LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
take on and to discharge fully and effectively the additional responsibilities. Subsequently, NAWD was upgraded to the New Airport Projects Co-ordination Office in February 1991.
Planning
Town planning seeks to bring about a good living and working environment for the present and future population of Hong Kong. Given the limited land resources, it is a great challenge to plan for the competing demands of housing, commerce, industry, transportation, utilities, as well as recreation, education, medical and health, and other community facilities.
This work is carried out by the Planning Department under policy directives from the Planning, Environment and Lands Branch of the Government Secretariat. The department comprises three functional units: the Territorial and Sub-Regional Planning Branch, the District Planning Branch, and the Ordinance Review and Technical Administration Division. The following are the major planning tasks undertaken by the department in 1991:
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- Introduction of two interim Amendment Bills on the planning legislation and the release of a Consultative Document on the Comprehensive Review of the Town Planning Ordinance.
Continuing review of the Territorial Development Strategy, the Sub-Regional Development Strategies and the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines and the release of the Metroplan Selected Strategy.
Follow-up work on the Rural Planning and Improvement Strategy and the Port and Airport Development Strategy.
Forward planning for the districts and development control, and co-ordination of various urban renewal efforts.
Review of Town Planning Ordinance
The Town Planning Ordinance was first enacted in 1939. Until recently, there had been no fundamental changes to the planning legislation for Hong Kong. In September 1987, the Executive Council ordered that an overall review of the ordinance should be undertaken with a view to introducing new legislation to replace the existing one.
The comprehensive review of the ordinance was completed in mid-1991 and a Consultative Document was released in July 1991 for public comment. The document set out the various changes proposed to the existing ordinance except the questions of compensation and betterment which were referred to a Special Committee specifically set up to consider public submissions, examine the issues involved and make recommendations to the Governor on whether there would be a need to include provisions relating to compensation and betterment in the new planning legislation. The consultation period lasted until January 11, 1992. The government will take account of all the views collected in drawing up the new Planning Ordinance. It is envisaged that the drafting of the new Planning Bill will take another year.
Meanwhile, two interim Amendment Bills were introduced in 1991. The Town Planning (Amendment) Ordinance 1991 was passed by the Legislative Council on January 23, 1991, and came into effect on January 25, 1991. In the main, it provides for the extension of the jurisdiction of the ordinance to cover the whole territory, the introduction of direct enforcement against unauthorised development in selected areas and the delegation of
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