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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Recognizing the obvious popularity of the scheme, Council has arranged for activities in 1986 and for wide publicity for the scheme under. In total, some an increased share of the leisure budget to be devoted to Learn-to-swim 27,000 places will be provided on Learn-to-swim courses in the urban area in 1986. Compared with 1985, this is an increase of over 60 per cent. The 10 metre test will continue but in addition a 20 metre test will be introduced this year in order to better monitor and assess the success of the scheme.
10. MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU asked the following question (in Cantonese):-In view of the enormous amount of publicity given to the proposed Lan Kwai Fong refuse collection point, may I ask whether the building of such RCP is going ahead?
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The question asks whether the building of a refuse collection point at Lan Kwai Fong is to proceed.
The Council approved in June 1985, the building of this RCP at an estimate of $4.1M, after consultation with local residents in a meeting arranged by the District Officer (Central & Western). The project is in fact a redevelopment scheme of the existing public toilet and sitting-out area at Lan Kwai Fong. It is designed to incorporate also an up-to-date RCP to replace the existing and extremely undesirable on-street RCPs located in Wellington Street.
Working drawings have been completed, and contract documents are now under preparation. Tenderers will be invited in the Government Gazette in June, and construction is due to commence in September 1986. The RCP is expected to be ready for use in about a year's time, i.e. by the autumn 1987.
This RCP will be of the most modern type, equipped with activated carbon-filtration and vehicle exhaust systems, and will be well-designed, and as unobtrusive as possible. The RCP will be located in such a way that it will not be prominent from Lan Kwai Fong. At present, the Lan Kwai Fong public toilet is located at the street-side in a very visible and obtrusive location. After the reconstruction, the toilet will, with the RCP, be set back unobtrusively to the back of the site: the visually dominant street-side part of the site will be used for an upgraded and improved sitting-out area. This project as a whole will, therefore, improve the overall public amenities in the Lan Kwai Fong area.
Members will recollect that the existing on-street RCPs at Wellington Street have been a source of great anxiety to Council for some years: the amount of refuse required to be collected from the premises in this part of Central is substantial, the obstruction caused to traffic flow by the operation of the RCPs on the street is serious, and the environmental nuisance caused by them is equally unacceptably high. The major existing on-street RCP in the area is located only three feet away from the entrances to high-class commercial premises. Members will also recollect that the operation of this RCP was the subject of successful legal action against the Council in March 1985 by the owners of the commercial premises in question.
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For these reasons, I must stress as firmly as I can that construction of the Lan Kwai Fong RCP must go ahead and is indeed going ahead. It is the only site in the area available for development as an RCP, it will replace highly undesirable and environmentally inappropriate on-street RCPs. The site is such that the RCP cannot only be built to the most modern designs, but also in such a way that it will not be visible from the street.
Let me conclude by saying this. We live in a waste-producing society. Every year our refuse collection tonnages climb ever higher as the per capita output of refuse grows.
The residents of the Central District produce rubbish; the residents of Lan Kwai Fong produce rubbish. Living as we do in a tropical climate, this organic refuse has to be collected daily. In the congested areas like the Central District, we are faced with 'Hobson's Choice'. We either collect this refuse on-street or off-street. Council has decided that the balance of advantages clearly lie with creating off-street RCPs wherever we can do so.
The Lan Kwai Fong RCP, which is located off-street, must therefore be built as planned.
MR. LAU (in Cantonese):——Mr. Chairman, concerning the Lan Kwai Fong RCP, if it is finished on schedule, what will be the capacity handled every day, and how much refuse is being handled by the Urban Council? Moreover, if we do not go ahead with the construction of the RCP in Lan Kwai Fong, how are we going to deal with the refuse in that area?
DR. LEUNG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, MR. LAU's supplementary questions are actually in 2 parts. The first part he inquires about the expected daily output of refuse from this area, and I can tell him roughly that some 18 tons of refuse are produced each day in this area, and this will be collected usually in 2 or 3 collections depending on the mode of transport and the size of the vehicles we use. At present, the refuse is collected on-street at the junction of Wellington Street and D'Aguilar Street, involving 3 separate collections per day, and this arrangement hinders the pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow and also is a considerable nuisance to the nearby residents. The second part of MR. LAU's question is about how the Council will cope with the alternative if we cancel the plan to build the off-street RCP in Lan Kwai Fong; my answer is that we have no alternative if we are not to go on with the plan; we will have to continue indefinitely to collect the refuse on-street at the on-street RCP near Wellington Street, which is proving very undesirable and almost impossible to the nearby residents.
