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fourth, that a new Regional Council should be
set up to cover those areas not under the aegis
of the Urban Council, that the opportunity should
possibly be taken to re-align the regional boun-
daries, and that the provision of some of the
services presently provided by the Recreation
and Culture Department should be brought within
the purview of the two Councils.
2.
Generally speaking, these proposals have been welcomed
by the Hong Kong community. There has been much discussion
and many points of detail have been made. The only area of
controversy has been the proposal to establish a second
regional council. I shall, therefore, deal with the fourth
proposal first.
3.
There has been no quarrel with the proposition that
services which are provided in the New Territories should come
under the supervision of a council. The proposal in the
Chief Secretary's statement was that there should be a second
council, parallel to the Urban Council. The Urban Council
advanced a perfectly tenable alternative proposal that a
single council should take over supervision of these services
throughout the whole of Hong Kong.