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54
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):
This question deals with the possibility of converting some of the bigger community halls in the urban districts into local city halls.
First, may I say by way of background that, under the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements between the Government and the Urban Council, the Government is responsible for the planning, financing and construction of city hall type civic centres in the urban area, whilst the Urban Council is responsible for the management and control of such facilities upon their completion.
However, for many years now, the Council has recognised the need for local urban communities to have reasonable access to suitable venues for local civic, cultural, and entertainment events. To meet these local aspirations, the Council has built a number of Community Arts Centres, comparable in size and facilities as the City Hall Theatre. These centres are sited for the most part to be easily accessible by public transport, as they are designed to serve a wider area than the urban district in which they are located. The most recently opened Community Arts Centres is the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre.
The Council also recognizes the need of district organizations to have access to its larger venues such as the City Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Rental subsidy schemes have therefore been introduced to enable bona fide non-profit-making district organizations, amongst others, to use these venues at a reduced rental. The Council may also jointly present appropriate cultural and entertainment activities at these venues with district organizations by providing free use of the facilities.
On the provision of district venues for cultural and entertainment events, the Council last reviewed the provision of these facilities in 1987, and concluded that its policy to achieve a reasonable geographical spread of such venues should remain and that pending further experience with usage of the existing facilities, a moratorium should be put on the provision of more venues after the completion of the community arts centre in Sai Wan Ho.
In this regard, it is worth noting that with the opening of new venues in recent years, there is a need to improve the utilization rate of Council's venues, to achieve greater cost-effectiveness of these venues.
Taking these factors into account, as well as the need to contain Council's public works programme in the light of current financial constraint, it would be inadvisable to consider investing yet more resources into the provision of further venues for district cultural and entertainment programmes. Moreover, experience elsewhere suggests that conversion of community halls for this purpose is not likely to be cheap, and the results are rarely satisfactory.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to invite district cultural and entertainment organisations to make greater use of the existing facilities and the rental subsidy schemes that are available.
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HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
55
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Has my question been discussed at the Culture Select Committee? And if not, could my question be referred because if it was not needed, there would not have been so many questions asked of me as to what was my own attitude.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-The Culture Select Committee has regularly reviewed the utilization rate of existing civic centres and other venues. Such information is always available to Members of Culture Select Committee. We hope that in the near future, more information on the utilization rate of the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre could be made available. By then, we will consider if it is necessary to review the existing policy. With more information available, the Culture Select Committee is of course willing to review Mr. BERNACCHI's question.
(Messrs. CHAN KWOK-MING and Ambrose W. S. CHEUNG arrived at 2:40 p.m.)
MR. JASON K. Y. YUEN (in English):-Mr. Chairman, it seems that there is a bit of confusion about the terminology here between the term of 'city hall' and 'community centre' or 'civic centre'. One understands that according to the hierarchy of provision, city hall is the most sophisticated and well-equipped for territory-wide usage whereas the others are venues for much lesser scale for district usage only. I wonder if the Council has made it very clear to the public about the definitions and the meanings of these terms so that when the public ask for the provisions, they would know exactly what they are asking for without confusion.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-According to our categorisation, the territory-wide facility is called city hall, as for district civic centres we call them community arts centres. As for other venues managed by the CNTA who intends to privatise them are called community halls. There is a standard term for them in English and Chinese. Mr. Yuen is right to point out that if we can give clearer explanation to the public concerning the terms of these venues, it would be better for them to understand when they ask for provision of appropriate facilities.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English): Could I ask for a timetable on this reconsideration because what has occurred after the completion of the community art centre in Sai Wan Ho, the District Office has ceased to support all the local community halls that they used to support last year and previously? So I am very worried about the whole thing.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-I share Mr. BERNACCHI's view that if the District Office has ceased to support the community halls as they used to do in the past, then the Urban Council has to shoulder more responsibilities in organising district cultural and entertainment activities. We hope that we can obtain more information on last year's utilization rate of the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre and its operation. At present, the information available is only for...
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Page 32 of 126
Page 32 of 126
54
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG, CHAIRMAN OF THE CULTURE SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese):
This question deals with the possibility of converting some of the bigger community halls in the urban districts into local city halls.
