1998 — Page 598

Urban Council Proceedings 市政局議事錄 All AI Reviewed

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PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

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channel for airing opinions. Therefore, I think it would be a waste of time to consult the DB Members again on renewal of any liquor licence. Unless the LLB finds that there are problems with a particular licence which justify the concerns of the local residents and DB Members, the DB Members would not

be consulted again.

MR. CHAN CHOI-HI (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I have two follow-up questions. Firstly, just now Mr. WONG has quoted Staunton Street as an example and said that the above licensing condition is imposed on premises in that area because that area used to be very quiet. If this logic is tenable, the Yau Tsim Mong residents may query why the licensing condition that 'No liquor shall be sold between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.' is not applied to the Yau Tsim Mong District which also used to have a quiet environment in the past? I don't think Mr. WONG can explain this.

Secondly, it is about the objective criteria. At present, additional conditions may be imposed having regard to the individual circumstances of each case. I think this may be sort of arbitrary, because one may sometimes adopt his own criteria. Of course I am not querying the criteria adopted by the LLB under Mr. WONG's leadership, but it is a fact that to a certain degree, different requirements do exist within the same district. May I ask whether the LLB has a set of objective criteria? Previously we have proposed that we should make reference to the outline zoning plans of each district in deciding whether liquor licences should be issued to premises in that district, or how many liquor licences should be issued. I think we should adopt a uniform set of criteria in considering all the applications instead of having different criteria for individual cases.

MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, the consideration of LLB has to be practical. At the moment, it will not be practical for the LLB to impose a blanket restriction to forbid the selling of liquor between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. As for the other districts, such as the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned by Mr. CHAN, all I can say is that the Central and Western District is very large. Why do we only impose that restriction in Staunton Street? It is because we have identified a new trend which might cause nuisance to an area with a quiet neighbourhood. That is why I said just now that many local DB Members and residents have requested the LLB to impose that restriction which has the support of local residents. However, if the same restriction is imposed in other areas in the district, say Queen's Road Central, which is a commercial area, it will be a departure from our current practice and will only cause disruption to normal commercial operations.

In fact, there are also quiet areas in the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned just now. But we all know that there are a lot of restaurants, bars and other liquor selling premises along Nathan Road and its adjoining streets. According to Mr. CHAN Choi-hi, that district is rather quiet in normal times. But I have

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Page 598 of 600 Page 598 of 606 PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL 581 channel for airing opinions. Therefore, I think it would be a waste of time to consult the DB Members again on renewal of any liquor licence. Unless the LLB finds that there are problems with a particular licence which justify the concerns of the local residents and DB Members, the DB Members would not be consulted again. MR. CHAN CHOI-HI (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, I have two follow-up questions. Firstly, just now Mr. WONG has quoted Staunton Street as an example and said that the above licensing condition is imposed on premises in that area because that area used to be very quiet. If this logic is tenable, the Yau Tsim Mong residents may query why the licensing condition that 'No liquor shall be sold between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.' is not applied to the Yau Tsim Mong District which also used to have a quiet environment in the past? I don't think Mr. WONG can explain this. Secondly, it is about the objective criteria. At present, additional conditions may be imposed having regard to the individual circumstances of each case. I think this may be sort of arbitrary, because one may sometimes adopt his own criteria. Of course I am not querying the criteria adopted by the LLB under Mr. WONG's leadership, but it is a fact that to a certain degree, different requirements do exist within the same district. May I ask whether the LLB has a set of objective criteria? Previously we have proposed that we should make reference to the outline zoning plans of each district in deciding whether liquor licences should be issued to premises in that district, or how many liquor licences should be issued. I think we should adopt a uniform set of criteria in considering all the applications instead of having different criteria for individual cases. MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese): Mr. Chairman, the consideration of LLB has to be practical. At the moment, it will not be practical for the LLB to impose a blanket restriction to forbid the selling of liquor between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. As for the other districts, such as the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned by Mr. CHAN, all I can say is that the Central and Western District is very large. Why do we only impose that restriction in Staunton Street? It is because we have identified a new trend which might cause nuisance to an area with a quiet neighbourhood. That is why I said just now that many local DB Members and residents have requested the LLB to impose that restriction which has the support of local residents. However, if the same restriction is imposed in other areas in the district, say Queen's Road Central, which is a commercial area, it will be a departure from our current practice and will only cause disruption to normal commercial operations. In fact, there are also quiet areas in the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned just now. But we all know that there are a lot of restaurants, bars and other liquor selling premises along Nathan Road and its adjoining streets. According to Mr. CHAN Choi-hi, that district is rather quiet in normal times. But I have Page 598 of 606 Page 598 of 606

