Memorandum in reply to Messrs. Deacon, Looker & Deacon's letter of 18/4/11 to the Secretary of
State
303
1.
Kowloon Marine Lots 29, 30 & 31.
Messrs. Deacon, Looker & Deacon's letter to the Secretary of State of 18/4/11 raises the whole question of the rights of Marine Lot holders, and the further question of the alteration of the levels of streets on which privately owned buildings abut
2.
The first question has been repeatedly discussed for some 60 years, the second only attracted public attention a short time ago.
3.
P
All privately owned land in Hongkong is held under Lease from the Crown each leased portion is called a Lot, and the different kinds of lots are differentiated by the use of the terms Inland Lot, Marine Lot, Rural Building Lot, Garden Lot
and Farm Lot.
4.
Marine Lots are of two kinds: true Marine Lots which are bounded on one side by the sea at high water mark, and quasi Marine Lots which are bounded by a public street interposed be-
tween the Lot and the Sea.
5. The lots in question are quasi Marine Lots, situate at Yaumati on the Kowloon Peninsula, and were leased in 1875 for
terms of 75 years each. They were then bounded by a newly made Praya or Sea road 50 feet wide, giving the lessees uninterrupted access to the sea across such Praya now known as Reclamation
Street. The combined Marine frontage of the 3 lots is about
650 feet.
6. In 1875 Yaumati might have been described as a detached
fishing village: it is now a populous township, and, save for
the interposition of the Naval Yard and Naval Coaling Sheds,
urban district of Kowloon extends from Kowloon Point through
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the