Page 182 of 195
Page 182 of 195
7
36
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
Recognizing the obvious popularity of the scheme, Council has arranged for activities in 1986 and for wide publicity for the scheme under. In total, some an increased share of the leisure budget to be devoted to Learn-to-swim 27 000 places will be provided on Learn-to-swim courses in the urban area in 1986. Compared with 1985, this is an increase of over 60 per cent. The 10 metre test will continue but in addition a 20 metre test will be introduced this year in order to better monitor and assess the success of the scheme.
10. MR. STEPHEN M. L. LAU asked the following question (in Cantonese):-In view of the enormous amount of publicity given to the proposed Lan Kwai Fong refuse collection point, may I ask whether the building of such RCP is going
ahead?
DR. RONALD D. B. LEUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL HYGIENE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-The question asks whether the building of a refuse collection point at Lan Kwai Fong is to proceed.
The Council approved in June 1985, the building of this RCP at an estimate of $4.1 M, after consultation with local residents in a meeting arranged by the District Officer (Central & Western). The project is in fact a redevelopment scheme of the existing public toilet and sitting-out area at Lan Kwai Fong. It is designed to incorporate also an up-to-date RCP to replace the existing and extremely undesirable on-street RCPs located in Wellington Street.
Working drawings have been completed, and contract documents are now under preparation. Tenderers will be invited in the Government Gazette in June, and construction is due to commence in September 1986. The RCP is expected to be ready for use in about a year's time, i.e. by the autumn 1987.
This RCP will be of the most modern type, equipped with activated carbon- filtration and vehicle exhaust systems, and will be well-designed, and as unobtrusive as possible. The RCP will be located in such a way that it will not be prominent from Lan Kwai Fong. At present the Lan Kwai Fong public toilet is located at the street-side in a very visible and obtrusive location. After the reconstruction the toilet will, with the RCP, be set back unobtrusively to the back of the site: the visually dominant street-side part of the site will be used for an upgraded and improved sitting-out area. This project as a whole will, therefore, improve the overall public amenities in the Lan Kwai Fong area.
Members will recollect that the existing on-street RCPs at Wellington Street have been a source of great anxiety to Council for some years: the amount of refuse required to be collected from the premises in this part of Central is substantial, the obstruction caused to traffic flow by the operation of the RCPS on the street is serious, and the environmental nuisance caused by them is equally unacceptably high. The major existing on-strect RCP in the area is located only three feet away from the entrances to high-class commercial premises. Members will also recollect that the operation of this RCP was the
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subject of successful legal action against the Council in March 1985 by the owners of the commercial premises in question.
For these reasons I must stress as firmly as I can that construction of the Lan Kwai Fong RCP must go ahead and is indeed going ahead. It is the only site in the area available for development as an RCP, it will replace highly undesirable and environmentally inappropriate on-street RCPS. The site is such that the RCP cannot only be built to the most modern designs, but also in such a way that it will not be visible from the street.
Let me conclude by saying this. We live in a waste-producing society. Every year our refuse collection tonnages climb ever higher as the per capita output of
refuse grows.
The residents of the Central District produce rubbish; the residents of Lan Kwai Fong produce rubbish. Living as we do in a tropical climate this organic refuse has to be collected daily. In the congested areas like the Central District we are faced with 'Hobson's Choice'. We either collect this refuse on-street or off-street. Council has decided that the balance of advantages clearly lie with creating off-street RCPs wherever we can do so.
The Lan Kwai Fong RCP, which is located off-street, must therefore be built as planned.
MR. LAU (in Cantonese):——Mr. Chairman, concerning the Lan Kwai Fong RCP if it is finished on schedule, what will be the capacity handled everyday, and how much refuse is being handled by the Urban Council? Moreover, if we do not go ahead with the construction of the RCP in Lan Kwai Fong, how are we going to deal with the refuse in that area?
DR. LEUNG (in English):-Mr. Chairman, Mr. LAU'S supplementary questions are actually in 2 parts. The first part he inquires about the expected daily output of refuse from this area and I can tell him roughly that some 18 tons of refuse are produced each day in this area and this will be collected usually in 2 or 3 collections depending on the mode of transport and the size of the vehicles we use. At present, the refuse is collected on-street at the junction of Wellington Street and D'Aguilar Street involving 3 separate collections per day and this arrangement hinders the pedestrian and vehicular traffic flow and also is a considerable nuisance to the nearby residents. The second part of Mr. LAU's question is about how the Council will cope with the alternative if we cancel the plan to build the off-street RCP in Lan Kwai Fong, my answer is that we have no alternative if we are not to go on with the plan, we will have to continue indefinitely to collect the refuse on-street at the on-street RCP near Wellington Street which is proving very undesirable and almost impossible to the nearby residents.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.