ENG-1981 — Page 270

RECREATION AND THE ARTS

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of Hong Kong's total land area have been designated. They were visited by an estimated eight million people in 1981.

The Director of Agriculture and Fisheries is the Country Parks Authority and is responsible for their management. Facilities provided in the parks include picnic sites with tables and benches, litter bins, children's play equipment, firepits for barbecues and, where appropriate, special facilities for the handicapped. In the more remote areas, a campsite programme has been carried out to provide simple facilities for hikers. The 100-kilometre MacLehose Trail continued to be very popular and plans for the development of additional long distance trails on Lantau Island and in Plover Cove were in progress. In other areas, rural footpaths are being improved and waymarked, and there are nature trails with guidebooks available for people who are interested in the local flora and fauna.

Following the experience of the pilot scheme, the Park Ranger Service was expanded in 1981 to cover a wider area of the country parks system. Their functions are to advise and guide visitors in the use and care of countryside recreational facilities, to protect the plants and wildlife, and to carry out the countryside educational programme.

Urban Council

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The Urban Council plays a major role in community life, providing a wide range of recreational and cultural facilities in the urban areas. The council's executive arm on the management and planning of the majority of its recreational facilities, including parks, playgrounds and swimming pools, is the Urban Services Department's City Services Department, while its Cultural Services Department provides libraries, museums, the performing arts, films, outdoor entertainment and exhibitions of general interest. In the urban areas, this work is done under the guidance of the Urban Council, while in the New Territories, the Cultural Services Department works closely with the district advisory boards, other government departments and community associations in organising sports, entertainment, cultural and recreational activities.

Among the many projects of the Urban Council being finalised are the provision of boating facilities at Wong Nai Chung Reservoir Park, the Ko Shan Road Park which includes an open-air theatre, and the extension and redevelopment work of Victoria Park. An artificial turf hockey ground at King's Park in Kowloon was built in September, in time for the Junior World Cup Hockey Qualifying Competition (Australasian Zone).

Opened in 1980, the Queen Elizabeth Stadium integrates the three elements of sports administration, training and competition. The top three floors of the stadium's tower block house the Amateur Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong and 23 national sports associations. Its indoor facilities, including a multi-purpose hall, gymnasia, the table tennis playing area and the ancillary committee rooms, are available for training or can be hired for casual play. The stadium, with a 3 500-seat air-conditioned main arena, offers a facility of international standards for basketball, badminton, volley- ball, table tennis, gymnastics, boxing, fencing, judo and cultural activities.

A larger and more sophisticated indoor stadium is being built by the government at Hung Hom. Situated on the podium of the Kowloon-Canton Railway terminus it is designed to accommodate 12 500 spectators. It will be managed by the Urban Council when completed in early 1983.

To provide even more indoor facilities, particularly in built-up areas where space is limited, it is the council's policy that new or reprovisioned market buildings will, in future, be multi-storeyed, with one or two floors constructed especially for recreational and cultural use. Such market buildings opened in the year include the Ngau Tau Kok Market

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