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56. With regard to the King George V Park, Kowloon and the Memorial Park on the old G.C.H. site, mindful of the fact that these grounds were organized as Memorial Parks from funds raised by public subscription prior to 1941 it is our opinion that their restoration is a public duty and should be no longer delayed.
57. We view with considerable dismay the tendency shown during the last four years towards the alienation of former playgrounds for other purposes instances of which can be seen in the case of area B and the Children's Playground at Caroline Hill, and No. 2 Playground in Wantsai. We note with regret that areas O and P King's Park, recreation grounds which were taken for refugee camps prior to 1941 are still unrestored. We would draw attention to Para. 83 in Sir Patrick Abercombie's Preliminary Planning Report for Hong Kong which states:
"In no section of planning work must the short and long term policies be more closely combined than in the provision of open spaces. While a broad scheme for a park system is being considered and pre- pared, there must be no delay in snatching at any small play space or local park that can be preserved from being over-run by the hundred users who in a town are ever ready to grab any vacant plot."
58. Para. 84(1) of the same report further says of small playgrounds:
"Dispersed small playgrounds: these should be proportioned to the population on a target basis of acre per thousand, but in the mean- time, every opportunity for a play space should be seized-even to the extent of demolishing obsolete houses and keeping the site open for a playground. This would incidentally be the beginning of a reduction in site density."
59. We strongly recommend that fullest consideration should be given the above and that in the case of re-entry into unrehabilitated areas in the Colony, the utmost possible regard shall be given to the necessity for provision of recreational space.
60. Further, we are unanimous in recommending that:
"all areas such as the former ✪ and P King's Park, the Ma Tau Chung Camp area and all areas scheduled as reserved for recreation grounds and now being used for other purposes, be restored as early as possible."
61. Our attention was drawn to the extraordinary rapid development in North Point Area where a large housing scheme for workers is envisaged. Our investiga- tions show that so far no space has definitely been reserved for recreation in that area, and we therefore recommend that:
"Should other space not be available, consideration should be given to reserving part, or all, of North Point Camp for recreational purposes when this can be made available”.
62. We are informed that a hard football pitch has recently been allocated to an Aberdeen Youth Organization situated on the new reclamation at Aberdeen.
We would urge that as this reclamation develops so additional land adjacent to this pitch should be reserved for recreational purposes.
63. In conclusion we have considered a small area on Magazine Gap Road which is listed in the First Schedule to Ordinance No. 29 of 1936 as a Children's Playground. This playground is of a very small size and adjacent to a main road bearing very heavy traffic. We are therefore of the opinion that such is the danger to children using the playground that its use as such should be discontinued and that it should be deleted from the Schedule.
IX.
Concluding Remarks.
64. With the exception of Chapter VIII, the substance of this Report is essen- tially as contained in our Second Interim Report on Grass Covered Recreation Grounds dated 14th March 1950. Our recommendations regarding the Hong Kong Football Club have been amplified by paragraphs 15-19. We have added a firm recommendation re- garding the Competent Authority for 'pool' grounds. The Tabular Summary has been moved to Appendix VIII and the paragraphs which refer have been included. same numbering for the original Appendices has been retained for ease of reference.
The
65. We were very fortunate in having assigned to us as Secretary Mr. B. J. B. Morahan, Organizer of Physical Education in the Hong Kong Education Department. He not only ensured with unfailing competence that we were very fully and promptly supplied with all possible relevant information, but himself undertook to make a com- prehensive survey of all existing recreation grounds and clubhouses. We are also deeply indebted to him for the careful assembling of a mass of complicated material, without the benefit of any extra clerical help, and for the major share he took in draft- ing this report from the detailed minutes which he has kept of our discussions and recommendations.
ARTHUR MORSE, Chairman,
B. J. B. MORAHAN, Secretary,
April 24th, 1950.
J. P. FEHILY,
M. S. K. MAUNSELL,
T. R. ROWELL,
J. C. MCDOUALL,
J. E. RICHARDSON,
A. M. RODRIGUES,
A. EI ARCULLI,
M. W. Lo,
KWOK CHAN,
TSE YU CHUEN,
Members,
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