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THE CHAIRMAN replied as follows:-
"There has been no consideration of a stadium in Kowloon on the lines of the Government Stadium at So Kon Po, and it is doubtful whether in fact there is a demand for one in Kowloon in addition to the three in Hong Kong."
MR. A. DE O. SALES moved the following resolution :-
"That this Council request Government to set aside at the North Point Estate a part of the open area now described as a concourse for a playground and rest garden."
He said: Speaking to the first Motion in my name, it is estimated that there are nearly 4,000 children under 10 years of age residing in the North Point Estate. There is no conveniently located playground which is open to them. Hence, my motion.
This problem has not escaped the attention of most Members of this Council. In fact, they make up in great part the Hong Kong Housing Authority which is responsible for that Estate. Therefore, there is no need for me to go into detail.
Nevertheless, I feel that some emphasis may be laid with advantage on the complete absence up to the present time of any public park or playground in that district and its environments. True, there are long-term plans for a park and also for a playground. More, a playground is being prepared at Fortress Hill. Yet, there will be none of easy access at sea level for a long time to come. Consequently, from Causeway Bay, where Victoria Park is found, to Shau Kei Wan, almost by Lei Yue Mun Pass, there are no such amenities for the recreation of the many thousands of children who must be living in all that long stretch of heavily populated land.
Truly, this is a dismal prospect for this Council to contemplate; whithal, it is hardly one that we can be complacent about, more so when the opportunity is open to us to give them good playing facilities. Alternatively, are the children in the Estate and the many others in all that extensive area destined to play and grow up in the streets? Are they to be deprived of the joy of using a swing or a cabin-slide-a whirling-platform or even perhaps a boat-pool?
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MR. FUNG PING FAN seconded.
He said: some of the more deplorable slum districts as Wan Chai and the western part of the Island, or Yau Ma Tei and Sham Shui Po on the Peninsula, it is rapidly becoming a much built-upon area, with its population growing apace, and though modern town planning has fortunately made this part of the Colony less suffocatingly close as in other places built decades ago, it is desirable that provision be made now for some open areas for the enjoyment of the increasing number of residents in that and other neighbouring districts before what little available vacant grounds have been taken up for building or other purposes.
Whilst North Point today is not so congested as
To be consistent, and without singling out any particular part of the Colony for special mention, I would even go so far as to urge that Government endeavour to allocate at least one vacant plot of land as a recreation ground or rest garden for such districts as have not yet received our attention.
As the open area mentioned in the Motion is not for the exclusive use of the North Point Estate residents but for the enjoyment of all residents of neighbouring districts also--districts that are at present without these facilities--I have no hesitation in supporting the Motion, which I do with great pleasure.
CHAIRMAN:-I am always sympathetic to attempts to obtain more playgrounds and rest gardens. I agree with the desirability of the use of this particular area as such, subject to planning considerations of which I am not aware.
MR. LI YIU BOR-I rise to support the first motion put forward by Mr. Sales.
To meet the demand for playgrounds by our rapidly increasing school population, it is important that we should make recommendations to Government to ear-mark suitable sites for the development of playgrounds. The open space to which this motion refers was originally planned to be a ferry concourse, and is an area which will lend itself to easy development. If part of this area could be developed into a fairly large playground and park, it would be a boon to the residents in the vicinity and to children attending schools in the neighbourhood.
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