ENG-1991 — Page 235

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

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authority by the Town Planning Board. The Town Planning (Amendment) (No. 2) Ordinance 1991, provides for setting up an independent Appeal Board to take over the current functions of the Governor in Council in dealing with appeals against the decisions of the Town Planning Board on planning applications, was passed by the Legislative Council on July 17, 1991. The board came into operation on November 18, 1991.

Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines

The Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) is a manual of criteria for determining the quantity, scale, location and site requirements of various land uses and facilities. This manual is applied to planning studies, preparation or revision of town plans and development control. The document is constantly under review to take account of changes in government policies and demographic characteristics as well as social and economic trends. Major revisions during the year included road standards and internal transport (including parking) facilities, density guidelines for public housing estates, new standard design school buildings, planning guidelines for rock cavern developments and petrol filling stations, and conservation of historic buildings and archaeological sites.

Since 1990, the distribution of HKPSG has been extended to the libraries of tertiary educational institutions, public libraries and other institutions. A summary of the standards and guidelines has been made available to the public. To further promote public awareness of planning and facilitate the use of these guidelines by non-government bodies in their own work, government has decided to publish the document for public reference. The first three chapters of the document are now available for sale at the Government Publications Sales Centre.

During the year, special planning studies related to the drawing up or revision of planning standards were conducted on the utilisation of car parking spaces in residential zone 2 and 3 areas, hierarchy and distribution of open spaces and recreation facilities, and electronic data processing centres.

Territorial Development Strategy

The Territorial Development Strategy (TDS) provides a broad long-term land use/ transport/environmental framework for the planning and development of the territory. It aims to facilitate the continued growth of the territory as a regional centre and international city. A comprehensive review of the strategy was commenced in 1990 to assess the implications of the proposed port and airport developments and the current policies on environment and transport. The changing role of the territory in the context of recent developments in the Pearl River Delta region is also being taken into consideration in the review. Major sectoral land use studies on industry, housing, office and business park, recreation, rural land, landscape/conservation and environment have also been undertaken as part of the review, with the assistance of consultants where necessary. Based on these studies, various options and broad patterns of future territorial development will be prepared, tested and refined. On completion of the review, the TDS will lay down the framework for infrastructure provision to satisfy long-term development needs, especially in the distribution of population, employment and economic activities. Sectoral land use policies for housing, industry, office, recreation and conservation will also be formulated to provide guidelines for future development. The current review of the TDS is expected to be completed in 1992–3.