of a much easier and less costly character than that connected with the reclamation.
now in progress. If my calculations are correct, this project, if carried out, will do for the Eastern portion of the Colony all and more than all that the Sanitary Board hoped to be able to accomplish, if their proposals for a Sanitary Trust had met with the approval of the Government.
reclamation
the I propose that
the of the foreshore of district from Arsenal Street to the East Point Refinery should be under- taken and carried out as the expense of the Marine Lot Holders on the saing Tines as those on which the present reclamation is being carried out, and auder a similar, but slightly amended. Ordinance. This reclamation will in- volve the construction of a sea-wall 5.180 feet in length, starting from the Eastern extremity of the proposed exten- sion of the Naval Yard and Arsenal, and continuous with the outer face of such extension, following on an easy curve the line of the Eastern Praya at a distance from it of about 145 feet and terminating at the Western extremity of the East Point Sugar Refinery pre- nises, and in line with its northern face. It is calculated that the seawall will give an average depth of 16 feet at low water spring tides along its entire face. The land to be reclaimed within the new sea-wall will be laid out as follows:--
The present praya will be widened to 65 feet; a strip of building land 120 feet in width, specially designed to take two rows of Chinese houses, four stories in height, not exceerling 60 feet in extreme depth and hav ing 15 feet backyards, will be laid out next to the old praya along the entire length of the reclamation. Outside of that will come a thorough- fare 75 feet wide, beyond that an- other strip of building land 150 feet wide to allow of the construction of godowns, and then the New Praya, 75 feet wide. Ten streets, 50 feet in width, will traverse the reclama- tion from the Old to the New Praya. Plan herewith.
For the purpose of filling in the land to be reclaimed from the sea, the hills on which the Royal Naval Hospital and Morrison Hill houses stand--Inland Lots 84 and 86--will have to be acquired from their owners (acquisitions which can, I believe, be easily obtained on favourable terms hereinafter detailed), and cut down to the level of Queen's Road by the Eastern Market. This cutting down will not only supply all the stone and earth required for the sea-wall and reclamation, but will give the Colony an additional area of level ground of 1,562,100 square feet, or 35.85 acres, and will open out the whole of the Wan- chai district, now shut in on the cast,
to the easterly and south-easterly winds;
a further benefit will be conferred on
the Colony by the leveling of the roads
(2)
leading from the City to the Happy Valley. The plan sent herewith shows clearly the area proposed to to be leveled both north and south of the Queen's Road and also the method in which the new ground is proposed to be laid out. The project includes the widening of the Queen's Road to a breadth of 75 feet from the Eastern Markot to the Race Course and Causeway Bay (an immense benefit in itself) and the piercing of the district by 6 other streets, each 50 feet wide, & running parallel to the Queen's Road and 3 at right angles to it, divid ing the land into blocks of such size and shape that only the approved style of Chinese houses can be built on them.
The land to be dealt with by this
| por- tion of my scheme covers, as already stated, 1,562,100 square feet, or 35.85 acres. Of this, Inland Lot 84, Morrison Hill, the property of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co., includes 790,614 square feet, or 18.85 acres. Inland Lot 86, the property of the Admiralty, covers 203,014 square feet, or 6.95 acres, and the balance 468,472 square feat, or 10.75 acres is still undisposed of, and is the property of the Govern- ment, but is, in its present state, uusaleable.
I believe that I will have no difficulty
in arranging, if authorized to do so, with Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. for the surrendor by them of the whole of their land on condition that they receive back on the same terins, and at the same rent as at present, about 521,800 square feet of building land, or 11.98 acres, out of the improved area.
As to the Royal Naval Hospital ground, the acquisition of this involves rather more difficulty and entails a con- siderable expenditure by the Colonial Government in the first instance--an expenditure, however, to be fully re- couped in the end, without interfering with the estimated profit to the Govern- ment already referred to.
The Naval Authorities want a new and improved hospital with more accom· modution. They would prefer a site more directly accessible from the water, and farther removed from the Chinese quarter of the City. Flagstaff Hill at Kowloon, now the property of the War Department, would afford ample space for a hospital double the size of the present building, withextensivegrounds, the purest air, the freshest breezes at all seasons, and easy accessibility. I estimate that a suitable hospital could be constructed on Flagstaff Hill with every possible convenience for $200,000. This money the Colonial Treasury would have to provide in the first instance. but it could easily be procured locally at 5 per cent. if the Government so wished. As for the ground, the Military have no use for it, and they would gladly exchange it for an equal area more towards the centre of Kowloon. This would entail the resumption of certain lands there which there would be no difficulty in acquiring as the power of
the Crown to resume is clear, and the cost would, I think, not exceed $200,000
if resumption was effected at once.
