TOWN PLANNING ORDINANCE
HONG KONG
CHAPTER 131
1.
SUBMISSION BY
THE HONG KONG BRANCH OF THE ROYAL TOWN PLANNING INSTITUTE
The Hong Kong Town Planing Ordinance of 1939 is an old statute based on the Town and Country Flanning 1932 Act in the United Kingdom. Throughout all these years it has only been slightly amended.
As a
result of an action in the Courts, the most recent amendment was made in 1974 to include procedures on the application and granting of planning permissions for changes in the use of sites/buildings in accordance with the notes attached to statutory town plans. This is the very first kind of planning permission system in Hong Kong and it came into operation
in 1975.
2.
The general public, environmental groups and interested pro- fessional institutes have repeatedly criticized the inability of the present town planning legislation and syster to tackle the unique and difficult environmental problems in Hong Kong. The main criticisms are
summarized as follows :
(a) The need to review the present procedures for the pre-
paration and submission of statutory town plans for approval; (b) The lack of provision in the present legislation for the
revision of town plans to take account c changing cir-
cumstances;
(c) The need to introduce statutory town plans at all levels
so as to afford better opportunities for the public to participate in the planning process before they are exhibited
and approved;
(a) The public exhibition period of two months being too short; (e) Insufficient provisions for the granting of planning per-
mission in respect of new development projects, redevelopment proposals and changes of use in existing buildings;
(f) No provision for the enforcement of planning proposals other
than through the Building Authority, lease conditions and Public Works Programme;
¦
(g)
No provision for an independent arbitrator to hear and decide upon appeals against town planning decisions;
Contn'd
A
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