proposed slope upgrading/modification and natural terrain hazard mitigation works. Further submission is required at the building plan submission stage.

Area 6f: No in-principle objection

In a paper prepared for the meeting of the Rural and New Town Planning Committee scheduled for 14 January regarding HKR’s application to rezone Area 6f for residential development, Planning Department advised that it has no in-principle objection to the proposal.

According to the paper, objections under the deed of mutual covenant can be dealt with under the lease. The RNTPC paper may be downloaded here.

Area 6f Back on the Agenda

Following HKR’s success in appealing the Town Planning Board’s decision to reject the development proposal for Area 6f, the TPB invited HKR to resubmit its application. A new public consultation round was held from November 12 to December 3 2021, and the application is due to be heard by the TPB on January 14 2022.

Download the Latest Gist and the meeting Agenda. Also refer to the further information received on 24 December 2021.

A total of 2389 comments were received in the new consultation round, more than in any other round. The vast majority of comments came in a single bundle of 1838 responses, all hand-delivered to the offices of the TPB on 3 December 2021. They run from #6713 to #8550. A simple glance at these 1838 responses will show that they are copied from a prepared set of responses in favour of the application.

Comments that are worth reading in full include #6488 and #6499.

Master Plan 7.0E Approved

The Director of Lands approved Master Plan 7.0E on 17 August 2021, giving HKR the right to develop the large open area to the north of Chianti (Phase 13), Amalfi (Phase 14) and Poggibonsi (Phase 16).

Under MP 7.0E, the maximum number of units (flats) allowed in Discovery Bay increases from 8,735 under the previous Master Plan to 10,000. In other words, 1,265 flats will be built.

The new Master Plan may be viewed here, while the related Approval Letter may be viewed here.