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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Soccer has traditionally been one of the—if not the—most popular of all team games in Hong Kong. In connection with many other sporting facilities scales of provision have been set down in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. I will not go into the fine detail of these as regards soccer pitches, though this information is being tabled before Members today.
But I will say that, on a District basis
Kowloon City (in which Ko Shan Road is situated)
- is short of fifteen 5-a-side soccer pitches
- is short of two 7-a-side (mini) soccer pitches
- but has a surplus of one full-sized pitch.
Kwun Tong, on the other hand,
- has 21 too few 5-a-side pitches
- has 2 too many 7-a-side pitches; and
- has 5 too few full-sized pitches.
So between them the two Districts have a fairly serious overall shortage of soccer facilities.
That's the position as far as theoretical need is concerned. Of more practical value is the usage made of what soccer facilities there are. I will talk in general terms though detailed usage rates are, again, tabled for Members' information.
On average, Urban Council soccer pitches are in use for some 50% of their opening hours every day of the year, mostly concentrating on the peak hours. Remembering that people have jobs and schools to go to, and that teams have to be organized to play, that is a healthy usage rate by any standard.
Because there is a demand beyond present supply—exacerbated at peak hours—we have to have an organized booking system. And because there are competing demands we need a system of allocation of booking. And this system must be scrupulously fair to all concerned. That makes it, I'm afraid, complicated.
In brief, the District Recreation and Sport Office, the Entertainment and Sports Promotion Sections of the Department and governing bodies are given priority over bookings of soccer pitches. They are allowed to book pitches up to three months in advance to aid planning for tournaments, matches, and other sports functions.
Applications for non-designated use of soccer pitches—such as school games days—are normally processed two months before the dates of the actual events because the Urban Services Department has to consult other government departments on each application.
Members of the public can book soccer pitches in advance on a monthly basis. The allocation is by ballot.
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Any vacant sessions not allocated through these procedures, together with any allocated but cancelled bookings, are available to members of the public for on-the-spot bookings on a first-come-first-served basis.
Staff in charge of the booking office are fully conversant with the booking procedures. They are, as I have said, not straightforward; but they are needed, and they work.
Extract from Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines
APPENDIX I
Existing Requirement Existing Provision Standards of Provision Facility Kowloon City Kwun Tong Kowloon City Kwun Tong Football Pitch (within stadium) 1:200,000 Football Pitch (other) 2 4 250,000 1:100,000 6 5 1:30,000 1:30,000 15 21 13 23 15 21 grass artificial turf) *-a-side Soccer 5-a-side Soccer 55APPENDIX II
Usage Rate of Some Popular Mini-Soccer Pitches at U.C. Venues (in percentage) Month Kowloon City Kwun Tong Ko Shan Road Ma Tau Wai Road Tai Wan Shan Kwun Tong Hong Ning Road R.G. R.G. Lower N.T.K. Linh Tin S.R. (1) (2) (1) (2) (3) (4) (1) Sept. 83 11 70 65 65 58 48 44 45 58 47 Oct. 16 58 68 66 52 50 47 45 40 44 Nov. 28 63 71 57 51 45 46 40 50 43 Dec. 11 61 Jan. 84 68* 65 60 64 61 45 44 40 39 46 39 51 39 46 39 * U.C. function — Closed for repairs {) Pitch No.MRS. ELLIOTT (in English): Mr. Chairman, it seems that 50% usage is very low considering the great demand and shortage of soccer pitches. I wonder if Mr.
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