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to uproot themselves and their families and migrate as far as the new towns of the future at Castle Peak or even Sha Tin, even although employment opportunities, schools and all the other facilities of a balanced community are available from the start. This is a subject about which we should be beginning to think now, and it is likely that Mr. LAM's call for new ideas and new solutions will have to be answered.
We have already a foretaste of what is involved in the resettlement of people from the island into estates in Kowloon. Mr. FORSGATE spoke feelingly of the anxiety to which this process of uprooting gives rise, and I can assure him that we in the Resettlement Department are very conscious of this. Members of the Resettlement Policy Select Committee discussed the subject at a recent meeting and we came reluctantly to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do about it for the present.
On the island of Hong Kong we have two estates, Chai Wan and Tin Wan, which are "closed" in the sense that no more buildings will go up and the existing blocks are to all intents and purposes full.
The few empty rooms are earmarked for the relief of overcrowding within these estates, for the families of shopkeepers who are allocated the remaining business premises and, until they are completely filled, for a few of the compassionate cases that may be recommended by the Director of Social Welfare or others. The first block of a third estate, Shek Pai Wan, was opened early this month and, when construction is completed some time in 1968, the estate will house over 29,000 people. Much of this accommodation, particularly in the earlier blocks, will be taken up by boat squatters in Staunton Creek. I hope that work will also start before long on an extension to Chai Wan estate which is designed to accommodate another 17,000, but thereafter there is nothing in sight. The town plan of Chai Wan allows for more resettlement on the reclamation, but I accept the fact that development there must await consolidation of the ground. The Director of Public Works and his staff have been most helpful in looking for and examining the feasibility of other locations on the island, but the only one which has so far been found to be remotely possible presents very difficult and costly engineering problems, and would result in such a small net gain in the number of people housed that it may not be worth while pursuing. Nevertheless, we have not given up the search. Meanwhile, as I have indicated, we may have in the next few years new accommodation at Shek Pai Wan and Chai Wan for a total of about 46,000 people. Against these there are estimated to be about 140,000 ground squatters and some 11,000 people in resite areas on the island. To these figures must be added tenants of buildings that may be declared dangerous in future and who elect to join the rent advance scheme, as well as other tenants of and the rooftop squatters on these buildings who may have to be resited rather than resettled direct. Not all of these will, of course, have to be resettled in the next few years, but it is evident that an increasing number of people will have to migrate across the harbour to estates in north and east Kowloon if they are not to remain in squatter or resite areas indefinitely. The lucky ones will be those who go soon, while there is still accommodation in Kowloon, for those that are left behind may later have no option but to go even further afield to Tsuen Wan and eventually Castle Peak.
I turn now to the question of amenities in the estates. Mr. FORSGATE mentioned the time-lag which occurs between the opening of a new estate and the development and equipment of playgrounds for the children living there. Playgrounds and recreation grounds are formed and surfaced by the Architectural Office of the Public Works Department as site formation and building progresses, and it is the provision and installation of equipment which are subject to some delay. I share Mr. FORSGATE's anxiety to see this gap closed, as does the Urban Services Department. The latter has, however, only a limited block vote for this purpose, the benefits of which must be spread over the whole of the urban area, and while I believe that our estates receive a fair slice of the vote, I must agree with this Council's policy that they cannot have priority over the rest of the city. I am grateful for an assurance that the Urban Services Department is nevertheless looking into ways of speeding up the installation of equipment, and members will be aware that an application has been made for an increase in the vote for next financial year.
Dr. BELL's plea for more trees and flowering shrubs in the estates is one which all members will endorse, and I am happy to say that, on this occasion, my department and the Urban Services Department are a step ahead of her in that a new planting programme started last summer. It was not the first. As far back as 1956 a number of saplings were planted in the estates then existing, but the mortality rate was high and most of those that survived for awhile were too small to withstand the rough treatment which they received. A fresh start was made in 1961, but there was still a shortage of more mature specimens 5 or 6 ft. tall, and again the mortality and damage rates were very high. With the co-operation of the Urban Services Department, the planting programme was renewed in June this year when 4,000 saplings about 2 ft. tall were put into the banks at Tsz Wan Shan. About half of these have survived and now appear to be flourishing. About sixty more mature trees over 6 ft. tall were also transplanted during last summer to Lo Fu Ngam, Ham Tin, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan estates, and there are plans to continue the programme in all estates next spring and summer when, if all goes well, we hope to plant between two and three thousand trees. In preparation for this, we are consulting the Public Works Department on the location of the holes that will have to be made in paved surfaces to ensure that we avoid underground services such as water pipes and drains.
