XCC(78)8
CONFIDENTIAL #
Copy No Page 2
of 80
B
The two routes are shown on the plan at Annex B. The reasoning behind, and the effects of, the proposed change of route are set out in more detail below.
C
The Depot
3
A location plan showing the container terminals and the Kwai Chung Depot is at Annex C. The total area of the five container terminals in Kwai Chung is 65 hectares with six container berths. From the start, it has been necessary for the operators to make use of some additional back-up areas which they hold on temporary tenure. It will, in due course, be necessary to make a case to this Council for these areas to be granted on a permanent basis. The Director of Marine is, however, already seriously concerned that the effective capacity of the five terminals, which are at present being used to about 80% of their maximum capacity, will in the future be seriously inhibited by the lack of land for back-up areas. The only substantial area of land available to supplement the terminals will be the 10.06 hectare site reserved for the Kwai Chung Depot. It is therefore important that any other uses which can be satisfactorily accommodated out of this area should be removed from it.
4
A suitable alternative site for the Mass Transit depot is available in Tsuen Wan Area 6 just north of the Castle Peak Road and adjacent to Tsuen Wan (Central) Station. This area is zoned for commercial/residential and allied purposes, and it is considered possible to integrate this form of development with the depot structure by the construction of a podium above it similar to that at Kowloon Bay Depot. The land is presently mainly in private agricultural status with mixed village, temporary housing, and temporary factories, but was mostly due to be cleared for the development of the area in accordance with its planned zoning. The move of the depot to this area would have the effect of compressing the time taken for these clearances, which would normally have been spread over a period of four years, into about two. To make the site available for the depot would, however, also involve the clearance of four tenement blocks which must make way for the station and the access lines to the depot. It also involves the reprovisioning of a school.
5
The siting of the depot in North Tsuen Wan, coupled with the provision of interchange facilities, will necessitate the re-planning of the road system in this area. This, in turn, will involve the clearance of two additional tenement blocks.
C.S. 166
The Removal of the Line from Castle Peak Road
6
When the original alignment along the Castle Peak Road was designed, it was envisaged that it would be constructed after the completion
CONFIDENTIAL **