ENG-1977 — Page 145

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HOUSING AND LAND

will include three kindergartens, three primary schools, three secondary schools, a welfare hall, two children's centres, two youth centres, two nurseries and social welfare agencies. Wo Che Estate, when fully developed in 1979, will have 6,000 flats for 40,000 people and, together with the adjoining Lek Yuen Estate, will form a single community of more than 60,000 inhabitants.

In August, the first batch of flats became available at Tai Hing Estate, at Tuen Mun New Town. A 30-storey cruciform block design was adopted by the Public Works Department for this estate, and new mechanised building methods were used in its construction at a cost of some $160 million. The first phase of Tai Hing offered 4,500 flats in three 30-storey cruciform blocks and one seven-storey slab block. Construc- tion work, to be carried out in two stages, is scheduled for completion in early 1979 with an eventual population of 55,000 people. General community facilities include a commercial complex, a large number of shops and shop stalls, banks, clinics, restaurants, a community centre, nurseries, recreation centres for children, educational services, a police station, and fire and ambulance units. A bus terminus will provide services to Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan New Town and other districts.

Estates Under Construction

At the end of the year, a further 17 estates were under construction, with four more under piling or site formation. Limited land resources in urban areas saw the exten- sion of public housing to various districts in the New Territories, mostly concentrated in three developing new towns - Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun. The authority also started building the first estates at Tai Po and on Ap Lei Chau Island, opposite Aberdeen. The Tai Yuen Estate at Tai Po, when fully developed in the middle of 1980, will have' its own educational, commercial, social and welfare facilities and form a modern, self-contained township for 32,000 people, doubling the present population of the market town of Tai Po.

Construction work for Ap Lei Chau Estate is divided into two phases, with the first phase progressing smoothly. When fully completed in early 1981, this estate will house about 20,000 people in 3,809 flats. Commercial and social services will be centred in a three-storey commercial complex. To stimulate residential and industrial growth on Ap Lei Chau, a multi-million-dollar bridge is under construction to link the small island with Aberdeen.

In Tsuen Wan New Town, Cheung Shan Estate is expected to be finished by October, 1978. It will provide homes for 10,800 people in 1,600 flats. Three domestic blocks are being built on 5.5 hectares of land, giving a population density of about 790 people to half a hectare.

Also in Tsuen Wan, building work at Shek Wai Kok Estate began at the end of 1977, making this the 14th public housing estate to be constructed in this new town. Situated just below Cheung Shan Estate, construction is divided into four stages, of which the first will be completed by the end of 1979 and the last in 1981. There will be eight domestic blocks, providing a total of 5,677 flats for about 34,000 people.

In East Kowloon, three new estates are taking shape and will be ready in early 1980 and mid-1981, providing a total of 22,200 self-contained flats for 134,500 people. They are Shun Lee, Ngau Chi Wan and Fu Shan estates. Fu Shan, the smallest of the three, is expected to be fully completed in the middle of 1978 and offer some. 1,600 flats.