CROWN LANDS DIVISION
119. The year was marked by a change in the method of disposal of Crown land in the urban area. Most of the sales were in accordance with a programme drawn up by the Crown Lands & Survey Office, with only a few sales being made to meet applications for individual sites. This resulted in a steady process of auction sales from June 1960 onwards at the rate of about 2 sales per week. The change in method resulted in a big increase in the value and numbers of lots disposed of, as may be seen from the graph on the opposite page.
Auction Sales
120. Industrial. Sales by public auction comprised 46 lots varying in size from 1,800 square feet to 102,000 square feet. Kowloon Inland Lot No. 4427 at Sham Shui Po realized the highest price which represented a premium of $154.57 per square foot.
121. Non-Industrial. Non-industrial sites sold totalled 37, which included 1 school site, 1 funeral parlour site and 1 site restricted to mechanical transport and service station use. The highest price ever realized for a lot of Crown land at public auction, viz. $14,250,000, was bid for the northern portion of Murray Parade Ground (Inland Lot No. 7702). It represented a premium of $365.39 per square foot.
Private Treaty Grants
122. 116 lots or extensions to lots were granted by private treaty, 14 being by exchange and 24 being free grants for schools, welfare centres and non-profit making clinics and a cemetery. 32 lots were granted for local Government officers' housing schemes. Details of these private treaty grants are shown on page 28.
Land for Government and Government-sponsored projects
123. Government continued to be the biggest single developer of land after the requirements for communications and the Armed Forces. Probably the largest single land consumer is the Resettlement Department which has developed about 400 acres during the past five years.
Clearances and Resettlement
124. The Crown Lands Division continued to be responsible for co-ordinating all clearances required by the Public Works Department and for subsequent liaison with the Resettlement Department. Where clearances involved large industrial establishments or other users which
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