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the railway or indeed to the use of this land on the east side at all unless it is fenced off from the railway by a high fence. If the area is to be regularly used as playing fields it will be necessary to approach it either from the sea by the erection of a landing stage, which in view of its exposed position would be a somewhat expensive proposition, or by access paths which might be constructed from the Holt's Wharf level-crossing along the side of the railway and from near the Chatham Road railway bridge. We understand further from the Railway Authorities that at least one year's tenure might be promised of any land that might be allotted to a Club here, and that there is every possibility that a Club would be allowed to retain such allotment for longer periods than il Year though no guarantee could be given to that effect.
30. It is realised that the land is reserved for commercial development but there appears to be no prospect of such development in the immediate future and it seems desirable to make use meanwhile of this easily accessible flat land for purposes of re- creation. We recommend therefore :-
(a) That the whole of the available land on the railway reclamation on both sides of the railway, as shown on a plan furnished by the Manager of the Railway (see Appendix V) should be allotted through the permanent Re- creation Grounds Committee annually to such Clubs as might wish to take up a ground there, subject to it being ascertained by the Committee each year before-hand from the Manager of the Railway that the land is still available for allotment.
(b) That Government should fence in the line, or make it a condition of allotment that Clubs should fence off their playing areas from the line at their own expense.
(c) That Government should provide means of access by making a path either from Holt's Wharf level-crossing or from near Chatham Road Railway Bridge or both.
31. We note that there is a part of the present allotment of the Kowloon Cricket Club at King's Park between the Club's bowling green and its cricket field which is unused. We understand that the Club has been keeping this area as a site for a new pavilion, but we consider that pending any such development good use could be made of the ground if it was allotted as a public playground for games requiring little space.
Smaller open spaces in Hong Kong and the Mainland.
32. We recommend generally that Government should bear in mind the great im- portance of preserving in already developed areas and reserving in areas as yet unde- veloped as many open spaces or small 'squares' as possible, where the old and young of either sex in the neighbourhood may take the air, and on some of which games such as volleyball and basketball requiring little space might be played by the vernacular schoolboys and other children of the neighbouring houses. We consider also that build- ing land not yet sold or built upon, which we now find in many cases to be let out to market gardeners on temporary permits, might often be made available for purposes of such games pending its development, and we recommend that Government should facilitate the use of such land in this way.
OPEN SPACES IN HONG KONG.
33. Turning to particular small open spaces which we have noted as desirable reservations in the urban areas of Hong Kong we recommend :-
(a) the permanent reservation as a playground for the children of Wanchai of a plot of Crown Land on the Praya East Reclamation to the west of the Fire Station and between Inland Lot 2827 and Inland Lot 2815; see Appendix VI;