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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask Mr. CHEUNG through you, when he said his Committee considered the problem, did his Committee make any comparison with other cities of the world?
MR. CHEUNG: We have made extensive enquiries and have made comparisons with other cities like Singapore and Tokyo, and we are preparing a complete new set of By-laws which will, in due course, be put through the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. It entails months and months of hard work.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, is it the policy of this Council not to issue a licence for any signs if they have not been approved structurally and architecturally by the Building Authority?
MR. CHEUNG: Many of the signs are erected without going through the Council at all. In fact, the only signs which have to go through this Council are sky signs. The other signs never go through the Council. It is the intention of the Advertisements Sub-Committee to try and introduce a measure of control over the erection of signs.
DR. BELL: Mr. Chairman, could I clarify something, please, as a member of Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's committee? There is no licensing of advertisement signs. I do not know whether Mr. NG is aware of that. He mentioned the word licensing in connection with it.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, I mentioned the word licensing because the Advertisement By-laws say "No signs can be lawful unless licensed by the Urban Council".
MR. CHEUNG: At the moment there is no licensing system at all. Some of the sky signs that go through the Council have got to go through the Director of Marine, the Director of Civil Aviation or the Director of Fire Services and then to us, and we usually pass it unless the structure is of a kind that may accumulate water and allow the breeding of mosquitoes.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, what I want to know is is it the policy of this Council not to issue any licence, until we are satisfied that the Building Authority is satisfied with the structure?
CHAIRMAN: If an application is made to this Council for approval of a sky sign we, through the Urban Services Department, ascertain first of all whether there is a Fire Services objection or not, or a Building Authority objection or not. If neither of those two authorities object, we normally give approval under certain conditions.
MR. NG: Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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MR. BERNACCHI: Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in has spoken about the consideration to put restrictions on advertisements. If we do, who is going to enforce those restrictions on the ground?
MR. CHEUNG: It was intended that the Urban Council would have overall authority on advertisements.
MR. BERNACCHI: But who is going to enforce those restrictions on the ground? The Urban Council staff as at present available is very much over-worked as it is. It is useless to make restrictions that cannot be enforced. Therefore, I say as a question, who is going to enforce them?
MR. CHEUNG: This problem has also been envisaged by the Committee, and in fact it was intended that there would be additional staff required to go through the streets and to advise owners to move their signs back and so on.
DR. BELL: Mr. Chairman, please may I again, with your permission, clarify one thing in case it gets into the Press and causes misunderstanding. Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in did mention the figure of 13 ft. just now. In fact, the figure under discussion in the Committee is 12 ft. Just in case somebody does accept Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's figure as gospel.
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would like to know, is it correct that, in the past, a sign could only be erected after it had been approved by the Council? Is that the position, or was no approval necessary to erect any sign in the past?
MR. CHEUNG: In certain cases, people do not apply to the Urban Council and no approval is given. In other cases they do apply to the Urban Council for permission to have a sky sign, and these applications go through the Fire Services, the Director of Marine and Director of Civil Aviation, or sometimes the Building Authority before coming to us. But in most cases they do not come to us at all.
MR. HU: That is to say that the small signs in Nathan Road, for example, were erected without previous approval from the Council?
MR. CHEUNG: Without previous approval from the Urban Council I believe, from any other department.
STATEMENT BY MR. B. A. BERNACCHI.
MR. BERNACCHI: Mr. Chairman, I rise to make a personal statement on Mr. Hu's questions. I hope you will refer the three additional questions that Mr. Hu asked, and which are not on the Order Paper,
Page 57 of 259
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Page 57 of 259
92
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. HU: Mr. Chairman, I would ask Mr. CHEUNG through you, when he said his Committee considered the problem, did his Committee make any comparison with other cities of the world?
MR. CHEUNG: --We have made extensive enquiries and have made comparisons with other cities like Singapore and Tokyo, and we are preparing a complete new set of By-laws which will, in due course, be put through the Parks, Recreation and Amenities Select Committee. It entails months and months of hard work.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, is it the policy of this Council not to issue a licence for any signs if they have not been approved structurally and architecturally by the Building Authority?
MR. CHEUNG:-Many of the signs are erected without going through the Council at all. In fact, the only signs which have to go through this Council are sky signs. The other signs never go through the Council. It is the intention of the Advertisements Sub-Committee to try and introduce a measure of control over the erection of signs.
DR. BELL:Mr. Chairman, could I clarify something, please, as a member of Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's committee? There is no licensing of advertisement signs. I do not know whether Mr. NG is aware of that. He mentioned the word licensing in connection with it.
MR. NG:-Mr. Chairman, I mentioned the word licensing because the Advertisement By-laws say "No signs can be lawful unless licensed by the Urban Council".
MR. CHEUNG :—At the moment there is no licensing system at all. Some of the sky signs that go through the Council have got to go through the Director of Marine, the Director of Civil Aviation or the Director of Fire Services and then to us, and we usually pass it unless the structure is of a kind that may accumulate water and allow the breeding of mosquitoes.
MR. NG: Mr. Chairman, what I want to know is is it the policy of this Council not to issue any licence, until we are satisfied that the Building Authority is satisfied with the structure?
CHAIRMAN:-If an application is made to this Council for approval of a sky sign we, through the Urban Services Department, ascertain first of all whether there is a Fire Services objection or not, or a Building Authority objection or not. If neither of those two authorities object, we normally give approval under certain conditions.
MR. NG:-Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
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MR. BERNACCHI:-Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in has spoken about the consideration to put restrictions on advertisements. If we do, who is going to enforce those restrictions on the ground?
MR. CHEUNG:-It was intended that the Urban Council would have overall authority on advertisements.
MR. BERNACCHI:-But who is going to enforce those restrictions on the ground? The Urban Council staff as at present available is very much over-worked as it is. It is useless to make restrictions that cannot be enforced. Therefore, I say as a question, who is going to enforce them?
MR. CHEUNG: This problem has also been envisaged by the Committee, and in fact it was intended that there would be additional staff required to go through the streets and to advise owners to move their signs back and so on.
DR. BELL:-Mr. Chairman, please may I again, with your permis- sion, clarify one thing in case it gets into the Press and causes mis- understanding. Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in did mention the figure of 13 ft. just now. In fact, the figure under discussion in the Committee is 12 ft. Just in case somebody does accept Mr. CHEUNG Wing-in's figure as gospel.
MR. HU:Mr. Chairman, I would like to know, is it correct that, in the past, a sign could only be erected after it had been approved by the Council? Is that the position, or was no approval necessary to erect any sign in the past?
MR. CHEUNG:-In certain cases, people do not apply to the Urban Council and no approval is given. In other cases they do apply to the Urban Council for permission to have a sky sign, and these applica- tions go through the Fire Services, the Director of Marine and Director of Civil Aviation, or sometimes the Building Authority before coming to us. But in most cases they do not come to us at all.
MR. HU:-That is to say that the small signs in Nathan Road,
for example, were erected without previous approval from the Council?
MR. CHEUNG:-Without previous approval from the Urban Council I believe, from any other department.
or,
STATEMENT BY MR. B. A. BERNACCHI.
MR. BERNACCHI :—Mr. Chairman, I rise to make a personal state- ment on Mr. Hu's questions. I hope you will refer the three additional questions that Mr. Hu asked, and which are not on the Order Paper,
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.