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Page 598 of 600 Page 598 of 606 PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL 581 lhannel for airing opinions. Therefore, I think it would be a waste of time to consult the DB Members again on renewal any liquor licence. Unless the LLB finds that there are problems with a particular licence which justify the -cooncerns of the local residents and DB Members, the DB Members would not be consulted again. MR. CHAN CHOI-HI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have two follow-up questions. Firstly, just now Mr. WONG has quoted Staunton Street as an example and said that the above licensing condition is imposed on premises in that area because that area used to be very quiet. If this logic is tenable, the Yau Tsim Mong residents may query why the licensing condition that 'No liquor shall be szold between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.' is not applied to the Yau Tsim Mong District which also used to have a quiet environment in the past? I don't think Mr. WONG can explain this. Secondly, it is about the objective criteria. At present, additional conditions may be imposed having regard to the individual circumstances of each case. I whink this may he sort of arbitrary, because one may sometimes adopt his own criteria. Of course I am not querying the criteria adopted by the LLB under Mr. WONG's leadership, but it is a fact that to a certain degree, different requirements ado exist within the same district. May I ask whether the LLB has a set of 1objective criteria? Previously we have proposed that we should make reference to the outline zoning plans of each district in deciding whether liquor licences should be issued to premises in that district, or how many liquor licences should be issued. I think we should adopt a uniform set of criteria in considering all the applications instead of having different criteria for individual cases. MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the consideration of LLB has to be practical. At the moment, it will not be practical for the LLB to impose a blanket restriction to forbid the selling of liquor between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. As for the other districts, such as the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned by Mr. ChaN, all I can say is that the Central and Western District is very large. Why do we only impose that restriction in Staunton Street? It is because we have identified a new trend which might cause nuisance to an area with a quiet neighbourhood. That is why I said just now that many local DB Members and residents have requested the LLB to impose that restriction which has the support of local residents. However, if the same restriction is imposed in other areas in the district, say Queen's Road Central, which is a commercial area, it will be a departure from our current practice and will only cause disruption to normal commercial operations. In fact, there are also quiet areas in the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned just now. But we all know that there are a lot of restaurants, bars and other liquor selling premises along Nathan Road and its adjoining streets. According to Mr. CHAN Choi-hi, that district is rather quiet in normal times. But I have Page 598 of 606 Page 598 of 606

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Page 598 of 606

PROVISIONAL URBAN COUNCIL

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lhannel for airing opinions. Therefore, I think it would be a waste of time to consult the DB Members again on renewal any liquor licence. Unless the LLB finds that there are problems with a particular licence which justify the -cooncerns of the local residents and DB Members, the DB Members would not

be consulted again.

MR. CHAN CHOI-HI (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, I have two follow-up questions. Firstly, just now Mr. WONG has quoted Staunton Street as an example and said that the above licensing condition is imposed on premises in that area because that area used to be very quiet. If this logic is tenable, the Yau Tsim Mong residents may query why the licensing condition that 'No liquor shall be szold between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.' is not applied to the Yau Tsim Mong District which also used to have a quiet environment in the past? I don't think Mr. WONG can explain this.

Secondly, it is about the objective criteria. At present, additional conditions may be imposed having regard to the individual circumstances of each case. I whink this may he sort of arbitrary, because one may sometimes adopt his own criteria. Of course I am not querying the criteria adopted by the LLB under Mr. WONG's leadership, but it is a fact that to a certain degree, different requirements ado exist within the same district. May I ask whether the LLB has a set of 1objective criteria? Previously we have proposed that we should make reference to the outline zoning plans of each district in deciding whether liquor licences should be issued to premises in that district, or how many liquor licences should be issued. I think we should adopt a uniform set of criteria in considering all the applications instead of having different criteria for individual cases.

MR. SAN STEPHEN WONG HON-CHING (in Cantonese):-Mr. Chairman, the consideration of LLB has to be practical. At the moment, it will not be practical for the LLB to impose a blanket restriction to forbid the selling of liquor between 11:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. As for the other districts, such as the Yau Tsim Mong District mentioned by Mr. ChaN, all I can say is that the Central and Western District is very large. Why do we only impose that restriction in Staunton Street? It is because we have identified a new trend which might cause nuisance to an area with a quiet neighbourhood. That is why I said just now that many local DB Members and residents have requested the LLB to impose that restriction which has the support of local residents. However, if the same restriction is imposed in other areas in the district, say Queen's Road Central, which is a commercial area, it will be a departure from our current practice and will only cause disruption to normal commercial operations.

1998 — Page 598

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