TNAG-1363-FCO40-1809-Hong-Kong-Hansard-reports-and-minutes-of-the-meetings-of-the-1985 — Page 287

Question No. 8

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Speech by the Hon. CHAN Nai-keong, CBE, JP, Secretary for Lands and Works, to question by the Hon. YEUNG Po-kwan, CPM, at Legislative Council on 12 June, 1985

Question:

Could Government inform this Council what plans it has for industrial development at On Lok Tsuen in Fanling?

Sir,

The intention is that On Lok Tsuen should be developed as a light industrial area providing scope for industrial investment and employment as part of the development of Fanling New Town.

A layout plan has been prepared for the area to produce 15 hectares of industrial land which, if developed to its full potential, could provide jobs for up to 30,000

people.

The land within the layout is largely in private hands and has been converted over the years from agricultural

to temporary industrial use under short term waivers. A survey in 1983 indicated that about 130 undertakings were then operating and employing between one and two thousand

people.

Implementation of the layout therefore involves

upgrading by converting the temporary to the permanent

through lease modifications and land exchanges with Government resuming some land to provide the necessary roads and drainage

to serve the area.

Present arrangements provide developers with flexibility to develop to a plot ratio of between 2 and 5 and a building covenant period of 48 months. Progress is,

however, slow because of the current state of the industrial

land market. The few Crown land sites which exist in the area

should begin to come onto the market next year.