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Guidelines on scope of change of land use
Following is a question by the Hon Chim Pui-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
With regard to the criteria adopted by the Government in handling 'change of land use' and 'premium assessment' cases, will the Government inform this Council:
Reply:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Mr President,
(a)
whether there is a comprehensive set of guidelines governing the scope of change of land use; if so, what the details are; if not, why not;
whether there are certain standards laid down for assessing the amount of premium; if not, why not; and
whether consideration has been given to formulating a comprehensive set of regulations for processing cases concerning change of land use and premium assessment?
Change of land use is governed by either statutory or administrative procedures. If the site applying for change of use is covered by a statutory town plan, planning permission from the Town Planning Board or an amendment to the plan is required unless the proposed change of land use is permitted under the plan. Such application is processed in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Town Planning Ordinance. If the site falls outside the area of a statutory town plan, an amendment to the relevant departmental plan is required. There are established administrative procedures for processing such applications, and approval is considered by inter-departmental committees;