88. In the multi-storey estates the Resettlement Department has no sites to offer to voluntary agencies, and a different policy has had to be evolved. The open roofs of multi-storey buildings with penthouses at either end were designed for recreation and welfare purposes and this fact has been made known by the Department of Social Welfare to all voluntary agencies, several of whom have started boys' and girls' clubs on these rooftops, for which no rent is charged. Voluntary agencies may also rent other rooms, either on ground or upper floors, for welfare purposes approved by the Department of Social Welfare. The urgent need for schools, however, was not being met by these measures and for this reason the Education Department agreed in 1957 that the rooftops of resettlement buildings could also be used for primary school purposes, the penthouses at either end being enclosed and converted into classrooms, while the open spaces in between become school playgrounds. At the end of the year there were thirty-five boys' and girls' clubs and fifty-eight primary schools on the rooftops of multi- storey buildings and many more applications by voluntary agencies who wished to start schools were being considered. The fees charged by these schools are limited to a maximum of $3 a month.
89. Ground floor rooms are also suitable for casework centres such as the one now run by the Family Welfare Association at Shek Kip Mei, and for medical clinics, two of which have been opened by the Medical Department one at Tai Hang Tung and one at Li Cheng Uk. The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong has also opened a clinic in Wong Tai Sin Estate. Four milk distribution centres, at Shek Kip Mei, Tai Hang Tung. Li Cheng Uk and Wong Tai Sin are being operated by the Church World Service.
90. The increased dimensions of the rooms that are to be provided in all new estate blocks, to which reference has been made in Chapter IV, will be more suitable for school class-rooms and will enable schools of an economic size to be established in the estates; plans are being made to reserve the ground floors of selected blocks for use as schools. The new design will also allow greater flexibility in the use of ground floor rooms for clinics or welfare centres,
91. Large recreation spaces are also provided within the boundaries of each estate, which are to be laid out by the Urban Services Depart- ment in the same way as playgrounds and recreation spaces in other parts of the urban areas. They include small fenced-off playgrounds for young children, enclosed areas with lawns and benches for the more elderly, volley ball and basketball courts and miniature football grounds.
27