HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and gentlemen, before we proceed with the business on our agenda, I would like to welcome the Lord Mayor of Lae City in Papua-New Guinea who is here with us today, Mr. Timothy POHAI. (Applause).
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 12th August, 1975 were confirmed.
(Mr. EDMUND W. H. CHOW arrived at this point.)
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Over the years the Council has gradually provided more urban amenities for public enjoyment. This steady and systematic effort to improve physical conditions is not always realized in the hustle and bustle of life in Hong Kong. It can best be appreciated by looking at the Council's record since the work was started in earnest. Indeed, no fewer than 1,937 amenity projects of various kinds have been completed since 1960 at a total cost of just over $17.6m. They range widely from parks, gardens, playgrounds, picnic areas and many other smaller yet significant items to an impressive number of minor sports facilities located in all ten districts.
This programme actually gained strength when the Urban Amenities Block Vote was created in 1957. It started with an annual allocation of $900,000 and had a limit of $50,000 for each job; the vote was gradually increased and the individual limit also raised. From its inception until 31st March, 1973, $19.7m was spent on about 2,000 different schemes.
In the two years that have passed since the Council was given direct responsibility over its finances on 1st April, 1973, 30 main and many other smaller facilities valued at nearly $4.75m were built under this programme, while in the current financial year, there are 12 main projects, mostly under construction, with a total commitment of $2.7m. All these improvement schemes, described technically as Minor Works, are spread over our ten urban districts wherever land is found for them.
The Council welcomes suggestions from the public and hopes that advantage will be taken of our aim to give the people living in any area what they would like to have for use during their leisure-time. Of course, our ability to fulfill their wishes is limited by our own financial resources and such open spaces as we can get from the Government. To find out what the people needed and wanted, some years ago the Council sought the views of local organizations through the City District Offices. The response was most encouraging; since then their suggestions have been put in hand progressively. It is perhaps time to assess local requirements again as conditions may have changed meanwhile with the re-development of many parts of our urban areas.
The department has also asked Councillors for suggestions and their individual views are put down for consideration. Above all, it is standard practice for the relevant select committee to go over amenity zone plans in rotation; this examination of what open spaces each district has and what amenities exist has been done for a very great number of years. At the same time, previous proposals agreed separately for the development of specific open space in a particular zone are considered together again. This comprehensive approach is still used. Of course, the construction of such amenities as would make life more pleasant in some districts will become even more difficult in the future as fewer public open spaces remain in the heavily built-up areas. Consequently, land utilization is now an even more important consideration in our development plans.
With the Council deciding directly how its funds should be applied, the pattern is evidently changing. More public facilities can now be built much more quickly to make a district more pleasing in appearance and life more amenable for the residents. The search for opportunities to do so in every district will continue; indeed, now that the department functions on a district basis, it should be possible to do so far more effectively. In this exercise of benefit to the community, the Council invites our many friends in local district organizations, all also working hard for the well-being of the people, to come forward with their proposals for study and implementation if feasible. As a lead in this direction, and to encourage them to do so, perhaps I ought to mention that there are 72 main amenity projects already in the present programme, in various stages of development, but with at least 58 ready for use by the end of the financial year 1976-77.
It is altogether a satisfactory record for any city administration, more so perhaps in our confined physical circumstances than elsewhere. Even so, we must not be complacent; great as the effort may have been so far, there is still more to be done. Certainly, the social and human aspects of this programme in our densely populated city should be
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Page 60 of 154
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and gentlemen, before we proceed with the business on our agenda, I would like to welcome the Lord Mayor of Lae City in Papua-New Guinea who is here with us today, Mr. Timothy POHAI. (Applause).
MINUTES
The minutes of the meeting held on 12th August, 1975 were confirmed.
(Mr. EDMUND W. H. CHOW arrived at this point.)
STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN
CHAIRMAN (in English):-Over the years the Council has gradually provided more urban amenities for public enjoyment. This steady and systematic effort to improve physical conditions is not always realized in the hustle and bustle of life in Hong Kong. It can best be appreciated by looking at the Council's record since the work was started in earnest. Indeed, no fewer than 1,937 amenity projects of various kinds have been completed since 1960 at a total cost of just over $17.6m. They range widely from parks, gardens, playgrounds, picnic areas and many other smaller yet significant items to an impressive number of minor sports facilities located in all ten districts.
This programme actually gained strength when the Urban Amenities Block Vote was created in 1957. It started with an annual allocation of $900,000 and had a limit of $50,000 for each job; the vote was gradually increased and the individual limit also raised. From its inception until 31st March, 1973, $19.7m was spent on about 2,000 different schemes.
In the two years that have passed since the Council was given direct responsibility over its finances on 1st April, 1973, 30 main and many other smaller facilities valued at nearly $4.75m were built under this programme, while in the current financial year, there are 12 main projects, mostly under construction, with a total commitment of $2.7m. All these improvement schemes, described technically as Minor Works, are spread over our ten urban districts wherever land is found for them.
The Council welcomes suggestions from the public and hopes that advantage will be taken of our aim to give the people living in any
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
89
area what they would like to have for use during their leisure-time. Of course, our ability to fulfill their wishes is limited by our own finan- cial resources and such open spaces as we can get from the Government. To find out what the people needed and wanted, some years ago the Council sought the views of local organizations through the City District Offices. The response was most encouraging; since then their sugges- tions have been put in hand progressively. It is perhaps time to assess local requirements again as conditions may have changed mean- while with the re-development of many parts of our urban areas.
The department has also asked Councillors for suggestions and their individual views are put down for consideration. Above all, it is standard practice for the relevant select committee to go over amenity zone plans in rotation; this examination of what open spaces each district has and what amenities exist has been done for a very great number of years. At the same time, previous proposals agreed sep- arately for the development of specific open space in a particular zone are considered together again. This comprehensive approach is still used. Of course, the construction of such amenities as would make life more pleasant in some districts will become even more difficult in the future as fewer public open spaces remain in the heavily built-up areas. Consequently, land utilization is now an even more important consideration in our development plans.
With the Council deciding directly how its funds should be applied, the pattern is evidently changing. More public facilities can now be built much more quickly to make a district more pleasing in appearance and life more amenable for the residents. The search for opportunities to do so in every district will continue; indeed, now that the department functions on a district basis, it should be possible to do so far more effectively. In this exercise of benefit to the community, the Council invites our many friends in local district organizations, all also work- ing hard for the well-being of the people, to come forward with their proposals for study and implementation if feasible. As a lead in this direction, and to encourage them to do so, perhaps I ought to mention that there are 72 main amenity projects already in the present pro- gramme, in various stages of development, but with at least 58 ready for use by the end of the financial year 1976-77.
It is altogether a satisfactory record for any city administration, more so perhaps in our confined physical circumstances than elsewhere. Even so, we must not be complacent; great as the effort may have been so far, there is still more to be done. Certainly, the social and human aspects of this programme in our densely populated city should be
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