ENG-1989 — Page 390

THE ENVIRONMENT

individual projects for which EIA studies were carried out included the Kowloon Bay refuse transfer station, the South East New Territories landfill, the Tai Po Towngas plant expansion and power station developments.

During the year, the EIA for the Lamma Island pulverised fuel ash (PFA) disposal strategy reached an important stage, and based on the EIA findings the government was able to decide which of the disposal options was preferred from an environmental point of view. The preferred option included an innovative proposal to fill a quarry site with PFA and restore it to a natural looking hillside an interesting use of a 'waste' product to provide an environmental benefit.

At a more local level, the Environmental Protection Department continued to provide advice on all local and district planning matters. The advice given is generally based on the guidelines and criteria contained in the Environmental Chapter of the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines. During 1989 a comprehensive review of the chapter was initiated with a view to updating the guidelines and generally tightening up on the procedures.

This evolutionary approach to developing a comprehensive environmental planning system based largely on administrative controls has worked well over the last few years, but statutory controls will also be necessary. A review of the Town Planning Ordinance included a number of recommendations with regard to environmental planning. These included provisions to ensure that environmental objectives are given due consideration at all stages of the planning process including the carrying out of planning studies for the purpose of preparing statutory zoning plans, and require that designated categories of developments must be subject to an EIA as part of the approval process. Once the ordinance is revised, the principles and practices of the current environmental planning approach will be given a firm statutory footing.

Another important area of work in the field of environmental planning is that of risk management. Again, the lack of adequate planning in the past has led to problems and there are several examples of potentially hazardous installations (PHIs) posing a risk to nearby residents. The government is now taking positive steps to ensure that only compatible developments will be permitted in the vicinity of PHIs. To tackle some of the existing problems, a complete reassessment of PHIS on Tsing Yi Island was carried out by independent consultants during 1989. The findings of the study recommended the relocation of the hazardous industries from the eastern side of Tsing Yi to the south west of the island where a mountain ridge forms a natural barrier separating this area from residential developments in the north east.

To provide a feedback mechanism between the government and the public on en- vironmental matters, considerable emphasis is placed on liaison with the District Boards and the operation of the 24-hour complaints hotline. While complaint statistics are useful in targetting particular pollution problems and in the formulation of improvement measures, it is recognised that the figures cannot themselves constitute a reliable measure of either the actual state of the environment or of the public's perception of it.

The number of complaints received by the hotline in 1989 was around 4 638. This represented an increase over 1988 of about 49 per cent, indicating a growing awareness and concern among members of the public. Most of these complaints related to industrial areas such as Kwai Tsing, Kwun Tong and Tsuen Wan, where inadequate planning in the past has resulted in widespread environmental problems. The growing public awareness was also reflected in the increase in the number of general enquiries on pollution matters of about 57 per cent over the previous year to around 9 981. It is anticipated that this trend of

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