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accepted. So far, the Council has not come up with penalties in respect of such activities.
MR. DANIEL TO Boon-Man (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, my question still centres on beach volleyball and other beach activities. Hong Kong hosts the international beach volleyball competition annually. I find it ridiculous that as the hosting city, no such activities are permitted on our beaches. Can we overcome difficulties in this respect? Will the Recreation Select Committee discuss with the Department for designating areas for the sport as training ground and some sort of encouragement? This way, our policy will be more consistent.
MR. RONNIE Wong Man-chiu (in Cantonese):-First of all, I must clarify that the Council does not host beach volleyball competitions. The organiser came to us to apply for use of venue.
I share Mr. To's views on this. When such activities are becoming more and more popular, we, as the manager of beaches, should consider to permit such activities on our beaches. However, I would urge for careful consideration because swimmers and sun-bathers should not be disturbed due to the new measures. Perhaps we can consider making available beaches not gazetted for swimming. It should be more feasible to reserve gazetted beaches cordoned off with floaters for swimmers and sun-bathers and make use of non-gazetted ones for volleyball games. I will follow this up with the Department and see what can be done.
MR. DANIEL TO BOON-MAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have one more follow-up question. As stated in the reply, beach goers may not swim during non-swimming seasons. We can in fact hold all sorts of beach activities during these periods. We should not set up limits for ourselves. I hope the Chairman of the Recreation Select Committee will consider this.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-I shall refer Mr. To's idea to the Recreation Select Committee.
Mr. Wu Chi-wai (in Cantonese):—My follow-up question has actually been raised. I would like to know if the sea stretches outside of the area cordoned off by floaters at our beaches is the responsibility of our life guards. If not, shall we consider marking out some parts outside the cordoned area for beach volleyball or beach frisbee? Such activities can take place in these areas any season.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-The area outside the cordoned area is not the responsibility of the Department. Of course, we can negotiate with relevant government departments, such as Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau or the Lands Department through the Urban Services Department to hand over responsibility of such areas to us so that
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accepted. So far, the Council has not come up with penalties in respect of such activities.
MR. DANIEL TO Boon-Man (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, my question still centres on beach volleyball and other beach activities. Hong Kong hosts the international beach volleyball competition annually. I find it ridiculous that as the hosting city, no such activities are permitted on our beaches. Can we overcome difficulties in this respect? Will the Recreation Select Committee discuss with the Department for designating areas for the sport as training ground and some sort of encouragement? This way, our policy will be more consistent.
MR. RONNIE Wong Man-chiU (in Cantonese):-First of all, I must clarify that the Council does not host beach volleyball competitions. The organiser came to us to apply for use of venue.
I share Mr. To's views on this. When such activities are becoming more and more popular, we, as the manager of beaches, should consider to permit such activities on our beaches. However, I would urge for careful consideration because swimmers and sun-bathers should not be disturbed due to the new measures. Perhaps we can consider making available beaches not gazetted for swimming. It should be more feasible to reserve gazetted beaches cordoned off with floaters for swimmers and sun-bathers and make use of non-gazetted ones for volleyball games. I will follow this up with the Department and see what can be done.
MR. DANIEL TO BOON-MAN (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have one more follow-up question. As stated in the reply, beach goers may not swim during non swimming seasons. We can in fact hold all sorts of beach activities during these periods. We should not set up limits for ourselves. I hope the Chairman of the
Recreation Select Committee will consider this.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-I shall refer Mr. To's idea to the Recreation Select Committee.
Mr. Wu Chi-wai (in Cantonese):—My follow-up question has actually been raised. I would like to know if the sea stretches outside of the area cordoned off by floaters at our beaches is the responsibility of our life guards. If not, shall we consider marking out some parts outside the cordoned area for beach volleyball or beach frisbee?. Such activities can take place in these areas any season.
MR. RONNIE WONG MAN-CHIU (in Cantonese):-The area outside the cordoned area is not the responsibility of the Department. Of course, we can negotiate with relevant government departments, such as Planning, Environment and Lands Burcau or the Lands Department through the Urban Services Department to hand over responsibility of such areas to us so that
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