ENG-1986 — Page 203

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LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

The Land Office also provides a conveyancing and legal advisory service to the government for all government land transactions and associated matters. It is responsible for the issue, renewal, variation and termination of government leases as well as for the drafting, completion and registration of conditions of sale, grant and exchange of government land, the granting of mining leases, the registration of owners' corporations, the apportionment of government rents and premia, and the recovery of outstanding rents. It also provides conveyancing services for the Housing Authority in connection with the sale of flats built under the Home Ownership Scheme and for the Financial Secretary Incorporated in connection with the extension of non-renewable government leases, mortgages to secure interest-free loans to private schools, the purchase of properties for government staff quarters and group housing schemes for the elderly.

Land Sales

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Important land transactions in 1986 included the sale by public auction of a site on Hong Kong Island of 16 150 square metres for commmercial and/or residential development. This site is located in Supreme Court Road and was part of the former Victoria Barracks.

A further site of 15 320 square metres on Hong Kong Island, situated in Tin Hau Temple Road was sold by public auction in November for medium density residential development. The sale by private treaty to Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation of a site of 1.935 hectares for its Light Rail Transit System Terminus in Tuen Mun was completed in April. Comprehensive development above the terminus will provide commercial space at first floor level, recreational uses at podium level and private residential use above.

A sale by private treaty to the Housing Authority comprising a site of 1.65 hectares for the Home Ownership Scheme development at Ma On Shan was completed in November. The development will provide 1050 flats with a maximum gross floor area of 61 394 square metres.

In Kowloon, a site of 55 760 square metres at Chuk Yuen West was sold by public tender in December under the Private Sector Participation Scheme. This development will provide about 3 160 flats for sale to purchasers within limited income groups nominated by the Housing Authority. This followed the sale in October of a Private Sector Participation Scheme site in the Junk Bay new town development area which will similarly provide about 1 850 flats.

In the New Territories, a site of 22 810 square metres close to the Fanling Railway Station was sold by tender for residential development in July; the tenders were restricted to holders of land exchange entitlements (Letter A/B). This was the first significant land sale in the expanding Fanling development area and will provide about 100 000 square metres of residential gross floor area together with some 27 500 square metres of associated commercial floor space.

Town Planning

The main aim of town planning in Hong Kong is to provide a good living and working environment for its present and future population. This applies both to the new develop- ment areas, such as Tuen Mun and Sha Tin and to the older congested urban districts, such as Yau Ma Tei and Western District where the need for improvement is most apparent. Town plans can be broadly classified into two groups: statutory and departmental. Their purpose is to control land use and building volume on individual sites to meet the demands of the territory's growing population and to ensure, as far as possible, adequate provision of the required community facilities and public utility services.