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us give it our blessing and support, and hope there will not be too many long-winded sub-committee meetings for us all to attend, in addition to our present quota.
In conclusion, I must repeat what has already been said by you, Mr. Chairman, and many other members of this Council. The Government must be persuaded to allocate adequate funds to enable this Council to carry out the tasks for which it was formed. Our case has been made beyond reasonable doubt and we await with confidence the successful outcome of your negotiations on our financial status, so that we can get on with the job.
I support the motion before Council.
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):- Mr. Chairman, I rise to support the motion before the Council and will start by saying something about the planning and development of recreational facilities. During the past year, we have made further progress. Last spring, the swimming pool complex at Chai Wan was completed and opened to the public. We now have a total of nine swimming pools complexes in the urban area. Our aim is to provide a swimming pool complex for every district of about 250,000 people. In a few years, this ambition may be realized. There are further swimming pool complexes which will be built in the near future, one at Lai Chi Kok and another at Shum Shui Po.
The one at Sham Shui Po was planned a few years ago to be built on the former Shum Shui Po Military Camp, but then came the influx of refugees from Vietnam. The Camp site had to be used for housing the refugees as a matter of emergency. The plans for the swimming pool complex had to be shelved for the time being, but I am happy to say that Government has indicated that the land will be handed over to the Urban Council for development in the near future. The present indication is that it will be before the end of June this year. Shum Shui Po district is woefully short of recreational facilities and the release of the Military Camp area will do something to alleviate the shortage.
Kowloon Park is slowly nearing completion, the main feature outstanding being the swimming pool complex and the active games area. During the past year, the Kowloon Park Aviary was completed. This is a delightful feature of the park. It is situated on a knoll on the highest part of the park. The design of the Aviary is such that the birds can be seen without the interruption of structures. The ground surface within the cages is also lower than the surrounding area, so that the birds can be seen at flight level. Altogether the Aviary is a worthwhile addition to the recreational facilities of the Park.
Queen Elizabeth Stadium was also completed recently. This is more for sport at competitive level with spectators than for ordinary recreational sportsmen. However, there are three squash courts in the building which are for hire by the general public. Squash has increased greatly in popularity in recent years. Whereas not long ago, it was purely an expatriate sport, now it has been taken up enthusiastically by local players. The number of Urban Council squash courts is insufficient and it is up to us to provide more. In some cases, this is being done in conjunction with the construction of indoor games halls. The earlier models of indoor games halls did not include squash courts. Now they are provided. In the Wan Chai Reclamation Recreation Centre, work on which, it is hoped, will commence soon, there will be as many as seven squash courts in addition to an exhibition court with seating for spectators. Two more courts at Victoria Park and three at Kowloon Tsai will be built. Even so, I predict that this will be insufficient to meet the growing demand.
1980 also saw the completion of the Hong Kong Tennis Centre at Wongneichong Gap. This has a total of seventeen courts and is likely to be the biggest tennis facility in Hong Kong within the foreseeable future. The tennis courts are of course floodlit, and therein lies a problem. In order to put in as many courts as possible, they were sited so as to be the minimum distance from each other. The lighting posts for the floodlights are situated in such a way as to cause some inconvenience to players. As a result, the courts are not up to the standard that would be required for top-class professional players. However, these particular courts were not meant for top-class competitive use as we already have an exhibition court with permanent stands at Victoria Park. The ones at Wongneichong Gap can be played on and enjoyed by ordinary players. In fact, you can go past at any time between early morning when they open until they close at night and you will not find many empty courts. It was also feared that the location was somewhat too remote, but this has proved to be no deterrent to tennis players as there is a car park at the courts in addition to many bus routes which go past there.
Football continues to be our most popular active sport. For this game, we have a difficulty concerning the type of surface to be provided. Natural turf, of course, is the best, but pitches turfed in the normal way with local turf are not durable. However, we are conducting an experiment, which if successful, may go a long way towards overcoming this difficulty. Through the generosity of The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, who are paying for the cost, two pitches have been laid down in Happy Valley. These are full-sized football pitches and have been laid by a new method. Sand is used instead of earth. The grass used is not local but has been specially developed and has very long roots and tough shoots. It is perfectly natural, though grown by a different method from the usual. The two pitches are already in use. The state of the ground will be closely monitored. If it is found that they will stand up to hard and prolonged usage, then this will be a big advance in the provision of football pitches.
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