ENG-2000 — Page 265

LAND, PUBLIC WORKS AND UTILITIES

Applicants who are aggrieved by the decisions of the board on review on their applications may lodge appeals with the independent Town Planning Appeal Board. The appeal board heard two cases in 2000, and both of them were dismissed.

The board also promulgates guidelines for applications for developments in areas covered by statutory plans. In 2000, it promulgated one new guideline and revised two. There were 19 guidelines in force.

Departmental Plans

Apart from statutory plans, the Planning Department also prepares departmental outline development plans (ODPs) and layout plans (LPs) for individual districts or areas to show the planned land uses, development restrictions and transport networks in greater detail. At the end of 2000, there were 92 ODPs and 323 LPs.

Enforcement

Under the Town Planning Ordinance, no person shall undertake or continue a development in a development permission area (DPA) unless the development was a ‘use in existence' before the gazetting of the relevant Interim DPA or DPA plans, or is permitted under the DPA plan or the replacement OZP, or has obtained permission from the board. Development not satisfying these criteria is an unauthorised development (UD) subject to enforcement and prosecution actions. Currently, about 18 800 hectares of land in the rural area are covered by DPA plans or the replacement OZPs.

The Planning Authority may serve notices on the respective land owners, occupiers and responsible persons, requiring them to discontinue the UD by a specified date unless planning permission for the development is obtained, or demanding a reinstatement of the land. It is an offence in law if the requirements of the notices are not complied with.

In 2000, 263 new UDs were detected in the rural area. Most of them were related to the open storage of vehicles, containers and construction machinery/materials; workshops and container vehicle/trailer parks. The Director of Planning issued 210 warning letters for 74 cases, 450 enforcement notices for 92 cases, and 627 compliance notices for 110 cases. As for prosecution, 26 defendants in 17 cases were convicted. The average fine imposed was about $16,300 with a range of $500 to $50,000. During the year, the various forms of enforcement actions taken had resulted in the discontinuation of 185 UDs covering 36 hectares of land, and regularisation of another 192 UDs covering 83 hectares of land through the planning application system.

Urban Renewal

The Land Development Corporation (LDC) was established in 1988 to undertake, encourage, promote and facilitate urban renewal in Hong Kong. Since its inception, 16 redevelopment projects have been completed and another 14 projects are under planning or implementation.

The Urban Renewal Authority Bill was passed by the Legislative Council on June 27 for the purpose of setting up a new legal and institutional framework to expedite urban renewal. An Urban Renewal Authority (URA) will be set up in mid-2001 to replace the LDC. The URA will be tasked to implement the Government's Urban

213