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Committees should give attention to this aspect in their Committee work.
I have much pleasure in supporting the motion before the Council.
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):- Mr. Chairman, one of the Council's objectives is to create a pleasant urban environment so as to make life more tolerable for those living in exceptionally crowded conditions. To this end, we do our best to provide more parks and playgrounds, green areas and amenity plots and to beautify them where possible with trees and shrubs.
This has not been an easy task, what with the encroachments we have recently experienced from various public works such as road improvement schemes, flyovers and most important of all, the Mass Transit Railway. I believe our attitude to such encroachments is a consistent and logical one. We consider carefully each application to the use of our parks, playgrounds or amenity spots whether on a permanent or a temporary basis. If we consider the request justified, then we agree to it without further ado. It is only when we think that the case for using our facilities has not been made out, that we resist the application. We do recognise the need for the various items of public works that I have mentioned and resist encroachment only when we consider it right to do so. Needless to say, not all our objections have been successful. Trees have had to be felled and shrubs uprooted in the name of progress. Nevertheless, we try our best to make good the damage that has been done.
For instance, take the case of Kowloon Park, where the Town Planning Board intends to put a row of shops along the side of the park fronting Nathan Road. It will be recalled that we objected strongly to this, but to no avail. We warned that there would be delay to the development of the park and sure enough, there has been. Nevertheless, we are pressing ahead with the development as best we can. The park will be developed in phases and those phases not affected by the shops will go ahead as quickly as possible. The facilities that are being developed will make it very attractive to the public. There will be a swimming pool complex which incidentally will contain the National pool for competitions, there will be other active recreational facilities such as foot-ball pitches and basket-ball courts. There will also be plenty of opportunity for passive recreation. In particular, there will be an aviary, which is of striking design. It will be circular with the cages grouped round a central service area. The floor of the cages will be at a lower level as compared to the level outside, so that spectators may look down upon the birds and obtain a better view. In addition, although the cages will be completely enclosed, there will be no concrete columns to obstruct the view. Yet it will be strong enough to resist typhoons. Don't ask me how it can be done, but we are assured by the private architects to whom the scheme has been farmed out, that it will be done.
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Turning to active recreation, the demand on the facilities that we are able to provide has been steadily increasing. Recently, I was in Victoria Park and saw two games of basket-ball, both taking place on the same court at the same time. Of course, that is not an ideal solution, nor one that I would advocate. Nevertheless, it shows the inconvenience which our young people are prepared to put up with in order to take part in active physical recreation.
There has recently been complaints from members of the public about squash courts, in particular about the allocation of squash courts to the Squash Rackets Association for league matches. Squash in Hong Kong has expanded more rapidly in the last few years than any other sport. Not many years ago, it was the exclusive preserve of the expatriate. Now it has been taken up on a big scale by local players. In deciding on allocations of courts, the Recreation and Amenities Committee is careful to balance the demands of those who merely wish to have a casual game as against the needs of the Association for definite allocations to carry on their league programme. After all, those taking part in league matches are no less members of the public than those who merely wish to play casually.
Turning to swimming, the Council's aim is to have one swimming pool complex for every 250,000 people, if possible, spread out so that there is at least one in every district. This target will not be easily achieved. Indeed, some of the older districts are so heavily built up that there is insufficient land for such a purpose. Nevertheless, we are making steady progress. In 1977, two full complexes were opened at Aberdeen and Tai Wan Shan. In addition to such large complexes, the Council is also on the look out for smaller areas where a small number of pools or even single pools can be built. It will be somewhat more costly to build and manage a number of pools separately rather than grouped together in a large complex. Nevertheless, this extra expense should be accepted in the interest of providing a more even distribution of swimming facilities.
It is also our duty to see that swimming is safe as well as readily available. For this reason, we have been conducting Water Safety Campaigns. This year's has been particularly successful. During
Page 118 of 174
196
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Committees should give attention to this aspect in their Committee
work.
