XN000022-1995-11-15 — Page 34

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Land planned for open storage use in NT

Following is a question by the Hon Miriam Lau and a reply by the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, Mr Bowen Leung, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Will the Government inform this Council:

(a) how much land in the New Territories has been planned for open storage use, of this how much has actually been used as container yards and container truck parking lots;

(b) what measures the Government has put in place to resolve the problem of shortage of parking spaces for container trucks, bearing in mind that according to the sources from the trade, there is a shortage of parking spaces for at least 2,000 container trucks and their tractors; and

(c) what measures does the Government have to ensure that the land which has been planned for open storage use can actually be used as container truck parking lots and container yards, having regard to the fact that the majority of such land is privately- owned?

Answer:

Mr President,

(a) About 330 hectares of land have been zoned either 'Open Storage' or 'Other Specified Uses (Container Back-up Uses)' on the statutory town plans. About 110 hectares are being used for various types of open storage and workshops, including 4 hectares for container yards and 7 hectares for container truck parking.

(b) There are about 11,000 parking spaces available for container vehicle parking. These include about 2,000 spaces on short term tenancy sites; about 7,000 spaces on open storage sites; and about 2,000 spaces in industrial and commercial private developments.