CO129-566-4 Provision of land for Air Ministry 18-10-1938 - 31-3-1939 — Page 11

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All

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which the land is to be put. If it is desired to use an

area for building which is already leased for agricultural purposes, a further premium must be paid for the conversion

of the land from agricultural to building.

Thus if the Air

Ministry resume building land and pay the cost of such

resumption they are in effect paying the premium and so obtain

full rights, as lessees for a term of years over the land,

subject to the payment of Crown rent. If on the other hand agricultural land is resumed, as for example at Pat Heung,

and it is intended to use it for building purposes, a premium

for conversion from agricultural to building land would

normally be chargeable. This conversion premium is, however,

waived in the case of the Air Ministry.

4. Secondly, the Air Ministry wishes to know the reason for the capitalization of the Crown rent at twenty five years purchase. This arrangement was introduced into the Air Ministry conditions since it is an existing condition in transactions with the military authorities.

It has not been

There

possible to trace the original decision under which such consolidation of Crown rent for twenty five years came into force but it appears to have been taken prior to 1905. would be no objection, should the Air Ministry so desire, to the substitution of annual Crown rent for consolidated Crown

rent in the conditions for the Air Ministry, in which case there would of course be no question of repayment of a proportion on relinquishment. of consolidated Crown rent is equivalent to purchase of the land does not appear to have any foundation in view of the system of land tenure in the Colony and the large sums in premia which are waived by the Colonial Government under the terms applied to Air Ministry transactions.

5.

The contention that the payment

Thirdly, the Air Ministry objects to the condition

....

in the revised relinquishment clause reading "the value to the Colonial Government". I consider however that this is

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