TNAG-1036-FCO40-1286-Future-of-Hong-Kong-1981 — Page 137

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3.

6.

Mr Li went on to say that he thought the development at Tin Shui Wai was beneficial to the development of Hong Kong as a whole. He hoped the Government would give its approval as soon as possible. The PA said that the Government had received the preliminary proposals of the developers. They were not in principle against development by private agencies. Previous plans had not taken account of the possibility of large-scale development in that area of the New Territories and planning for roads, etc. was therefore inadequate for the population envisaged. This did not mean that such a

development could not be approved but it was a matter which needed to be studied with care. The Government would of course consider the proposals as quickly as possible.

7.

The PA finished by saying that although he had noted Mr Li's point about the time not being ripe to discuss larger questions, he was also aware that the planned project was over a long time-scale. There were inevitably real questions which would have to be faced about the views of potential buyers when various stages of the development had been completed. This related to the question of confidence in rights to own property and the length of leases. It was not necessarily the same as the major question of Hong Kong's future. Perhaps this was a problem for the developers rather than him since it would affect the sale price of developed property. But it was a real problem nevertheless.

Political Adviser's Office, 15 January, 1981.

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