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to uproot themselves and their families and migrate as far as the new towns of the future at Castle Peak or even Sha Tin, even although employment opportunities, schools and all the other facilities of a balanced community are available from the start. This is a subject about which we should be beginning to think now, and it is likely that Mr. LAM's call for new ideas and new solutions will have to be answered.
We have already a foretaste of what is involved in the resettlement of people from the island into estates in Kowloon. Mr. FORSGATE spoke feelingly of the anxiety to which this process of uprooting gives rise, and I can assure him that we in the Resettlement Department are very conscious of this. Members of the Resettlement Policy Select Committee discussed the subject at a recent meeting and we came reluctantly to the conclusion that there is nothing we can do about it for the present.
On the island of Hong Kong we have two estates, Chai Wan and Tin Wan, which are "closed" in the sense that no more buildings will go up and the existing blocks are to all intents and pur- poses full.
The few empty rooms are earmarked for the relief of overcrowding within these estates, for the families of shopkeepers who are allocated the remaining business premises and, until they are com- pletely filled, for a few of the compassionate cases that may be recom- mended by the Director of Social Welfare or others. The first block of a third estate, Shek Pai Wan, was opened early this month and, when construction is completed some time in 1968, the estate will house over 29,000 people. Much of this accommodation, particularly in the earlier blocks, will be taken up by boat squatters in Staunton Creek. I hope that work will also start before long on an extension to Chai Wan estate which is designed to accommodate another 17,000, but thereafter there is nothing in sight. The town plan of Chai Wan allows for more resettlement on the reclamation, but I accept the fact that development there must await consolidation of the ground. The Director of Public Works and his staff have been most helpful in looking for and examining the feasibility of other locations on the island, but the only one which has so far been found to be remotely possible presents very difficult and costly engineering problems, and would result in such a small net gain in the number of people housed that it may not be worth while pursuing. Nevertheless, we have not given up the search. Meanwhile, as I have indicated, we may have in the next few years new accommodation at Shek Pai Wan and Chai Wan for a total of about 46,000 people. Against these there are estimated to be about 140,000 ground squatters and some 11,000 people in resite areas on the island. To these figures must be added tenants of buildings that may be declared dangerous in future and who elect to join the rent advance scheme, as well as other tenants of and the rooftop squatters on these buildings who may have to be resited rather than resettled direct. Not all of these will, of course, have to be resettled in the next few years, but it is evident that an increasing
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number of people will have to migrate across the harbour to estates in north and east Kowloon if they are not to remain in squatter or resite areas indefinitely. The lucky ones will be those who go soon, while there is still accommodation in Kowloon, for those that are left behind may later have no option but to go even further afield to Tsuen Wan and eventually Castle Peak.
I turn now to the question of amenities in the estates. Mr. FORSGATE mentioned the time-lag which occurs between the opening of a new estate and the development and equipment of playgrounds for the children living there. Playgrounds and recreation grounds are formed and surfaced by the Architectural Office of the Public Works Department as site formation and building progresses, and it is the provision and installation of equipment which are subject to some delay. I share Mr. FORSGATE's anxiety to see this gap closed, as does the Urban Services Department. The latter has, however, only a limited block vote for this purpose, the benefits of which must be spread over the whole of the urban area, and while I believe that our estates receive a fair slice of the vote, I must agree with this Council's policy that they cannot have priority over the rest of the city. I am grateful for an assurance that the Urban Services Department is never- theless looking into ways of speeding up the installation of equipment, and members will be aware that an application has been made for an increase in the vote for next financial year.
Dr. BELL's plea for more trees and flowering shrubs in the estates is one which all members will endorse, and I am happy to say that, on this occasion, my department and the Urban Services Department are a step ahead of her in that a new planting programme started last summer. It was not the first. As far back as 1956 a number of saplings were planted in the estates then existing, but the mortality rate was high and most of those that survived for awhile were too small to withstand the rough treatment which they received. A fresh start was made in 1961, but there was still a shortage of more mature specimens 5 or 6 ft. tall, and again the mortality and damage rates were very high. With the co-operation of the Urban Services Depart- ment, the planting programme was renewed in June this year when 4,000 saplings about 2 ft. tall were put into the banks at Tsz Wan Shan. About half of these have survived and now appear to be flourishing. About sixty more mature trees over 6 ft. tall were also transplanted during last summer to Lo Fu Ngam, Ham Tin, Wong Tai Sin and Tsz Wan Shan estates, and there are plans to continue the programme in all estates next spring and summer when, if all goes well, we hope to plant between two and three thousand trees. In preparation for this, we are consulting the Public Works Department on the location of the holes that will have to be made in paved surfaces to ensure that we avoid underground services such as water pipes and drains.
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