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Lo's committee would tighten up and make sure that the staff are actually filling in the vacancy wherever possible and not just saying you must book three months' ahead and if there is vacancy, they still do not give it because it must be three months' ahead. I hope they will fill in the vacancy regardless whether it is one week, three weeks or three months.
MR. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, as I have said in my reply, members of the public booking for casual play can do so on a monthly basis and any vacancy can be used on-spot bookings first-come-first-served, but we will certainly keep the staff under surveillance and make sure that the allocation is made as early as possible.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, the particular complaint I had is from district board and Police and I would be glad if some provision could be made without wasting any time.
MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the complaint that Mrs. ELLIOTT made concerning booking by Police, I believe it was for non-designated use and on that there are certain guidelines involved whereby we do not allow too much use for non-designated use which is for non-soccer play.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, I am sorry to prolong this, but Mr. Lo has the wrong information. It was a soccer match between the District Board and the Police. The information you just gave was also given to me, but it was wrong information. This is just for clarification.
MR. LO (in English):-I do not have any information regarding that particular.
CHAIRMAN (in English):-In any case, you will be looking into it as you are requested.
MR. Lo (in English):—Yes.
3.
MRS. E. ELLIOTT asked the following question (in English):-It appears that electricity is being wasted on floodlighting on some Urban Council playgrounds pitches that are never used at night (e.g. two adjacent games pitches outside the Lok Wah Estate in Ngau Tau Kok, and the Playground on Science Museum Road, to mention only two), Could an investigation be made to see which floodlit playgrounds are not used at night with a view to saving a large amount of public money apparently being wasted?
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo, CHAIRMAN OF THE RECREATION SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-This question asks whether an investigation could be made to see which floodlit playgrounds and pitches are not used at night, with a view to saving public money by not continuing to light them.
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At the open meeting in December last year, I outlined the general background on and off of floodlights at parks and playgrounds and said, and to the turning I quote
'...where practical, floodlighting is only used when the grounds are in use, but common sense has to guide the judgement of the staff in charge when adjacent facilities would be affected by the premature turning off of the lights.'
Nothing has changed in this regard but Mrs. ELLIOTT has raised the very valid point that it is wasteful to provide an expensive service if it is not used at all.
So perhaps, I should amplify what I said in December. While the Department monitors those floodlit facilities where no charge for use is made the outdoor mini-soccer and basketball courts, for example (it is to those that I think Mrs. ELLIOTT mainly refers)—this monitoring is not continuous.
We do not employ staff at all venues at all times, and cannot therefore turn lights on and off each time someone turns up to play. That would cost us more than the electricity we consume and constant turning on and off in any case reduces the life of the quite expensive light fittings. But it is clear that where there is little or no demand, or where demand tails off after a certain hour then, other things being equal, we should turn off the floodlights.
Having said that, there are at a number of locations no separate park lights and if the floodlights are turned off only nearby street lamps are available. We have been accused in the past of facilitating crime by the provision of unlit play areas; underutilization later at night is perhaps a small price to pay for better security.
I have been assured that most floodlit playgrounds are well-patronized until quite late, but nevertheless, I have asked the Department to look into the question afresh.
MRS. ELLIOTT (in English):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. Lo has mentioned the common sense judgement. I wonder if Mr. Lo could inquire why in the case of Science Museum Road, the floodlights are left on after the gates are locked. And in the case of Kung Lok Road where I live, right outside my office, those floodlights are far away from housing and they left on all night and no one ever uses the grounds. So I wonder if this can be looked into.
MR. Lo (in English):--I will certainly look into these particular matters.
MR. L. H. KWAN asked the following question (in English):—On 23 July 1983, a girl of two, after swimming at Chung Hom Kok Beach, went with her
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