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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Complex calls for the complete re-designing of the children's playground included in Phase II of the Park development; this will probably result in up to 6 months' delay. The classical Chinese garden and tea-house and the music bowl in Phase III of the Park development will also be affected, in particular the access to these facilities, and the Architectural Office would need to redesign them. At best, this is likely to cause some 4 to 6 months' delay. At worst, it may be one or two years' delay.
The net result of the town planning proposals to re-zone part of the old Whitfield Barracks site will be that certain parts of the Stage II development of Kowloon Park will need to be redesigned; this in turn will mean that the scheduled completion date of December 1977 for the whole development is likely to be delayed by an as yet indefinable period.
The Director of Urban Services, however, advises that these rezoning proposals are still under consideration by the Town Planning Board and have yet to be published for public information and objection. Any change in the town plan will of course be subject to the approval of the Governor in Council. Should this Council feel that the rezoning proposals do not accord with its interests, it may raise objections after the proposals have been formally published. Until then, it would appear premature to lodge any objections, since we don't yet know all the details and, in any case, the Council will no doubt wish to consider its position in respect of other parts of Tsim Sha Tsui likely to be affected by the proposed new town plan.
MR. FORSGATE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I would like to thank the Chairman of the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee for his very long reply which unfortunately confirms my worst fears. The original scheme we look for and early completion is going to be put back to what the Chairman said, to sometime in the late part of this decade. But cannot the Urban Council have access to the Town Planning authorities and have prior discussion with them rather than waiting until these are published when we only have, I think, two or three months to raise objections? Surely our objectives are somewhat similar to the Town Planning Board to make the most effective use of this wonderful piece of property in the middle of Tsim Sha Tsui.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. Lo (in English): Mr. Chairman, in my reply, I mentioned that it would be premature to lodge any objections, that is any formal objections. I certainly think informal discussions would be extremely useful. Also it should not just simply cover Kowloon Park, it should be the whole of the Tsim Sha Tsui area because we have other parts of the districts in which we are vitally interested.
MR. FORSGATE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, we spent, I recall some years ago when I was on the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee, many hours in discussions and talking with designers on the design of certain parts of the Kowloon Park which now seems to be thrown away. Could I have assurance from the Chairman that these discussions, informal or otherwise, will take place and that we will hang on to as much of our previous designs as we can?
MR. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I should be happy to give that assurance.
MR. FORSGATE (in English): -Mr. Chairman, may I ask the Chairman of the Select Committee whether his Select Committee has agreed to what I regard as a deplorable and unfortunate development of a strip along the edge of the park fronting Nathan Road to be zoned for commercial development, this is a new one on me?
MR. LO (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee have not yet had the opportunity of discussing it. No doubt we shall raise it as early as possible when an opportunity arises.
MR. FORSGATE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I would hope that the Recreation and Amenities Select Committee would object to it because it would, to my view, spoil the view of the park from Nathan Road and alter the character of what we originally envisaged as the Kowloon Park. May I have his assurance that he will endeavour to persuade his Select Committee to so object?
MR. Lo (in English):-I think we should consider the suggested commercial development first before we make up our mind to object. The proposal is not to have high-rise development, but merely limited to one or two storeys. I think we should consider the suggested change on its merits. It may be that after considering the proposed changes we will strongly object to them. But I don't think we should say so at this stage.
MR. FORSGATE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask one final supplementary? In the list of activities, it seems to me there is too much emphasis on passive as opposed to active activities. For example,
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