TNAG-0542-FCO40-637-Strength-of-garrison-in-Hong-Kong-1975 — Page 49

LAND HOLDINGS

1.

SECRET

UNCLASSIFIED.

SECRET UK EYES A

HONG KONG: BRIEFING FOR MINISTER OF STATE

We hold over 2,500 acres of land for the use of the 3 Services as follows:

Navy

67 acres

Army

2,377 acres (includes 514 acres of training areas and ranges)

RAF

139 acres

2,583 acres

302

02)

In addition the Army leases a further 53 acres of which 32 acres are training areas.

LAND TENURE

2. Most of our land holdings are made available by the Hong Kong Government by

Memoranda of Appropriation under which land is provided free; we hand back without

charge any land ceasing to be required for defence purposes. Land required short-

term is made available by temporary occupation licences. In the event of the.

Hong Kong Government requiring land for a public purpose, it makes an alternative site available and reprovides Service buildings/installations at its own expense.

3. From time to time public interest has focussed on the release of land

occupied by the Services. In this connection CBF, in a speech made to the

Rotary Club in Hong Kong on 27 May, which was published in the following day's edition of the South China Morning Post, referred to the handover of 6 camps to

the Hong Kong Government and to the fact that the release of the land for the

benefit of the community would be welcomed. The camps concerned were part of

Lyemun, Shouson Hill, Chatham Road, Sai Kung, Shamshuipo and Argyle Street. It

may have been this speech which prompted Mr Stanley Newens MP to ask, on

25 June 1975, about the terms on which the 6 sites were to be handed back. He

was told that they were all on land made available and would be handed back to

the Hong Kong Government when no longer required and that the matter of handover

of the sites was currently under discussion, with the exception of Shouson Hill

which was transferred on 30 June 1975. The handover of Lyemun is complicated

by the fact that the area was occupied and tunnelled by the Japanese and, in the

absence of records covering the occupation period and pre-war, there is the

problem of ensuring that the land is clear of explosive devices.

The ability to

4. Works services will be required at Gun Club and Osborn Barracks to allow

the releases at Shamshuipo, Argyle Street and Chatham Road.

include these works within the running time of the next defence agreement will

depend on the finance available from the defence contribution.

SECRET UK EYES A-

SECRET

ulc