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levels with libraries, office accommodation and indoor games facilities at buildings consisting of a market and other related facilities at the lower and upper levels. Also where the popularity and future demand for certain recreational and cultural facilities cannot be projected with any degree of accuracy, the Council will anticipate future demand by including in the planning brief unspecified additional floors.
The Planning and Development Division works closely with the Architectural Office to improve design and the variety and types of material used in Council projects. Response from staff in the field on the durability and popularity of materials and design is a vital factor in choice, and private consultants have also contributed a number of innovative ideas and concepts that will enliven many of our otherwise humdrum projects. From the design angle, space-frame roofing for stadia and indoor games halls; attractive external elevators in markets; glass-empanelled exterior on buildings; waterfalls and fountains in parks are some of the attractive features that will be introduced. The first public air-conditioned refuse collection point is under construction at Spring Garden Lane and another will follow at O'Brien Road. These two experimental stations will enable the Council to assess their effect in containing the offensive smell associated with this vital scavenging unit during hot weather. The Council welcomes ideas and concepts from members of the public and the Sheung Shing Street Park Children's Playground, now complete, was actually adapted from the winning design of the 'New Playground Concepts Design Competition' organized jointly by the Peninsula Jaycees and the Urban Council in 1975.
Another new concept to be put into action will be at the Wan Chai Sports Ground where the first tartan track and athletic training area in Hong Kong will soon be put to the test.
On the experience gained from the use of artificial turf at the Morse Park Football Pitch and the working party's favourable report on the subject, a decision was made to introduce artificial turf on a larger scale. However, this is very expensive and must be related to the usage factor. As many unfavourable comments are made on the dust bowl appearance of the centre of the Race track at Happy Valley, mostly from race-goers, perhaps the Jockey Club can be persuaded to foot that bill!! Apart from using maintenance-free materials, new ideas are being tried out. For example, the first fibre-glass toilet is being installed at Pok Fu Lam Village, a study is being made to find a practical and economical cover to help retain the heat in open-air swimming pools in winter, the introduction of durable safety matting surfacing in the adventure children's play areas.
I would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Architectural Office and the Crown Lands and Survey Office who are both represented on my Committee, and their vital co-operation in getting projects on the move. Similar credit goes to the staff of the Planning and Development Division who, although suffering from disruption resulting from staff changes, nevertheless managed to keep up with the incessant and ever more sophisticated demands from all sides. Now they are resettled in more extensive quarters, they can expect even greater demands on their resources to which I am sure they will respond with their usual ability.
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On the housing front, the very large construction programme is really starting to 'bite'-but before going into details I would like to outline the pleasing progress the Housing Authority has made on the Home Ownership Scheme which made an auspicious start last year. Building contracts for the first Home Ownership estates were signed on 30 January last and by December a topping-out ceremony on one block at Oi Man was held - fast work, even by Hong Kong's own remarkable standards.
The lucky purchasers of the first Home Ownership flats to be completed should be moving into their new home in the last quarter of this year and the rest into the remainder of the 8,373 cost-price flats by the first quarter of next year.
At the same time, work is going ahead on the five new estates in the second phase of the scheme, and preliminary design work is well advanced for the four estates in the third phase.
In the context of the present high and probably growing interest rates and a period of tighter money, the significance of the benefits to those in the lower family income group is now becoming apparent. As one of the bases of this Government scheme is, of course, to provide a financial umbrella to those of our citizens who can least cope with burgeoning interest rates on long-term house mortgages.
Turning to the rental housing programme, five more estates were opened in the calendar year 1978, and the Authority has a total of 69 estates occupied by over 1,900,000 people, and is now within striking distance of housing its two millionth occupant.
Of those 69 estates, 16 have been opened since the Housing Authority and Housing Department were set up in 1973 to consolidate all of Hong Kong's public housing programmes under one controlling body and provide the vehicle to implement the ambitious target set by the Governor.
The following rate of completions is evidence in itself of the mounting pace of the construction drive: one estate was completed in 1974, two in 1975, three in 1976, five in 1977 and five more in 1978, plus the large extension to Wah Fu.
