1986 — Page 151

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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

MR. SAMUEL P. W. WONG (in English):—Mr. Chairman, the prime objective of the Recreation Select Committee of this Council is to maintain a balance between the provision of both passive and active recreation venues such as parks and sports grounds. This year has seen the opening of the Wong Nei Chung Reservoir Boating Park for the public hire of rowing and pedal boats, the beautiful Chinese Garden at Harbour Road and the Choi Sai Woo Park in North Point. In addition, the Hong Kong Squash Centre at Cotton Tree Drive which comprises 18 courts, including a glass walled Exhibition Court, was opened in autumn. By the end of 1987 and reflecting the increased public interest in squash, the Council will have built, and be operating 79 squash courts which is a substantial increase on the 19 in existence last year. Members would be pleased to know that the indoor games hall facilities at the newly completed Lockhart Road Complex in Wanchai has been opened for advance bookings as from 1st this month.

In addition, there are exciting new plans to provide a mixture of active and passive amenities on the Victoria Barrack's site which will be landscaped with water features and a water-fowl garden, green houses, a walk-through aviary, a garden plaza and promenade, a visual arts centre and a games hall. In addition, the redevelopment of Kowloon Park has begun. This is a turn-key project funded by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club which, on completion of the redevelopment, will be operated by Council as a public facility. Active amenities in the new park include swimming pools, a games hall and children's play- grounds as well as passive facilities such as a sculpture walk, a viewing cone and a Chinese garden. Present planning is that the redevelopment of the Kowloon Park and the Victoria Barrack's facility will open to the public in 1989 and 1990 respectively.

Other major capital recreational facilities which should be completed in the next two years include:-

Wan Chai Reclamation Recreation Centre Games Hall

To Kwa Wan Recreation Ground

Kowloon Bay Recreation Ground

Cheung Sha Wan Sports Ground Stage II

Redevelopment of Choi Hung Road Playground Stage II

Hammer Hill Road Sports Ground Stage I

Carpenter Road Park Stage II Phase II, and the Indoor Games Hall at Chai Wan

In addition, two of our most heavily used athletics tracks, the Kowloon Tsai Park and the Wan Chai Sports Ground, would be completely modernized and upgraded at a total cost of nearly $20 million. Artificial surfaces would be laid on both running tracks, and at Kowloon Tsai a spectator stand for 1 400 people would be added. We have also set up in our Committee a working group, chaired by Mr. Ronnie WONG, to study the feasibility of providing leisure pools in the urban area as a supplement to our conventional swimming pool facilities

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and it is hoped that a final decision could be reached before the next swimming

season.

Members will recall that on the abandonment of the Recreation and Culture Department of the Central Government in 1985, the Urban Council assumed responsibility for the urban aspects of the work of the Recreation and Sports Service. In 1985, we maintained the programme originally planned by and taken over from Government. But in 1986, following a review by members of the Recreation Select Committee, the budget for Recreation and Sports Service programmes was increased from 4 million dollars in 1985 to 5 million dollars in 1986. To some extent, this expansion has stemmed from the rationalization of grassroot recreational and sporting activities by bringing together under the sole management of the Urban Council, the management of the Recreation and Sports Service personnel in the urban area and the management of recreational and sporting venues.

With its very large membership and their day-to-day contact with the people at grass-root level, I am sure the District Boards know their district needs better than some of us in this Council and indeed, over the past years, very valuable advice on the planning priorities and provision of various recreational facilities has been freely given to us. Since September this year and after each meeting of the Recreational select Committee on the third Wednesday of the month, we have invited the Chairman and members of one District Board to join us in a site visit to some selected recreational facilities. We have found these meetings both valuable and constructive. It is our intention therefore to continue to hold this type of visits in the next year or two and I would request that fellow Councillors would make a special effort to join us in these visits, especially when we are visiting your district jointly with our fellow District Board members.

Last month, we have considered in this Council the 1987/88 estimates of revenue and expenditure in respect of those activities which came within the ambit of the Recreation Select Committee, and we have also noted the revised outturn forecast for the year 1986/87.

The estimated expenditure for the year 1987/88 for the Recreation Select Committee is $276.9 million. Comparing with the outturn forecast of the current year of $248.4 million, you will find that we have budgeted for 11.5 per cent increase.

Of the nearly $227 million estimated expenditure, $246 million or 89

per cent is for personal emoluments; the rest, which is a mere 11 per cent of the total budget is distributed as follows:-$30.9 million or 11 per cent is for operational expenditure, which includes (i) $7.4 million for district recreation and sports activities; (ii) $5.5 million for spectator sports and recreation promotion activities and $6.8 million for the maintenance of bathing beaches, swimming pools and urban amenities and playgrounds.

The estimated revenue for 1987/88 is only $58.3 million for the Recreation Select Committee shows an increase of $10.8 million (22.8 per cent) over the