LIST OF SITES.
4
The following 15 sites were proposed by Colonel STORER in 1891 as Milit- ary Reserves. See para. (10.) :- 49. (1) West of Belchers P. F. Cells,
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50. (2) Belcher. Site for inovable armament,, 50. (3) Site for Redoubt, etc., near Belcher,.
52. (4) Beleber-Land east of P. F. Cells,
53.
(5) Surrounding Victoria Battery,
54. (6) Summit of High West,
55. (7) Summit of Mount Gough, 56. (8) Summit of Mount Kellet, 57. (9) Sanitarium Reserve,
58. (10) Sunimit of Mt. Camerou,
59. (11) Summit of Mr. Nicholson,
60. (12) Reserve East of North Point Battery,
61. (13) Land surrounding Kowloon East and Dock Battery,
62. (14) Kowloon. Existing Lines of Defence and ground required for Field Firing & Military Exercises,
63. (15) Kowloon Frontier-Land surround-
ing the proposed forts,
64. Wong-nei-cheong Battery,
NOTES.
Not now required. Colonial
Government land, Not now required. Colonial
Government land. Superseded by Pinewood.
required. Colonial Govern- ment land.
Not
Not required. Colonial Gov-
ernment land.
Never treated as a Reserve, but the land is kept clear. Co- lonial Government land. Considered as lapsed to Colonial
Government.
Do. Do.
Occupied before 1891. Proposed to be rented as a Military Reserve. See para, (9). Considered as lapsed to Colonial
Government.
Do.
Has reverted to Colonial Gov-
ernment. See 34. Was occupied before
1891. See 33, 41, 42, 43. Re- serves existing before 1891. See para. (2). Has lapsed to Colonial Govern-
ment.
War Department, not
yet
valued.
FURTHER DETAILS OF THE METHODS PROPOSED FOR DEALING WITH SOME OF THE SITES.
(1.) The items in the Table against which a price has been inserted are taken from the Table prepared by the Colonial Secretary dated 4th April, 1903; approved by a Conference at the Treasury dated 13th October, 1903; enumerated in Colonial Office letter 15th January, 1004; and not objected to by the Acting Governor in his letter dated 9th March, 1904. These prices are therefore assumed to be correct and final.
(2.) Military Reserves in Kowloon, Nos. in Table 33, 41, 42, 43.-Part of the land is considered to be dealt with in the manner stated in the 1st para., that is to say-
(a.) Gun Club Hill is to be definitely vested in the War Department free
of cost.
The nominal value of $1 per acre which was originally proposed is not considered desirable.
and (b.) the Garden Lots 21, 48, 49, 50 are to pass to the Colony at a value of $135,750 and the Building Area along the King's Park, 30.15 acres, at a value of $319,770.
The difficulty lies in dealing with the land set aside for the King's Park for which the War Department demanded a sum of $493,177.
The solution proposed for this problem is not to charge the value put on the laad so long as it is used as a Park. If any of it is alienated to other
purposes a proportional payment to be made.
5
A charge has consequently been inserted for the new road running North of the Gun Club Hill barracks, This is clearly constructed in the commercial interest of Kowloon-not for recreation.
approx-
The area of this road lying within the land set aside for the Park is imately 5 acres 1 rood 24 poles, and its value at half the rate as the Building Area of 30.15 acres, which is that at which the King's Park area has been valued, is $28,597, which forms a deduction from the total price.
It is observed that the sum set down for the value of the Park, requires to be checked. It is arrived at by the initial assumption that the total area of the Park is 93 acres, but this has never been accurately delineated. When this is done, the total area is to be taken and the value per acre put upon it to be half that on the 30.15 acres of building land. Half the value is taken because half the site is assumed to be Rifle Range, which is dealt with on other terms.
(3.) Stonecutters' Island, Nos, in Table, 24, 41.
This is largely Military land already. The War Department owns six battery and barrack sites and has made all the roads.
The Colonial Government use a portion of the old Prison, which has been partly pulled down, as a Magazine. This is being replaced by another in Green Island.
They had the intention of reconstructing the Prison on this site. If the Island be taken over by the War Department, land will have to be provided for it elsewhere.
The Navy use a Rifle Range along the North shore. This land is Colonial Government property. If the Island be taken over by the War Department the Naval occupation of the Range should not be interfered with, but it should be provided that if the Navy no longer require it, it should revert to the War De- partment.
In consideration of the value of the position and of the cost to the Colony of providing a fresh site for the Prison it is proposed that a price of 1 cent per square foot be debited to the War Department for exclusive rights over the whole Island. The area of the Island exclusive of War Department property is 140 acres and the price therefore is $60,984. The Colouy to have the right to the re-transfer of the 140 acres at the same rate if hereafter surrendered by the War Department,
The old Prison buildings have been estimated as having a value of $30,000 and would be paid for by the War Department at that price.
(4.) Sywan Reserve No. in Table, 45.
For this land the Colonial Authorities ask $542,460 and the War Department offers $143, ie., $1 per acre. It is perfectly certain that the War Department will not pay over £50,000 merely to keep strangers from approaching the Batteries. Even if this were made a paper entry, which would hardly be possible to be done with the whole sum, it would not be an even exchange of values. The War Department already possesses all the Battery and Barrack sites, since the 6-inch gun Battery was built by the Colony and the site was part of the con- tribution.
It
It is not disputed that the War Department has the land as a Reserve. has therefore only to sit still in order to deprive the Colony of all use of it, although at the same time it could not secure the Batteries against intrusion in a satisfactory
manner.
It is now proposed that the land should be rented as a Military Reserve and a fence put up as an encroachment. In this way the War Department would obtain the power to keep off strangers. They would, however, if they wished to purchase any land, have to pay for it at building value. This would probably not lead to any great expenditure in the future as it is hardly possible that the War Depart- ment would ever require any large portion of the total area. The Batteries and the land around them are already War Department property: the land round the new 6-inch gun Battery requires delimiting.
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