7
Primary Production
AGRICULTURAL LAND IN THE NEW TERRITORIES
A LAND COURT was set up, shortly after the New Territories became part of the Colony, to hear the inhabitants' claims to tenure of land. The holdings so established were confirmed by Government and recorded in Block Crown Leases, and are known as Old Schedule Lots. The Land Court completed its work in 1905. All other land was deemed to be unleased Crown land, leases of which could be sold at public auction, as in Hong Kong and Kowloon. New Territories' lands acquired in this way are known as New Grant Lots. It has always been recognized, however, that most villages have certain prescriptive rights over the land around them, where they graze their cattle, cut grass, and bury their dead; and no Crown land in the New Territories is put up for auction without giving the nearest villagers a chance to object. An objection, whether economic or geomantic, is usually accepted if reasonable.
Most of the leased land in the New Territories, usually known as ‘private land', is classified as either agricultural land or building land. Minor buildings, watchmen's sheds, pigsties, or other build- ings associated with farming, may normally be erected on agricultural land. When a villager who owns land in agricultural status wishes to erect a small house for his own family he is usually given a building licence and allowed to do so, provided that the lot is suitable and the building will not interfere with any rural development or town planning. No premium is payable for such licences if the houses are small.
New Territories' land policy follows the general lines laid down for the urban area, particularly in the towns and in areas required for industrial development. In the more rural parts the New Territories Administration is chiefly concerned with balancing the needs of agricultural production on the one hand and of urban development on the other.