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C.S. 166
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the removal of the villages is the key to development of a much wider area, and any delay may be crucial to both the new town and also the housing programmes. On the face of it, the quickest way to acquire the land and extinguish private rights would be by resumption, but it has been accepted as a fundamental principle deriving from the Peking Convention that there should be no "expropriation or compulsion" of the local inhabitants. Accordingly village removals are achieved by negotiation. The Secretary for the New Territories believes that the resort to resumption procedure in support of negotiations (except perhaps in the case of individuals who will not accept terms which have been accepted generally) would be seen as a breach of faith, which could well give rise to prolonged resistance to clearance.
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The New Territories Administration has also examined other approaches to the removal of old villages in the new towns, including the possibility of building blocks in the pattern of those built for reservoir clearances. However the financial inducements and allocation of flats and shops in reservoir clearances has reached limits which it would be simply impossible to repeat on the scale required for village clearance in new towns; additionally there is evidence that any attempt to clear the villages in new towns into multi-storey apartments would provoke strong resistance and consequent delays in the new town development programmes.
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For these reasons, the Secretary for the New Territories advises that village clearances should continue by negotiation and on substantially the same terms set out in the Annex. He advises, however, that because of the differing circumstances in each area, often caused by the differing degrees of planning control imposed since the war on village building in the different development areas, variations will be necessary from time to time. One such variation is necessary to meet a problem which has now arisen in Tsuen Wan District.
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In Tsuen Wan District, and in particular on Tsing Yi Island, there is a number of post-war houses on post-war village house lots. The houses are recently built, substantial two and three storey struc- tures with a ground area of 600 to 700 square feet. The villagers have spent considerable sums of money on building them and are understandably reluctant to accept an exchange which offers no more than is given for a much smaller old village house on a smaller lot. Some recognition of the greater value of the asset surrendered is considered justified. To try to allow for this by varying the size of the exchange houses would mean a considerable additional design commitment for the Architectural Office and the provision of additional land which would be difficult to
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