I have much pleasure in supporting the motion before the Council.
MR. KENNETH T. C. Lo (in English):-Mr. Chairman, one of the Council's objectives is to create a pleasant urban environment so as to make life more tolerable for those living in exceptionally crowded conditions. To this end, we do our best to provide more parks and playgrounds, green areas and amenity plots and to beautify them where possible with trees and shrubs.
This has not been an easy task, what with the encroachments we have recently experienced from various public works such as road improvement schemes, flyovers and most important of all, the Mass Transit Railway. I believe our attitude to such encroachments is a consistent and logical one. We consider carefully each application to the use of our parks, playgrounds or amenity spots whether on a permanent or a temporary basis. If we consider the request justified, then we agree to it without further ado. It is only when we think that the case for using our facilities has not been made out, that we resist the application. We do recognise the need for the various items of public works that I have mentioned and resist encroachment only when we consider it right to do so. Needless to say, not all our objections have been successful. Trees have had to be felled and shrubs uprooted in the name of progress. Nevertheless, we try our best to make good the damage that has been done.
For instance, take the case of Kowloon Park, where the Town Planning Board intends to put a row of shops along the side of the park fronting Nathan Road. It will be recalled that we objected strongly to this, but to no avail. We warned that there would be delay to the development of the park and sure enough, there has been. Nevertheless, we are pressing ahead with the development as best we can. The park will be developed in phases and those phases not affected by the shops will go ahead as quickly as possible. The facilities that are being developed will make it very attractive to the public. There will be a swimming pool complex which incidentally will contain the National pool for competitions, there will be other active recreational facilities such as foot-ball pitches and basket-ball courts. There will also be plenty of opportunity for passive recreation. In particular, there will be an aviary, which is of striking design. It will be circular with the cages grouped round a central service area. The floor of the cages will be at a lower level as compared to the
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Page 118 of 174
197
level outside, so that spectators may look down upon the birds and obtain a better view. In addition, although the cages will be com- pletely enclosed, there will be no concrete columns to obstruct the view. Yet it will be strong enough to resist typhoons. Don't ask me how it can be done, but we are assured by the private architects to whom the scheme has been farmed out, that it will be done.
Turning to active recreation, the demand on the facilities that we are able to provide has been steadily increasing. Recently, I was in Voctoria Park and saw two games of basket-ball, both taking place on the same court at the same time. Of course, that is not an ideal solution, nor one that I would advocate. Nevertheless, it shows the inconvenience which our young people are prepared to put up with in order to take part in active physical recreation.
There has recently been complaints from members of the public about squash courts, in particular about the allocation of squash courts to the Squash Rackets Association for league matches. Squash in Hong Kong has expanded more rapidly in the last few years than any other sport. Not many years ago, it was the exclusive preserve of the expatriate. Now it has been taken up on a big scale by local players. In deciding on allocations of courts, the Recreation and Amenities Committee is careful to balance the demands of those who merely wish to have a casual game as against the needs of the Association for definite allocations to carry on their league programme. After all, those taking part in league matches are no less members of the public than those who merely wish to play casually.
Turning to swimming, the Council's aim is to have one swimming pool complex for every 250,000 people, if possible, spread out so that there is at least one in every district. This target will not be easily achieved. Indeed, some of the older districts are so heavily built up that there is insufficient land for such a purpose. Nevertheless, we are making steady progress. In 1977, two full complexes were opened at Aberdeen and Tai Wan Shan. In addition to such large complexes, the Council is also on the look out for smaller areas where a small number of pools or even single pools can be built. It will be some- what more costly to build and manage a number of pools separately rather than grouped together in a large complex. Nevertheless, this extra expense should be accepted in the interest of providing a more even distribution of swimming facilities.
It is also our duty to see that swimming is safe as well as readily available. For this reason, we have been conducting Water Safety Campaigns. This year's has been particularly successful. During
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