TNAG-0614-FCO40-762-Visit-by-delegation-from-Heung-Yee-Kuk-(Rural-Consultive-Cou-1977 — Page 17

10.

Within existing villages, existing village houses should be permitted

to be enlarged to the full extent of 700 square feet of covered area, 3 storeys

and 25 feet in height without any restrain except for reasons of safety and health.

TO REDRESS GRIEVANCES ON THE COMPULSORY ACQUISITION OF LAND

II.

The Government has drawn up Outline Development Plans which are

applicable throughout the New Territories. These Plans are not published and

have not been prodiced under the authority of any Ordinance. They have,

nevertheless, very wide repercussions on land values and land use. Although the

intention of these Plans is to regulate the orderly development of the New

Territories, the Heung Yee Kuk has never been consulted in relation to the se

Plans.

2.

These Plans affect landowners and occupiers whose land falls within

them in various ways:-

3.

(i) Where the use designated in the Plan is for "Urban Development

Area" the development potential of such land is, in effect,

extinguished. There is an "unofficial" ban on development

(unofficial in the sense that the ban has not received any legal

sanction) and only minor repairs and renovations of existing

structures will be allowed. The land is, in effect, "frozen"

sometimes for very many years and the owner has no compensation

for the deprivation of the development potential.

(ii) The landowner or occupiers of structures within an "Urban

Development Area" which are damaged or destroyed by natural

disaster or otherwise are not usually permitted to repair or

rebuild such structures.

(iii) When the land is resumed by the Government many years later, the

landowner is only compensated on the basis of "agricultural land".

The hardship of small landowners in the New Territories, whose land

has been "frozen" in its development potential, is particularly severe considering

the following:-

(i) The restriction to agricultural use makes the land worth very

little in value. When, however, the land falls within an Urban

Development Area this would normally mean that the area would get

.6.