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2
4.
The implementation of the policy of phasing out the permit quarries was gradual. From July 1969 onwards the petitioner was warned that his permits would shortly be cancelled and these warnings were repeated several times. In September 1970 Mr. Law was given three months' formal notice of cancellation of the two permits Nos. Y9220 and Y6149. The permits were duly cancelled in December 1970.
5.
The cancellation of Mr. Law's Crown Land Permits to quarry is in accordance with existing policy and is in no way discriminatory. Mr. Law had said in previous correspondence that he was obliged to pay $115,900 to secure access to the quarry site and to construct a road. This is no doubt true, but Mr. Law knew at the time at which the permit was issued that it could be cancelled at three months' notice.
It was not the practice to grant a permit unless the applicant could show that he would be able to gain access to the site.
6.
The petitioner says that the right to issue three months' notice of termination is hardly ever exercised. Whilst extensions of time have been granted in some cases, the three months' notice is a condition of the permit and there is no reason why this condition cannot be exercised when appropriate. As noted in paragraph 4 warning was given of the intended cancellation over a year before it took place.
7.
It is true that pig-breeders and others such as poultry farmers are, as a matter of policy on an ex gratia basis, compensated when they are required to move from the land on cancellation of permit. The fact that Government assists agricultural small-holders in this way does not predicate policy of compensating those whose permit quarries are terminated, as the scale and nature of operation are on an entirely different scale.
8.
Mr. Law says in his petition that he is being evicted from his home. His home, in fact, is at 711 Shanghai Street, 5th floor, Kowloon, where he has lived with his family for ten years. The workers' quarters at the quarry have been used for the purpose for which they were constructed and although Mr. Law and his son are understood to have occasionally stayed at the quarry, the workers' quarters cannot be regarded as being Mr. Law's home.
9.
With regard to the final paragraph of Mr. Law's petition, apart from the new quarry policy having been discussed with the Heung Yee Kuk in 1968, the policy was also made generally known to quarry owners.