1981 — Page 126

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MR. H. M. G. Forsgate (in English):—Mr. Chairman, I want to clarify that when Mr. Lo and I attended on the Town Planning Board some years ago; the background was that when the financial implication regarding the publication of the draft Tsim Sha Tsui Outline Zoning Plan No. LK1 was submitted to the committee for consideration in 1976 to compensate for the deletion of the commercial residential area at the junction of Nathan Road and Austin Road between the Whitfield Barracks, now Kowloon Park. The committee proposed in the draft plan to rezone the land-use so that a strip of land fronting Nathan Road may be commercially developed, as worked shops between the sketch; and it was on that basis that Mr. Lo and I submitted the Urban Council's objections to the plan in 1976.

DR. HUANG (in Cantonese):---Mr. Chairman, according to my knowledge in Singapore, if you cut down a large tree, the Government will sue you. In Hong Kong we are now talking about making the place greener, could I ask Mr. LO, whether the Government has any special privilege to cut down trees whenever it feels like it?

MR. Lo (in English): Mr. Chairman, although it is a great pity that the trees should be chopped down in such a large number, I'm afraid I have to say that the Government does have this power.

MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I have two supplementary questions. Previously, there was a number of times when the Government refused to have Lantern Carnivals in the Kowloon Park because the traffic situation is very congested. If we add shops there, will it lead to more restrictions in future and would it be that because of security reasons the park could not be fully used; and in future, if we have shops, will the exhaust systems and the ventilation systems be not allowed to have outlets onto the parks, because this will harm people using the parks?

MR. Lo (in English):—Mr. Chairman, certainly with a row of shops, there will be more pedestrian and vehicular traffic and it will certainly affect the usage of the park. As for the pollution caused by the air conditioning plant and so on, certainly there will be some effect on the usage of the park.

MR. SULKE (in English):-Mr. Chairman, may I ask through you, is Mr. LO aware that trees absorb air pollution and lower the temperature, with the cutting down of trees in Nathan Road, it will affect the local climate and the pollution level considerably and that especially old trees are very difficult to replace. Could you tell me how many trees will actually be destroyed and how long it would take to replace them and grow them back to their present height?

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MR LO (in English): Mr. Chairman, in my answer, I stated that about 307 trees will be affected and of these only 39 are suitable for transplanting, it follows that the rest will have to be felled. As for replacement, it isn't just a question of planting trees in place of those that have been chopped. The area occupied by the

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trees will become shops, and the roof of the shops is simply not suitable for planting trees and there will be no replacement for these particular trees. Trees can be planted in elsewhere but not in place of those particular trees.

MR. C. S. SHUM (in Cantonese):—Mr. Chairman, I have two questions on Kowloon Park, has the Urban Council suggested to the Government that instead of using Nathan Road for shops, they could have an underground shopping centre because if an underground shopping centre is used, it would certainly have a larger area than the Nathan Road frontage, and there will be more income for the Government and of course if there is an underground centre, it would be very beneficial to the retail trade as well as the tourist industry in Hong Kong? Another question is the revenue obtained from selling of these shops in Nathan Road, could that be used to beautify Kowloon Park or could that be used to assist the Urban Council to construct multi- storey Urban Council complexes so that these complexes could be built as soon as possible?

MR. LO (in English):We objected to build a row of shops on ground level. We certainly did not put forward any proposal to build an underground or basement shopping arcade. As for the other question put by Mr. SHUM, I don't think it would be possible under the M.A.A. for us to ask for a share of the loot from the sales of the shops. (Laughter)

RESUMPTION OF ANNUAL CONVENTIONAL DEBATE

CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, I shall now exercise my right of reply in resuming debate on the motion "THAT this Council endorse the Statement of Aims for 1982".

Addressing the speeches at this year's Annual Conventional Debate on the Statement of Aims, may I start off by congratulating all Members on their well thought out views and proposals.

A wide range of subjects was covered, including matters outside the statutory responsibilities of the Council. Points raised by Members which were outside the jurisdiction of the Council have already been transmitted to Government for consideration.

ENVIRONMENT

As Members are aware, the Urban Council's basic functions are in the environmental field. We have a staff of about 17000, most of whom are engaged in the day-to-day work of making urban Hong Kong into a cleaner, greener and more liveable and happy environment.

Through the Environmental Hygiene Select Committee and the Clean Hong Kong Committee, the Council is holding the initiative in this vitally important