WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 1978
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INDUSTRIAL LAND SALE CONDITIONS REVIEWED
TO MEET PRESENT DAY NEEDS ******
THE GOVERNMENT IS CONSIDERING SELLING INDUSTRIAL LAND WITH CONDITIONS TO MEET ALL THE NEEDS OF PRESENT DAY INDUSTRY THE SECRETARY FOR THE ENVIRONMENT, THE HON. DEREK JONES, TOLD THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL TODAY.
SPEAKING AT THE ANNUAL POLICY DEBATE, MR. JONES SAID THERE SEEMED TO BE AN INCREASING DEMAND FOR GROUND FLOOR SPACE AND FOR FLOOR LOADINGS AND CEILING HEIGHTS TO ACCOMMODATE HEAVIER MACHINERY.
+WE ARE THEREFORE CONSIDER ING, AS AN EXPERIMENT, SELLING SOME INDUSTRIAL LAND WITH CONDITIONS REQUIRING THE LOWER FLOORS TO BE BUILT WITH SPECIALLY HEAVY LOADING AND HIGHER CEILINGS,+ MR. JONES SAID.
SIMILARLY, HE SAID, THE SALE OF SOME LOTS WITH A REQUIREMENT TO PROVIDE SMALL FACTORY UNITS, WHICH WOULD HELP MEET THE PROBLEMS OF SMALL SCALE OPERATORS IS ALSO BEING CONSIDERED.
+IN THE CONTEXT OF OUR LAND PRODUCTION PROGRAMME,+ MR. JONES EMPHASISED, I AM PARTICULARLY CONCERNED NOT ONLY THAT SUFFICIENT LAND SHOULD BE MADE AVAILABLE TO INDUSTRY BUT THAT IT SHOULD BE SOLD IN WAYS THAT MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF OUR INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT.+
MR. JONES ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAD BEEN GIVING CONSIDERABLE THOUGHT TO THE SUBJECT OF INCREASING THE SUPPLY OF USABLE LAND FOR HONG KONG'S FUTURE URBAN AND INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS.
THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON LAND PRODUCTION HAS CARRIED OUT A VERY USEFUL STOCKTAKING OF WHAT ALL OUR CURRENTLY PLANNED PROJECTS ADD UP TO IN TERMS OF THE SIZE AND TIMING OF LAND PRODUCTION FOR VAR IOUS PURPOSES, HE SAID, AND, THE COMMITTEE HAS INAUGURATED STUDIES INTO POSSIBLE NEW DEVELOPMENTS STRETCHING WELL INTO THE EIGHTIES.
THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON DIVERSIFICATION IS ALSO, AS PART OF ITS WIDE RANGING ACTIVITIES, STUDYING IN DEPTH THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LAND POLICY AND ADMINISTRATION AND THE EXPANSION AND DIVERSIFICATION OF OUR ECONOMY, HE ADDED.
+PROGRESS IS BEING MADE AND I WOULD HOPE THAT SOME HELPFUL RECOMMENDATIONS, WHICH CAN BE ACTED UPON, WILL EMERGE IN THE COURSE OF 1979, HE SAID.
MR. JONES SAID THAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO STRENGTHEN THE STRATEGIC PLANNING CAPACITY OF THE LANDS DIVISION OF THE ENVIRONMENT BRANCH TO ASSIST IN MAKING THE EARLY DECISIONS WHICH ARE VITAL TO ENSURE A CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT OF LAND SUPPLIES.
MR. JONES