G.S. 84
RESTRICTED
8
3
XCR (80) 205
Their views are contained in a petition they have submitted addressed to this Council urging the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the preservation of the Hong Kong Club building i. e. to declare it a monument under section 3(1) of Chapter 53. A copy of the petition is annexed to this memorandum. In this petition the Conservancy Association and the Heritage Society have stated their reasons for supporting preservation of the building, have claimed that public opinio n in Hong Kong favours this course of action and have suggested various methods of implementing a decision to retain the building. Members are referred to the text of the petition for a detailed exposition of their views.
Declaration of the Hong Kong Club building as
a Monument under section 3(1) of Chapter 53
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Section 3(1) of Chapter 53 empowers the Authority, after con- sultation with the Board and with the approval of the Governor by notice in the Gazette, to declare any place, building, site or structure, which the Authority considers to be of public interest by reason of its historical, archaeological or palaeontological significance, to be a monument. Members will therefore wish to note when considering the arguments put forward for preservation of the Club building, that the only grounds for declaring it a monument under Chapter 53 that apply to the building are historical.
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Members will also wish to note that section 4 of Chapter 53 stipulates that before a monument on private land can be so declared, the Authority must serve on the owner of the private land notice in writing of his proposal to do so, and that the owner of the private land may object by petition to the Governor to the proposed monument within one month after notice is served. Subsection (4) provides that such objections may be referred to the Governor in Council. It is therefore not possible to declare the Club building a monument, until the provisions of section 4 of the Ordinance have been complied with.
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Members are therefore asked to advise at this stage whether the Hong Kong Club building should in principle be declared a monument. If Members so advise, notice will be served on the Club of the intention to declare the Club building a monument, and Members' advice whether an actual declaration should be made will be sought at a later date, in the light of any petition the Club may wish to make. If Members advise at this stage that the Club should not be declared a monument, no action will be taken to serve notice on the Club.
RESTRICTED