LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
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About 190 000 people will be accommodated in six public housing estates, four of which will include an element of home ownership. The private residential areas are expected to house about 110 000 people.
Fanling
Fanling New Town, which covers about 790 hectares, includes Fanling, Luen Wo Hui, Shek Wu Hui and Sheung Shui. It lies about eight kilometres north of Tai Po. It will be linked to Yuen Long, Sha Tin and Tai Po by the New Territories Circular Route now under construction. With the opening of Fanling Bypass, Tolo Highway and the Tai Po Bypass, the New Town enjoys a high speed road link to Kowloon, uninterrupted by traffic lights. This road, or alternatively the electrified Kowloon-Canton Railway, enables people to travel to the centre of Kowloon in less than 40 minutes.
The present population of the new town is about 105 000 but is projected to reach 220 000 within the next decade. At that time about 120 000 people will be accommodated in public housing.
Plans are in hand for the existing retail and commercial 'core' of Shek Wu Hui and Luen Wo Hui to be redeveloped and the On Lok Tsuen industrial area to be improved. Provision has been made for the retention and expansion of the existing villages.
Yuen Long and the North Western New Territories
The growth and development of Yuen Long Town continues at a rapid pace. The present population is about 86 500 and is expected to reach 161 000 by 1995. Work on a major new public housing estate, which will accommodate more than 30 000 persons at Long Ping to the northwest of the town, has reached a stage in which people are already being accepted.
Yuen Long will be linked to the neighbouring Tuen Mun New Town by the Yuen Long-Tuen Mun Light Rail Transit System which is now under construction and which will be operational in 1988. A large transport terminal to serve the town is also scheduled for completion in time with the Light Rail Transit System.
Design work is nearing completion on a landscaped town park which will include a wide range of features and attractions. Meanwhile, work will soon begin on a town square to provide an important open space feature in the eastern part of the town.
Initial construction works have begun on a comprehensively planned new town at Tin Shui Wai which will also be linked with the Light Rail Transit System. The main land formation works will begin in 1987. This new town has a projected population of 150 000 but with land reserves for expansion to 350 000 in further stages. The first public housing intake is expected in 1992.
Following a comprehensive planning study of the remaining areas in Northwestern New Territories there are proposals to upgrade existing infrastructural systems which will greatly improve the services to, and the environment of, certain existing settlements. Design and implementation of many of the component parts are underway.
The overall intention is that concentrated urbanisation will take place in Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai and at Hung Shui Kiu in the Tuen Mun/Yuen Long corridor, while established settlements at Kam Tin and Lau Fau Shan will be improved.
Junk Bay and Sai Kung
The first public housing estate in Junk Bay New Town is scheduled for completion in early 1987.