All this is just a taste of what lies in store - at present 30 estates are under construction, including the six Home Ownership estates, and there are altogether 58 contracts in hand to provide 80,000 flats to house another half a million people. Also, as part of the infrastructure in each new estate,
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levels with libraries, office accommodation and indoor games facilities at buildings consisting of a market and other related facilities at the lower the upper levels. Also where the popularity and future demand for certain recreational and cultural facilities cannot be projected with any degree of accuracy, the Council will anticipate future demand by including in the
planning brief unspecified additional floors.
The Planning and Development Division works closely with the Architectural Office to improve design and the variety and types of material used in Council projects. Response from staff in the field on the durability and popularity of materials and design is a vital factor in choice, and private consultants have also contributed a number of innovative ideas and concepts that will enliven many of our otherwise humdrum projects. From the design angle; space-frame roofing for stadia and indoor games halls: attractive external elevators in markets; glass-empanelled exterior on build. ings; waterfalls and fountains in parks are some of the attractive features that will be introduced. The first public air-conditioned refuse collection point is under construction at Spring Garden Lane and another will follow at O'Brien Road. These two experimental stations will enable the Council to assess their effect in containing the offensive smell associated with this vital scavenging unit during hot weather. The Council welcomes ideas and concepts from members of the public and the Sheung Shing Street Park Children's Playground, now complete, was actually adapted from the winning design of the 'New Playground Concepts Design Competition' organized jointly by the Peninsula Jaycees and the Urban Council in 1975.
Another new concept to be put into action will be at the Wan Chai Sports Ground where the first tartan track and athletic training area in Hong Kong will soon be put to the test.
On the experience gained from the use of artificial turf at the Morse Park Football Pitch and the working party's favourable report on the subject, a decision was made to introduce artificial turf on a larger scale. However, this is very expensive and must be related to the usage factor. As many unfavourable comments are made on the dust bowl appearance of the centre of the Race track at Happy Valley, mostly from race-goers, perhaps the Jockey Club can be persuaded to foot that bill!! Apart from using maintenance-free materials, new ideas are being tried out. For example the first fibre-glass toilet is being installed at Pok Fu Lam Village, a study is being made to find a practical and economical cover to help retain the heat in open-air swimming pools in winter, the introduction of durable safety matting surfacing in the adventure children's play areas.
I would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution of the Architectural Office and the Crown Lands and Survey Office who are both represented on my Committee, and their vital co-operation in getting projects on the move. Similar credit goes to the staff of the Planning and Development Division who although suffering from disruption resulting from staff changes, never-
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theless managed to keep up with the incessant and ever more sophisticated demands from all sides. Now they are resettled in more extensive quarters they can expect even greater demands on their resources to which I am sure they will respond with their usual ability.
Housing Authority
On the housing front, the very large construction programme is really starting to 'bite'-but before going into details I would like to outline the pleasing progress the Housing Authority has made on the Home Ownership Scheme which made an auspicious start last year. Building contracts for the first Home Ownership estates were signed on 30 January last and by December a topping-out ceremony on one block at Oi Man was held fast work, even by Hong Kong's own remarkable standards.
The lucky purchasers of the first Home Ownership flats to be completed should be moving into their new home in the last quarter of this year and the rest into the remainder of the 8,373 cost-price flats by the first quarter of next year.
At the same time, work is going ahead on the five new estates in the second phase of the scheme, and preliminary design work is well advanced for the four estates in the third phase.
In the context of the present high and probably growing interest rates and a period of tighter money, the significance of the benefits to those in the lower family income group is now becoming apparent. As one of the basis of this Government scheme is of course to provide a financial umbrella to those of our citizens who can least cope with burgeoning interest rates on long term house mortgages.
Turning to the rental housing programme, five more estates were opened in the calendar year 1978, and the Authority has a total of 69 estates occupied by over 1,900,000 people, and is now within striking distance of housing its two millionth occupant.
Of those 69 estates, 16 have been opened since the Housing Authority and Housing Department were set up in 1973 to consolidate all of Hong Kong's public housing programmes under one controlling body and provide the vehicle to implement the ambitious target set by the Governor.
The following rate of completions is evidence in itself of the mounting pace of the construction drive: one estate was completed in 1974, two in 1975, three in 1976, five in 1977 and five more in 1978, plus the large extension to Wah Fu.
All this is just a taste of what lies in store at present 30 estates are under construction, including the six Home Ownership estates, and there are altogether 58 contracts in hand to provide 80,000 flats to house another half a million people. Also as part of the infrastructure in each new estate,
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