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the public, who are not at school or who are on holiday from school, and this is an area which we could use for all these recreations. School children could use it in their free time for their own recreation, not just that which is organized by schools, and I support very strongly that our original request should be adhered to, and that is the whole of this area should be given to this Council.
MR. H. CHEONG-LEEN: ---Mr. Chairman, Dr. BELL has so eloquently supported Mr. SALES' motion that I do think that Mr. SALES and I, as the Ward Councillors for Yau Ma Tei and Tsim Sha Tsui, should give very serious consideration to making her Honorary Ward Councillor to this area in addition to her other duties. As she has said, a lot of water has gone under the bridge since the time when the provisional Town Planning plan for this area was presented to this Council for its views. At that time, it appeared there was a strong possibility that taxes might go up, but at the last Legislative Council Debate the Financial Secretary said that it was a refreshing budget and that we had close to $1.2 billion in general reserves. So we do not need to sell this valuable land in a hurry. We have the Naval Dockyard area still, and I would very strongly support the motion that Government should reconsider taking this entire area and make it available to the Urban Council for development for the enjoyment of the people in Hong Kong. I would make a plea that part of it should be for a garden, a garden with an Oriental atmosphere. I think Mrs. Ellen Li at one time spoke about a Chinese garden, and if it was her intention to have such a garden in this area, then she has the support of all the members on the Unofficial side. (Laughter). I have heard the complaint that Hong Kong to the visitor is too westernized. There is no Oriental atmosphere about it. We lack a character of our own, and I feel very strongly that if we could put aside a portion of this area and convert it into a garden with an Oriental atmosphere, it would not only be an attraction for our own residents and their children, but it will also be a strong attraction for tourists as well. Perhaps a little while ago I said that only the Unofficial Members are in support of this motion, but I will give an opportunity now to Members on the Official side to disagree with me.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI: --Mr. Chairman, congratulations to Mr. SALES and Mr. FORSGATE on moving and seconding this motion in the way that they have done. Hong Kong Island has Victoria Park as well as other smaller parks. Kowloon has now a far larger population than Hong Kong Island, and it is essential to have the whole of Whitfield Barracks area to be used for a park, including a garden and playgrounds, and I wholeheartedly support this motion.
MRS. E. ELLIOTT:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to endorse Dr. BELL's words concerning the conditions of living in the Yau Ma Tei area. I recall how the Social Welfare workers who gave evidence
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before the Riot Enquiry pointed out that the young people in this area had literally nowhere to go. They poured out of their over-crowded houses into the streets, and they had nowhere to go but walk up and down Nathan Road, looking at things they could not buy. Therefore I think it would be ideal to have this park where they could go and enjoy themselves. The second point, I would like to endorse Mr. SALES' suggestion that we might possibly think of having a library there. We need a Central Library for the Kowloon area, and I think to put a library in a park would be ideal from the point of view of the park and the library. I support this motion.
MR. W. S. B. WONG:-Mr. Chairman, I would like to speak from the cross benches on this motion. Unfortunately, my friend Mr. NG is occupying the position where, in accordance with usual Parliamentary procedure, a member airs his views on a motion in a transcendent spirit. I shall speak from here.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the Chairman of our Parks, Recreation & Amenities Select Committee, Mr. SALES, in proposing this motion which will have the support of everyone in Hong Kong and Kowloon. In this crowded city, no one would like to speak against the provision of a large open space. In fact, it would give Kowloon a semblance of a Central Park the same as in New York. However, I would like to raise a point that this motion does seem categorical in that a very large space of some 42 acres, I beg to differ with Mr. FORSGATE who said the area was 38 acres, in the middle of the municipality of Kowloon, will be earmarked for open space.
My colleague has stated that he would not exclude other community projects. As a matter of fact I do not think that the present Town Planning Board would exclude a school in the area.
I think there is a fear that a large portion of this area might be sold to commercial enterprises. I am not on the Planning Board; I was not with the delegation that went to see the Planning Board, but I would say that if certain strips along Nathan Road, I mean the part that borders Nathan Road, are sold for shops, I do not see any objection. We could have the major portion of our park without some strips on Nathan Road, and if the revenue from those small strips on Nathan Road could, perhaps, accelerate the plan for universal primary education, I would gladly give up a bit of the land for that purpose. I think this is pure economics. The whole area is 1,800,000 sq. ft., and if we have some strips of, say, 200,000 or 250,000 sq. ft. that could be sold along the Nathan Road part, we would still have the broad entrance and the Austin Road part. I do not think it would be a step that would be objectionable, bearing in mind, of course, that public revenue from the sale of the strips would be earmarked for public services. However, this all very theoretical. As I have said, I was
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