TNAG-0502-FCO40-567-Petitions-for-reinstatement-of-Crown-land-permits-in-Hong-Ko-1974 — Page 25

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assume that it was built after permission was given to commence quarry operations.

The very nature of the permit is that it affords only a temporary tenure, and as stated in para. 5 of my despatch of 10th April, 1974, Mr. Law knew at the time at which the permit was issued that it could be cancelled at 3 months' notice.

(c) In the final paragraph of his petition, Mr. Law

refers to two quarries, namely the "Tai Hing" quarry at Fo Tan, Sha Tin and the "Hong Kong Quarry" at Tai Wo Ping which he said were allowed to continue operating. As regards the Tai Hing Quarry, other than the Turret Hill Quarry, being used in connection with the Plover Cove Water Scheme, there were no quarries in the Sha Tin, Tai Po and Fan Ling areas to supply aggregate to these areas. The Tai Hing Quarry only operated on a small scale and was restricted in the amount of blasting that could take place at any one time. In order to allow a limited supply of stone to be available in this area, it was agreed that this quarry could continue for about 2 years, when the Turret Hill Quarry would become a Contract/ Government Quarry. As a result, the Crown Land Permit was renewed for 1971. By early 1972, the last year of operation, the permittee was having problems with maintaining the quarry face in a safe condition and the permit was only renewed on a month to month basis to ensure that the face was made safe. In addition, consideration was being given to the adjoining area being used for one of the borrow areas for the development of the Sha Tin Race Course. The quarry was finally closed by the end of October, 1972. In respect of the "Hong Kong Quarry" site at Tai Wo Ping which is within the urban area, there are three Crown Land Permits involved, namely:

(1) S4841

This is the permit for the stone quarry face issued to Hong Kong Quarry Co. in April, 1959, on a quarterly basis and was subsequently converted to annual basis in 1962.

The permittee was informed on 29.7.69 that the land was required by Government and the permit would be cancelled in three months' time. This permit was however renewed up to 28.7.70 but because of the construction of an access road to the New Approach Surveillance Radar Station at Beacon Hill, the permittee was forced to stop blasting and the permit was cancelled with effect from 13.12.69.

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