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surveys, is a large expense sheet, a whole waste of time, and an awful lot of bitter disappointment.'
I cannot believe that Mrs. ELLIOTT really meant what she said. I wonder if she has visited Kwun Tong recently. Twelve years ago Kwun Tong consisted of a small village and a large refuse dump similar to the one we now have at Gin Drinker's Bay. Today Kwun Tong covers 641 acres of which 154 are for industrial use. Over 500 factories are operating there and some 50,000 people are employed in them. The residential population exceeds 350,000.
Another example is Kwai Chung. At Kwai Chung in the last five years 441 acres of land have been formed and is now in the process of being developed to form part of a new self-contained township in conjunction with Tsuen Wan. In a few years' time the twin towns of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung are likely to be as fully developed as Kwun Tong, and in anticipation of this we have already started work at Castle Peak where a satellite town has been planned. Would Mrs. ELLIOTT say that these new towns have not yet gone beyond the stage of survey and recommendation, or that the reports which preceded the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars were a waste of time and money?
She makes similar criticisms of the Long Term Road Study and the plans for an underground railway. Some $500 million worth of roadworks recommended for construction in the recent Long Term Road Study Report are already in the Public Works Programme, and if the underground railway has not progressed that far, planning is well beyond the survey stage. Much work has been done and is being done in the Public Works Department to ensure that development proposals, both public and private, will not be permitted to frustrate the construction of the railway, if and when Government decides to go ahead.
Dr. Allison BELL put in a plea that resettlement housing should not be built farther and farther out of the urban area.
I agree with her; and I would go farther and include Government Low Cost Housing in the plea. We are looking into the possibility of allocating some land at Cheung Sha Wan for a resettlement estate, but this could only be done at the expense of land which has been set aside for industry or some community purpose. It is not easy to strike a balance between the many conflicting demands for land in or near the urban area. This is true too of the Wan Chai reclamation, where the recent draft town plan shows almost the whole reclamation reserved for either housing, public open space, or essential community use. I have already referred to this problem in the context of the timing of Slum Clearance and I can assure Dr. BELL that we shall continue to do our best to find suitable housing sites in or near the urban area.
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I would like to assure Mr. Peter CHAN that there is no conscious policy to favour car users as opposed to pedestrians when road crossings are designed. Indeed, some light-controlled intersections have 'all red' phases for vehicles to give pedestrians unrestricted use of the roadway, and I noticed yesterday a letter in the Morning Post complaining about this very thing at the junction of Kennedy Road and Queen's Road, East, while in others 'left turning' traffic is prohibited purely for the convenience of pedestrians. All classes of road users have to be catered for and with many of our roads reaching saturation some compromise is always necessary.
In many cases heavy pedestrian traffic only occurs when school children are entering or leaving school, and in these cases school patrols are perhaps the best solution. When the pedestrian flow is more continuous, zebra crossings are required and with heavier flows still traffic lights are installed. Finally, pedestrian bridges and tunnels become necessary and some 20 of these are at present planned or under construction.
We are undertaking a survey of vehicular and pedestrian movements at 64 different places with a view to preparing a priority list for the construction of grade-separated pedestrian crossings. This survey has been completed and the results are now being evaluated and will enable the Traffic Engineers to decide where better facilities for pedestrians are required and what form they should take.
I agree with Mr. CHAN that road safety is largely a matter of education of all road users. I hold no particular brief for motorists but anyone who drives along Connaught Road Central and sees how pedestrians ignore the light-controlled crossing between Statue Square and the Star Ferry Car Park, as well as the pedestrian subway only 75 yards to the west, must realize how little effort a large number of pedestrians are prepared to make in order to cross a road in safety.
Listening to Members' speeches one heard a long story of frustration, procrastination and general ineptitude on the part of Government. Almost nothing was said about the positive accomplishments of the last twelve months. Even in matters of particular interest to the Urban Council, surely the most prejudiced Member must agree the story is not one of complete failure.
The abattoir, one of the biggest and most modern in the world, was completed and a second one in Hong Kong is nearing completion. The incinerator in Kennedy Town, also one of the biggest and most modern in the world was completed, and though there were teething troubles mainly because of its very advanced design—it is now working satisfactorily. Its counterpart in Kowloon, whose equipment has been modified in parallel with that at Kennedy Town, will be opened
Page 216 of 243
346
Page 216 of 243
344
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
surveys, is a large expense sheet, a whole waste of time, and an awful lot of bitter disappointment.'
