Reply:
89
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Mr President,
(a)
(b)
lots in the New Territories can be classified into two broad categories, narnely old schedule lots (i.e. those held under Block Crown Leases) and new grant lots (i.e. those other than old schedule lots).
Old schedule lots were covered by a survey the Government undertook between 1899 and 1903 in respect of all privately-owned land holdings in the New Territories. Following the survey, the land was granted by means of Block Crown Leases. Within each Block Crown Lease, the land was further subdivided into lots, classified mainly as "building" or "agricultural" land according to the then current use.
New grant lots are simply land that was granted after the above survey. They can be subdivided into pre-war new grant lots and post-war new grant lots;
as explained in (a) above, the categorisation of land arose out of historical reasons. The permissible land use of a lot in each category is governed by the relevant lease conditions as well as statutory plans prepared under the Town Planning Ordinance.
Developments on old schedule lots are subject to covenants contained in Block Crown Leases. These covenants prohibit building without the prior approval of the Land Authority. Developments on pre-war new grant lots are subject to the conditions contained in the General and Special Conditions of Sale of Land in the New Territories prevailing at the time when the lots were disposed of Developments on post-war new grant lots are, as a general rule, subject to a set of general and special conditions which have been drawn up for each grant.
As regards statutory planning control over land use, the statutory plans are prepared on the basis of findings from various strategic and district planning studies and are revised from time to time to cater for changing needs and circumstances; and