LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES
be sought. During the year, the board considered 833 applications for planning permission and reviewed its decisions on 90 planning applications.
Applicants who are aggrieved by the decisions of the board on review may lodge appeals with the independent Town Planning Appeal Board. The appeal board heard four cases in 2001, and dismissed all of them.
The board also promulgates guidelines for applications for developments in areas covered by statutory plans. During the year, the board promulgated five new guidelines and revised three guidelines. Altogether, there were 20 guidelines in force.
Departmental Plans
Apart from statutory plans, the Planning Department also prepares departmental outline development plans (ODPs) and layout plans (LPs) for individual districts or planning areas to show the planned land uses, development restrictions and transport networks in greater detail. There were 76 ODPs and 285 LPs covering the HKSAR.
Enforcement
Under the Town Planning Ordinance, no person shall undertake or continue a development in a development permission area (DPA) unless the development was a use in existence before the gazetting of the relevant Interim DPA or DPA plans, or is permitted under the DPA plan or the replacement OZP, or has obtained permission from the board. Development not satisfying these criteria is an 'unauthorised development (UD)' subject to enforcement and prosecution actions. Currently, about 18 800 hectares of land in the rural area are covered by DPA plans or the replacement OZPs.
The Planning Authority may serve notices on the respective land owners, occupiers and responsible persons, requiring them to discontinue the UD by a specified date unless planning permission for the development is obtained, or demanding a reinstatement of the land. It is an offence in law if the requirements of the notices are not complied with.
During the year, 368 new UDs were detected in the rural area. Most of them were related to the open storage of vehicles, containers and construction machinery/materials; workshops and container vehicle/trailer parks. The Director of Planning issued 972 warning letters for 284 cases, 649 enforcement notices for 105 cases, and 449 compliance notices for 82 cases. As for prosecution, 33 defendants in 23 cases were convicted. The average fine imposed was $7,770 with a range of $500 to $30,000. During the year, the various forms of enforcement actions taken resulted in the discontinuation of 208 UDs covering 59 hectares of land.
Urban Renewal
The Chief Executive announced in his 1999 Policy Address the setting up of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to replace the Land Development Corporation (LDC) and to expedite urban renewal. The URA Bill was passed by the Legislative Council in June 2000. The URA Ordinance was brought into operation on May 1, 2001. On the same day, the LDC was dissolved and the URA was established to undertake urban renewal under a new institutional and statutory framework. In July, the Secretary for Planning and Lands issued a draft Urban Renewal Strategy (URS) for public consultation. Guided by the URS, the URA is tasked to implement an
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