CHAPTER 2
CONSTITUTIONAL
LEGISLATION
12. During the year a number of amendments to the Resettlement Ordinance and Regulations were made. One amendment enabled the competent authority to lease premises as banks or restaurants; such premises were to be let by lease after public tender, in contrast to the old system by which commercial premises were let under Tenancy Card to former squatters. Another amendment provided for the licensing of the occupation of land in so called Class III areas, to be used by industries that required a large open storage area and a comparatively small working area; and also laid down the fees to be charged. The Regulations were also amended to provide for the rents to be charged for self-contained flats that had been converted, as a pilot scheme, from an old resettlement block. (Further details of this conversion are given at paragraph 47). There were also two minor amendments, one of which introduced a nominal $1 a month rent for cottages occupied for non- profit-making charitable or welfare purposes, and the other permitted an addition to the monthly rent of 50 cents for each room in Mark III blocks to which an individual water supply has been connected.
THE URBAN COUNCIL
13. The Urban Council has played a major part in the resettlement programme from its beginnings and before the Resettlement Depart- ment was set up. It is the competent authority for Parts IV and V of the Resettlement Ordinance in respect of the urban area, which means, in effect, that it is responsible for the management of the urban estates and cottage areas. The Council delegates its responsibilities to two Select Committees, the Resettlement Policy Select Committee and the Resettlement Management Select Committee. The membership and terms of reference of these committees during 1969-70 are given at Appendix 2.
14. The Select Committees met 40 times during the year. Members asked 41 questions about resettlement at full Urban Council meetings, and the department received some 460 letters from Councillors on behalf of over 210 members of the public. The joint appeals sub-
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