Page 109 of 139
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MOTIONS.
MR. A. DE O. SALES moved :-
"That this Council request Government to maintain King's Park, where it is not used for the new Kowloon Hospital and not at present occupied by private clubs, as a public park under the responsibility of this Council.”
He said: intent.
The text of my motion is crystal clear as to its intent.
The rapid development of Kowloon in the postwar period has caused some areas to be used for purposes for which they were perhaps not intended. King's Park appears to fall into this category.
No doubt the great need for a modern hospital able to meet even in part the ever growing requirements of Kowloon is a strong argument for setting aside land in King's Park for its construction there.
All will agree, it may be safe to say, that the land is being put to good use for this project and so none will join issue on its alienation. At the same time, no one, much less Members of this Council, should lose sight of the fact that there is an increasingly serious shortage of open spaces in the urban area and so everyone with the public interest at heart will regret any further encroachment on such green areas as still remain for the use of the public at large.
Moreover, there are already many grounds allocated to private clubs. Therefore, few who can afford the membership of a club can claim that no recreational facilities are available to them. Consequently, it behoves us to improve the conditions for the leisure and recreation of the overwhelming majority of the population not within the scope of these private allocations.
To this end, I put to this Council today the proposal that we request Government to preserve what remains of King's Park as an open area for public use.
To be sure, if given authority, the Council will develop that area as a park in fact just as it is now largely one in name only.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Perhaps I should recall here that the Advisory Committee on Recreation Grounds drew attention in 1950 to the opinion advanced by Sir Patrick Abercrombie that it is of great importance to develop more open spaces without delay and also to preserve any existing small play space or local park "from being over-run by the hundred users who in a town are ever ready to grab any vacant plot".
In a Council so eminently composed I need not, for sure, labour the point.
So, Mr. Chairman, I propose the first motion which appears in my name in today's agenda.
MR. FUNG PING FAN seconded.
He said: In rising to second the motion that has just been proposed by my colleague Mr. A. de O. Sales, I would like to say that I am in full concurrence with his remarks which I am sure must also receive the wholehearted support of all members of this Council, as none can deny that this Colony is urgently in need of more parks and playing fields for the ever increasing population. Every available foot of land is being snapped up by builders to erect houses of one sort or another, and what is not so taken up is usually reserved for some purpose or other but never for the enjoyment of the general public.
I have always urged that Government provide more parks and playgrounds for the public, and I am therefore glad to see that this desire is so happily shared by my colleague the proposer of the present motion, as I have no doubt also by the other members of this Council. I therefore have much pleasure in giving this motion my wholehearted support, and would earnestly urge that Government give it the favourable consideration it so well deserves.
CHAIRMAN :—I support this motion because I appreciate the need for a park in this area but I am afraid at this stage that I am not optimistic about the outcome. Apart from the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as members will be aware from a press statement of December 11th, the area is to contain a new hospital for the Army, in order to permit the release of the La Salle College premises. There will therefore be little land left for a public park.
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Page 109 of 139
198
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MOTIONS.
MR. A. DE O. SALES moved :-
"That this Council request Government to maintain King's Park, where it is not used for the new Kowloon Hospital and not at present occupied by private clubs, as a public park under the responsibility of this Council.”
He said: intent.
The text of my motion is crystal clear as to its
The rapid development of Kowloon in the postwar period has caused some areas to be used for purposes for which they were perhaps not intended. King's Park appears to fall into this category.
No doubt the great need for a modern hospital able to meet even in part the ever growing requirements of Kowloon is a strong argument for setting aside land in King's Park for its construction there.
All will agree, it may be safe to say, that the land is being put to good use for this project and so none will join issue on its alienation. At the same time, no one, much less Members of this Council, should lose sight of the fact that there is an increasingly serious shortage of open spaces in the urban area and so everyone with the public interest at heart will regret any further encroach- ment on such green areas as still remain for the use of the public at large.
Moreover, there are already many grounds allocated to private clubs. Therefore, few who can afford the membership of a club can claim that no recreational facilities are available to them. Con- sequently, it behoves us to improve the conditions for the leisure and recreation of the overwhelming majority of the population not within the scope of these private allocations.
To this end, I put to this Council today the proposal that we request Government to preserve what remains of King's Park as an open area for public use.
To be sure, if given authority, the Council will develop that area as a park in fact just as it is now largely one in name only.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
199
Perhaps I should recall here that the Advisory Committee on Recreation Grounds drew attention in 1950 to the opinion advanced by Sir Patrick Abercrombie that it is of great importance to develop more open spaces without delay and also to preserve any existing small play space or local park "from being over-run by the hundred users who in a town are ever ready to grab any vacant plot".
In a Council so eminently composed I need not, for sure, labour the point.
So, Mr. Chairman, I propose the first motion which appears in my name in today's agenda.
MR. FUNG PING FAN seconded.
He said: In rising to second the motion that has just been proposed by my colleague Mr. A. de O. Sales, I would like to say that I am in full concurrence with his remarks which I am sure must also receive the wholehearted support of all members of this Council, as none can deny that this Colony is urgently in need of more parks and playing fields for the ever increasing population. Every available foot of land is being snapped up by builders to erect houses of one sort or another, and what is not so taken up is usually reserved for some purpose or other but never for the enjoy- ment of the general public.
I have always urged that Government provide more parks and playgrounds for the public, and I am therefore glad to see that this desire is so happily shared by my colleague the proposer of the present motion, as I have no doubt also by the other members of this Council. I therefore have much pleasure in giving this motion my wholehearted support, and would earnestly urge that Government give it the favourable consideration it so well deserves.
CHAIRMAN :—I support this motion because I appreciate the need for a park in this area but I am afraid at this stage that I am not optimistic about the outcome. Apart from the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital, as members will be aware from a press state- ment of December 11th, the area is to contain a new hospital for the Army, in order to permit the release of the La Salle College premises. There will therefore be little land left for a public park.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.