LO
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Can this Council be informed why a large number of people
still have to work in places away
away from the new town in
which they live?
Well, the short answer to
not have a balance between
SE CRE TARY FOR LANDS AND WORKS:
this, Sir, is that we do
resident population and job places. In some of the new
towns we are very close to achieving a balance; in others
we have not yet achieved a balance, although the figures
are improving all the time and it is interesting to note
that if one were to compare the figures over
over the last 10
or 15 years, you would find that the numbers of job places
or potential job places in the new towns are actually
growing faster than the population.
not simply a question of balance
Unfortunately, it is
because there are
inevitably people who live
live in the new towns who do not
want to work in the new towns; they want to commute
out. And conversely there are people working in the new
towns who do not live in the new towns and who commute
This, I am afraid, is a factor over which we have no
control. We cannot direct people as to where they work
and if a new town resident chooses to work in the urban
areas, then so be it we really have no control over that.
in.
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MR. TAI: Sir, may I ask the Secretary if land cost is a
determining factor for investment for industrialists, and
low land cost becomes an attraction
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for them
them to move to