The total cost of the improvements proposed to be effected is estimated (not including the cost of the new Naval Hospital) at $1,100,000, which is made up as follows:-
For the Pierre Perdu See-wil, including Return and Wing Walls Filling in, including Cotting down, "Leveling
eid Laying out of Morrison Hill and Naval Hospital bil!..
.* 83.650
247,000
441,200
Sewers,
149,000
Curing out Channelling of Streets, Ro. Contingencies 5%..
X2,500 49,500
$1,047,880
Say, $1,100,000.
All these items are worked out at the present high rates of labour and ma terial.
The whole of this will be borne by the existing Marine Lot holders in the Wanchai district, who will receive an augmentation to their holdings of 1,492,080 square fect divided rateably auong them in proportion to their frontages, the Government, in respect of No. 2 Police Station, being number- ed amongst the Marine Lot holders and receiving 71,400 square feet of the above. The cost works out at about
70 cents per square foot of available building land reclaimed.
In addition to the building land added to the Colony by the reclamna- tion, which is calculated to afford accommodation for 1,331 four-storied houses, there will, by the cutting down of Morrison and Naval Hospital Hills and the hills adjoining on the south, as shown in the plan, be added to the available building land in the Colony, leveled and ready for building 994,700 square feet, or 22.83 acres, affording accommodation for 1,082 three storied houses. Of this, 521,000 square feet, or 11.98 ueras, will go to Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co, in compensa- tion for the land surrendered by them; 472,900 square feet, or 10.85 acres, will be landed over to the Government free of all cost.
The Colony will, in addition to the building land thus added to its re- sources have acquired, if the scheme is carried out, new streets, &c. covering an area of 1,740,600 square feet, or 39.95 acres, of which two-thirds, or 26.93 acres, will be hucluded in the reclamation.
The value of the land thus placed at the disposal of the Government is estimated at $1,137,050, namely:--
Front Lot opposite No.
Police Station
Back Lot opposite No. 2
Police Station
Begal Naval Hill Lot,
$0., &c.
..
23,500 69. ft. (@82,00=$ 76,590
45,000
..472,000 @ 2.00 915,800
Total Value, .. 81,187,000
€2.50 114,750
From which most be deducted cost
25
of New Royal Naval Hospital $ 200,000 New Site for Military
Compensation to Leaseholdem for
Resumption
200,000
..
100,000
500.000
$687,050
Balance in favour of Government
The Annual Crown Rents for the
( 3 )
New Building areas are estimated as follows:-
Praya East .54.35 Acres @ 3500 per Acre=$27,400 Royal Naval 01.10.86 @ 600
1
-6,0101
$39.910
The annual rateable value of the houses when built is estimated at $1,158,240, and is made up as fol- lows:--
2,413 Houses at $40 per Honse-a Gross
Annual Beatal of $1,198,940 @ 13 % $159,571
The Government would, therefore, not only have ground to dispose of, of the value of $837,000, but would have an annual revenue of $184,481, which, capitalized at 5%, would amount to $3,689,620.
I respectfully submit this scheme for the approval of the Government and of the Secretary of State.
The pro- posals have been carefully thought out, and the calculations are fairly accurate. Our experience with the Praya Re- clamation Scheme wow in process of execution, enables me to judge with certainty as to the character of the work to be done, the cost to be incur- red and the time to be taken, and also as to the benefits to the Colony from the works proposed.
The Wanchai district will be laid open to ventilation and improvement in a way in which it could not possibly be dealt with before. The removal of the two hills to the Eastward will add immensely to the area of the district, and to the easy accessibility of the dis- tricts to the east of it. The reclama- tion will add further to its area. The proposed new roads and praya will facilitate the erection of healthful buildings and the improved sanitation of the neighbourhood. The erection of all new houses will be brought under Their the strictest sanitary rules. number and character will compel landlords to improve and rebuild in the This area now under occupation. immense addition will be made to the area of the district, and to the inenmo to be derived from it by the Colony at a minimum of expense, and with a minimna of disturbance of existing interests.
But-and I beg most respectfully to call attention to it-if the benefits in- dicated are to be derived from this project, it must be proceeded with at
It once, and vigorously. must be finished within five years, and with proper measures it can be done easily in that time.
It is a much simpler undertaking than the Western Re- clamation, but if it is to draw the population from the central part of the City, and ease the pressure of popula- tion there, it must be accompanied by some intelligent scheme of tramway communication between the heart and the extremities of the City, which will be cheap and attractive.
or
Of all things speed is the most im- portant, otherwise, the steady increase in the population of the Colony will overtake the provision to be mado for their accommodation.
214
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.