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other barbecue facilities are situated near public toilets in which there is a supply of fresh water for washing purposes.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):—Mr Chairman, I want to know about the nearby toilets, how near are they to the barbecue pits? Are there any indications?
MR Lo (in English):—Mr Chairman, of course this varies between one barbecue area and another, but the ones we are talking about are those situated near to beaches and where public toilets would be easily visible and are not very far away in each case.
MR B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):—Mr Chairman, I would like also to ask a supplementary. Is the Council aware of the fact that water is not laid on to the barbecue areas as a whole and what is really being done? Has this question been considered because it is essential for water to be laid on?
MR Lo (in English):—As I have said in my reply, Mr Chairman, not that water supply is laid on at the actual barbecue pits, but is laid on in the toilet facilities nearby. As to the question of whether it is essential, I would beg to differ with Mr BERNACCHI. If you take a picnic in an outlying district, you would not expect pipe-water to be laid on, you would bring along your own drinking water and you would take with you either cooked or ready-for-cooking food to the barbecue pits and you would leave your litter, hopefully, in the litter bins and take away the rest.
MR BERNACCHI (in English):—I might make a personal statement. I have a lot of experience of people barbecuing at my own property in Lantao, and they always want water.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese):—I want to ask a supplementary question. Is the water available in the toilets potable and Mr Lo has mentioned that people will bring along their own food cooked, so there is no need for barbecue pits if the food they bring along is already cooked, and potable water brought along can only be drunk by them and cannot be used to put out barbecue fires.
MR Lo (in English):—As to whether the water which comes through the mains water taps, is drinkable, I would not like to give an opinion. We are always told by the Water Authority water coming out from a tap is drinkable, but in any case, I would suggest that you cannot go to a picnic area and expect other people to provide all these facilities, drinking water and so on. I think, in any case, most people would not drink straight from the tap, they would expect to boil the water and drink it. The water available is for washing purpose.
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6 MISS CECILIA L. Y. YEUNG asked the following question (in Cantonese):— It is noted there have been some cases in which Members' decision on applications for the issue of liquor licence is sought. In this connection, the Commissioner of Police has no objections to such applications but the Director of Home Affairs and the residents of the building have objected on various grounds. As applicants have in fact spent a great amount of money on the construction work of the premises as well as payment of advanced rental to the landlords, it has proved to be difficult to make a definite decision on these complicated cases. In view of the above, could consideration be given by the Council to streamlining the licensing procedure in processing such applications for the common good?
MR B. A. BERNACCHI, CHAIRMAN OF THE LIQUOR LICENSING BOARD, replied as follows (in English):—This question concerns the procedure and policy for the issue of liquor licences particularly in respect of a unit in multi-storeyed buildings where the user is mainly domestic. Applications for a liquor licence and a restaurant licence for the same premises are usually submitted to the Council at the same time. Whenever they are received, the Council warns the applicant in writing that he should not start work on the premises before he gets a letter approving his application in principle and informing him of the requirements with which he must comply. If an applicant disregards this warning and spends large sums of money on construction work before his application is processed, he does so entirely at his own risk. For the information of Members, I am tabling a paper which sets out the Council's standard procedure for the issue of liquor licences which covers both club liquor licences and liquor licences issued to restaurants. Members will note that this procedure includes the gazetting of applications within a fixed period. The time required for this is very much less than the time normally required for the issue of a restaurant licence and, provided that applicants do not commence construction work until this period has expired and any objections which may arise have been dealt with, it should not be necessary for them to waste money on the decoration of premises for which a licence is refused at a later stage.
The present licensing procedure as a whole works satisfactorily. However, the Licensing Board is studying the feasibility of issuing some general policy in regard to applicants for issue of a liquor licence both in respect to a club and a restaurant in multi-storeyed buildings where the main user is domestic. Nevertheless I am unable to say at this stage whether the same will be practical, and in the meantime an applicant should obtain a letter approving the application in principle before proceeding with work on the premises.
MISS YEUNG (in Cantonese): —Mr Chairman, Mr Bernacchi has mentioned about decoration work but as far as the landlord is concerned, if there is no tenancy, and the application would take quite some time the landlord is
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