First, may I say by way of background that, under the Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements between the Government and the Urban Council, the Government is responsible for the planning, financing and construction of city hall type civic centres in the urban area, whilst the Urban Council is responsible for the management and control of such facilities upon their completion.
However, for many years now, the Council has recognised the need for local urban communities to have reasonable access to suitable venues for local civic, cultural, and entertainment events. To meet these local aspirations, the Council has built a number of Community Arts Centres, comparable in size and facilities as the City Hall Theatre. These centres are sited for the most part to be easily accessible by public transport, as they are designed to serve a wider area than the urban district in which they are located. The most recently opened Community Arts Centres is the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre.
The Council also recognizes the need of district organizations to have access to its larger venues such as the City Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Stadium. Rental subsidy schemes have therefore been introduced to enable bona fide non-profit-making district organizations, amongst others, to use these venues at a reduced rental. The Council may also jointly present appropriate cultural and entertainment activities at these venues with district organizations by providing free use of the facilities.
On the provision of district venues for cultural and entertainment events, the Council last reviewed the provision of these facilities in 1987, and concluded that its policy to achieve a reasonable geographical spread of such venues should remain and that pending further experience with usage of the existing facilities, a moratorium should be put on the provision of more venues after the completion of the community arts centre in Sai Wan Ho.
In this regard, it is worth noting that with the opening of new venues in recent years, there is a need to improve the utilization rate of Council's venues, to achieve greater cost-effectiveness of these venues.
Taking these factors into account, as well as the need to contain Council's public works programme in the light of current financial constraint, it would be inadvisable to consider investing yet more resources into the provision of further venues for district cultural and entertainment programmes. Moreover, experience elsewhere suggests that conversion of community halls for this purposes is not likely to be cheap, and the results are rarely satisfactory.
In conclusion, I would like to take this opportunity to invite district cultural and entertainment organisations to make greater use of the existing facilities and the rental subsidy schemes that are available.
Page 32 of 126
HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL
55
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English):-Has my question been discussed at the Culture Select Committee? And if not, could my question be referred because if it was not needed, there would not have been so many questions asked of me as to what was my own attitude.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-The Culture Select Committee has regularly reviewed the utilization rate of existing civic centres and other venues. Such information is always available to Members of Culture Select Committee. We hope that in the near future, more information on the utilization rate of the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre could be made available. By then, we will consider if it is necessary to review the existing policy. With more information available, the Culture Select Committee is of course willing to review Mr. BERNACCHI'S question.
(Messrs. CHAN KWOK-MING and Ambrose W. S. CHEUNG arrived at 2.40 p.m.)
MR. JASON K. Y. YUEN (in English):-Mr. Chairman, it seems that there is a bit of confusion about the terminology here between the term of 'city hall' and 'community centre' or 'civic centre'. One understands that according to the hierarchy of provision, city hall is the most sophisticated and well-equipped for territory-wide usage whereas the others are venues for much lesser scale for district usage only. I wonder if the Council has made it very clear to the public about the definitions and the meanings of these terms so that when the public ask for the provisions, they would know exactly what they are asking for without confusion.'
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):-According to our categorisation, the territory-wide facility is called city hall, as for district civic centres we call them community arts centres. As for other venues managed by the CNTA who intends to privatise them are called community halls. There is a standard term for them in English and Chinese. Mr. Yuen is right to point out that if we can give clearer explanation to the public concerning the terms of these venues, it would be better for them to understand when they ask for provision of appropriate facilities.
MR. B. A. BERNACCHI (in English): Could I ask for a time table on this reconsideration because what has occurred after the completion of the community art centre in Sai Wan Ho, the District Office has ceased to support all the local community halls that they used to support last year and previously? So I am very worried about the whole thing.
MR. MAN SAI-CHEONG (in Cantonese):—I share Mr. BERNACCHI's view that if the District Office has ceased to support the community halls as they used to do in the past, then the Urban Council has to shoulder more responsibilities in organising district cultural and entertainment activities. We hope that we can obtain more information on last year's utilization rate of the Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre and its operation. At present, the information available is only for
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