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Wednesday, November 15, 1972
SPECIAL TEAMS TO TAKE OVER PLANNING OF NEW TOWNS
Special teams are to be set up to take over the planning and
construction of the new towns in the New Territories.
The Director of Public Works, the Hon. J.J. Robson, told Legislative
Council today that these teams would produce comprehensive and detailed
plans for the most appropriate disposition of facilities and for the timing
of the development of the towns.
He said that if the target of housing 1.8 million people in 10
years was to be met, there was an obvious need for comprehensive development plans,
"For it is new towns which must be built at Sha Tin, Tuen Mun and Tsuen Wan/Kwai
Chung, not simply government housing."
He said the Public Works Department must take up the new burden
of accelerated planning and construction of the new towns to provide
all the formed land which will be required, the roads, the utility services
and all the public buildings.
Secondly, he continued, "we must facilitate the contribution
private developers have to make to the housing programme by accelerating
land sales in the New Territories."
The third was "the need to encourage efficiency and reduce costs
in the building industry by fostering mechanisation and increased labour
productivity." Government has, in the past tested the economics of
"system building" and will continue to do so to see how successful it will
be in saving time and money.
/Referring