1993 — Page 126

HONG KONG URBAN COUNCIL

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ADDRESS BY CHAIRMAN

CHAIRMAN (in English):-Ladies and Gentlemen, may I call the meeting to order.

MINUTES

The minutes of meeting held on 8 February 1994 and 22 February 1994 were confirmed.

PAPER

The following paper was laid on the table:

(1) Report to the Urban Council by the Secretary, Urban Council, for the month of February 1994.

QUESTIONS

(1) MR. CHIANG SAI-CHEONG asked the following question (in Cantonese):-At its meeting on 14 September 1993, the Council passed a resolution that in the development of future Urban Council venues, consideration should be given to provide suitable number of parking facilities to provide convenience to the public using such venues. Five months have elapsed and I am not sure whether this resolution has been implemented in the planning of new Urban Council venues. I would like to know what is the Department's plan in carrying out this resolution?

MR. ALBERT POON SHUN-KWOK, CHAIRMAN OF THE CAPITAL WORKS SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in Cantonese): This question asks what plans the Department has for implementing the resolution passed by Council in September last year that consideration should be given to providing suitable number of car parking spaces in UC venues for the convenience of the public.

Since the said Council resolution was passed last year, the Department has been examining the capital works project under planning to see whether parking by venue users could be catered for within the project site and to incorporate such facility in the layout design. The success of all these efforts depends as much on the space available as on the locations of the sites.

At a number of sites for recreational facilities which are relatively not so centrally located, we are fortunate to have enough space to accommodate the designated facilities as well as some car parking spaces for event organizers and venue users. Examples are the Siu Sai Wan Sports Ground, the Shek Kip Mei IGH, and, on a smaller scale, the Cha Kwo Ling Tennis Court. It is not so fortunate at a few other sites. Nevertheless we have been able to include spaces for coach parking, which will facilitate visitors from schools, organized groups as well as teams taking part in sports competitions. Examples are the Lyemum Museum and the Ma Chai Hang Recreation Ground.

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Some venues are designed for both the general public as well as special groups of visitors in mind, and even though the sites are not large enough to provide parking for the wider public, a very limited number of parking spaces will hopefully be made available for users who may have special needs. The Film Archive at Sai Wan Ho would probably fall within this category.

For venues which are very close to MTR stations, or private developments with public car parks, there appears to be no strong justifications for providing public parking, especially if this would take away valuable space which could otherwise be used for more or better UC facilities.

The provision of public parking at UC complexes is particularly difficult. In most cases the lower floors, as well as the basement level in some cases, are occupied by a market and its ancillary facilities such as loading and unloading bay or refuse collection chamber, to name just a few. Being mostly located in densely built up areas, the site areas are extremely confined, and there are constraints in ingress/egress points, as well as road capacity. For the projects examined by the Department since last September, it has not been able to establish the technical feasibility of providing public parking.

Under current Council policy, the provision of car parking spaces at UC venues for patrons is considered to be desirable but not essential. This is because most UC venues are meant to serve the local population, are normally in all cases centrally located, are either well served by public transport or at walking distances. Where the location of a venue is remote, and is not well served by public transport, car parking facilities on a limited scale would be provided subject to site availability. The Department will continue to plan UC venues in line with Council's policy as well as the contents of the resolution referred to in Mr. CHIANG'S question.

(2) MR. PAUL YOUNG TZE-KONG asked the following question (in English):--- The recent incident of biting of old women by rats revealed a problem that the facilities in the refuse collection points are insufficient to cope with the increasing needs of residents. In many old residential areas with a lot of old tenement buildings, at night, litters bins in the street are always overflown with litter which is being scattered around, thus attracting the appearance of rats. I understand many residents would like to take their domestic waste to the nearby refuse collection points (RCP) for deposit but sometimes the locations of the RCPs are not so convenient and the opening hours of the RCPs are so restricted that residents are unable to deposit their rubbish in time. I would like to ask what measures will be taken by the Council to solve the above problem in order to prevent the spread of rats from deteriorating?

PROFESSOR LEUNG PING-CHUNG, CHAIRMAN OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH SELECT COMMITTEE, replied as follows (in English):-Mr. Chairman, MR. YOUNG raises the question of the relationship of rats to overflowing litter bins at night in the streets in old residential areas, and asks whether this is due to inconveniently located refuse collection points (RCPs) and their opening hours.

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