I cannot believe that Mrs. ELLIOTT really meant what she said. I wonder if she has visited Kwun Tong recently. Twelve years ago Kwun Tong consisted of a small village and a large refuse dump similar to the one we now have at Gin Drinker's Bay. Today Kwun Tong covers 641 acres of which 154 are for industrial use. Over 500 factories are operating there and some 50,000 people are employed in them. The residential population exceeds 350,000.
Another example is Kwai Chung. At Kwai Chung in the last five years 441 acres of land have been formed and is now in the process of being developed to form part of a new self-contained township in conjunction with Tsuen Wan. In a few years time the twin towns of Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung are likely to be as fully developed as Kwun Tong, and in anticipation of this we have already started work at Castle Peak where a satellite town has been planned. Would Mrs. ELLIOTT say that these new towns have not yet gone beyond the stage of survey and recommendation, or that the reports which preceded the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars were a waste of time and money?
She makes similar criticisms of the Long Term Road Study and the plans for an underground railway. Some $500 million worth of roadworks recommended for construction in the recent Long Term Road Study Report are already in the Public Works Programme, and if the underground railway has not progressed that far, planning is well beyond the survey stage. Much work has been done and is being done in the Public Works Department to ensure that development pro- posals, both public and private, will not be permitted to frustrate the construction of the railway, if and when Government decides to go ahead.
Dr. Allison BELL put in a plea that resettlement housing should not be built farther and farther out of the urban area.
I agree with her; and I would go farther and include Government Low Cost Housing in the plea. We are looking into the possibility of allocating some land at Cheung Sha Wan for a resettlement estate, but this could only be done at the expense of land which has been set aside for industry or some community purpose. It is not easy to strike a balance between the many conflicting demands for land in or near the urban area. This is true too of the Wan Chai reclamation, where the recent draft town plan shows almost the whole reclamation reserved for either housing, public open space, or essential community use. I have already referred to this problem in the context of the timing of Slum Clearance and I can assure Dr. BELL that we shall continue to do our best to find suitable housing sites in or near the urban area.
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
345
I would like to assure Mr. Peter CHAN that there is no conscious policy to favour car users as opposed to pedestrians when road crossings are designed. Indeed, some light controlled intersections have "all red" phases for vehicles to give pedestrians unrestricted use of the roadway, and I noticed yesterday a letter in the Morning Post complaining about this very thing at the junction of Kennedy Road and Queen's Road, East, while in others "left turning" traffic is pro- hibited purely for the convenience of pedestrians. All classes of road users have to be catered for and with many of our roads reaching saturation some compromise is always necessary.
In many cases heavy pedestrian traffic only occurs when school children are entering or leaving school, and in these cases school patrols are perhaps the best solution. When the pedestrian flow is more continuous, zebra crossings are required and with heavier flows still traffic lights are installed. Finally, pedestrian bridges and tunnels become necessary and some 20 of these are at present planned or under construction.
We are undertaking a survey of vehicular and pedestrian move- ments at 64 different places with a view to preparing a priority list for the construction of grade separated pedestrian crossings. This survey has been completed and the results are now being evaluated and will enable the Traffic Engineers to decide where better facilities for pedes- trians are required and what form they should take.
I agree with Mr. CHAN that road safety is largely a matter of educa- tion of all road users. I hold no particular brief for motorists but anyone who drives along Connaught Road Central and sees how pedes- trians ignore the light-controlled crossing between Statue Square and the Star Ferry Car Park, as well as the pedestrian subway only 75 yards to the west, must realize how little effort a large number of pedestrians are prepared to make in order to cross a road in safety.
Listening to Members' speeches one heard a long story of frustra- tion, procrastination and general ineptitude on the part of Government. Almost nothing was said about the positive accomplishments of the last twelve months. Even in matters of particular interest to the Urban Council, surely the most prejudiced Member must agree the story is not one of complete failure.
The abattoir, one of the biggest and most modern in the world, was completed and a second one in Hong Kong is nearing completion. The incinerator in Kennedy Town, also one of the biggest and most modern in the world was completed, and though there were teething troubles mainly because of its very advanced design—it is now work- ing satisfactorily. Its counterpart in Kowloon, whose equipment has been modified in parallel with that at Kennedy Town, will be opened
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