ENG-1977 — Page 154

HOUSING AND LAND

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system for dealing with certain projects was still necessary, the criteria for the award of priority needed revision. This revision resulted in a reduction in the number of priority cases to about 60 per cent of the original list.

The Centralised Processing System for dealing with new building plans, which came into being following the introduction in October, 1976, of amendments to a number of Building (Administration) Regulations, proved to be working smoothly and to be of benefit to private developers, authorised persons and registered structural engineers. From April 1, 1977, all plans submitted to the Building Authority for approval were required to be in metric units with the sole exception of those plans that related to documents previously submitted in Imperial measurements.

There were 20 meetings of the Authorised Persons' and Structural Engineers' Regis- tration Committee, which has the statutory function of helping the Building Authority consider applications for inclusion in the Authorised Persons' Register and the Structural Engineers' Register. There were 85 applications for inclusion in these two registers, compared with 111 in 1976. Graduates of the University of Hong Kong and overseas professionals intending to practise in Hong Kong continued to form a large percentage of the total number of applicants. A total of 45 new authorised persons and 26 new structural engineers were registered during the year.

Improved recruitment of staff for the Buildings Ordinance Office during the year allowed for the creation of two new divisions. This expansion enabled the Buildings Ordinance Office to increase the number of inspections of building works in progress and permitted a greater degree of attention to the control of unauthorised building works. The Soils Engineering Division was re-named the Geotechnical Engineering Division and became a part of the PWD's new Geotechnical Control Office. At the same time the division was expanded and became better able to handle the increased demands being made on its services in the private building sector.

'Building projects in the New Territories worth mentioning included the Sha Tin Racecourse of the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, which was in its final phases of construction, and the Sea Ranch Resort at Yi Long Wan, Lantau Island, on which site formation and infrastructure work had started. On Hong Kong Island, the Arts Centre and 12 residential tower blocks 28 to 29 storeys high in Tai Koo Shing and Tai Koo Valley, Quarry Bay, were completed. In addition, proposals were approved for the construction of two 42-storey blocks in Central to be known as New Gloucester Tower and New Marina Tower, for the 41-storey new Windsor House in Causeway Bay and for the 52-storey Sun Hung Kai Centre on the Wan Chai waterfront. The latter site realised the highest price ever at a government auction. On the other side of the harbour, Phase I of the Hong Kong Polytechnic development programme received its occupation permit and Phase II progressed steadily.

The Mass Transit Railway Corporation initiated several projects involving joint participation by private real estate developers in the construction of residential and commercial accommodation over its operational buildings. Plans were approved for buildings constituting a small township of about 25,000 people on a 10-hectare podium over the Kowloon Bay Depot, on which work was well advanced. Plans also were approved for a 28-storey commercial building on the site of the old General Post Office, which will be integrated with the future MTR Pedder Station, and for a twin-tower 36-storey commercial complex over the future Admiralty Station.