CO129-608-7 Future policy- Report on Port Administration by Sir David Owen 24-2-1941 - 24-2-1941 — Page 101

XI.

At Tsun Wan a reclamation could be formed if suitable material can be found in the neighbourhood. Just prior to the outbreak of hostilities borings of the surrounding hills proved disappointing and indicated the presence of large quantities of rock. Further investigations must be carried out before a definite decision can be made as to the most economical sea wall line for this proposal.

XII.

The reclamation at Ngau Tau Kok would, of course, be filled in due course by town's refuse as an extension of the Kun Tong Scheme unless in the meantime an urgent need for land in that locality arose when steps could be taken to obtain the necessary filling material from other sources in the neighbourhood and so expedite completion.

XIII.

The removal of the railway station from Tsim Sha Tsui has already been touched upon. One suggestion is to construct a new station North and Fast of Holt's Wharf. If this be done the railway reclamation along Chatham Road must remain reserved wholly for railway purposes. Another proposal is to construct the new K.C.R. Terminus in the Whitfield Barracks area fronting on Nathan Road.

This idea has the advantage that all smoke, dirt and noise of railway operation with the exception of that due to a link to Holt's Wharf which cannot be dispensed with, is removed from the Chatham Road reclamation which could then be laid out as an attractive garden. With regard to the smoke and noise nuisance, it is useless to point out that the owers of the apartment blocks fronting on Chatham Road have no legal grounds for complaint. Government would appear to be partly to blame in permitting this class of development to have taken place on Chatham Road without fully considering the effects of the direction of the prevailing winds which blow for about 75% of each year in the sector N.E. through E. to S.E. and which are bound to aggravate any smoke nuisance set up immediately East of Chatham Road. When considering the social amenities of the neighbourhood, it would now seen imperative to grasp the possibility of eliminating what has undoubtedly came to be considered a nuisance.

XIV.

The proposal to construct a second vehicles ferry was made to Sir David at the time when investigations into a cross harbour sub-aqueous tunnel were in hand. Although Sir David knew of this proposal the investigations had not advanced sufficiently far to permit of his incorporating any reference to the proposal in his report. It is likely that the existing vehicles ferry, once it is reconditioned and put in operation again, will serve the needs of the traffic for some 5 10 years but the cross harbour traffic proposal should meantime be exhaustively examined and careful studies made not only of a sub-aqueous tunnel but of an alternative high level bridge.

XV.

It is obvious that the K.C.R. and the interests of the Port are closely linked together. The Railway cannot function without the Port and suitable rail connections are necessary to the various harbour undertakings in Kowloon and will become much more important in the future. It becomes essential therefore that no scheme of harbour development on the mainland be approved without due considera- tion being given to its railway connections. In the course of time it may be desirable to combine the control of both the Harbour and the Railway which, it seems, is destined to become more and more a feeder for the Harbour.