Minutes of the 3rd Meeting of District Council in 2018

Date: 3 May 2018(Thursday) Time: 9:30 a.m. to 3:17 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Council

Present Time of Arrival Time of Withdrawal Chairman Mr. CHEUNG Hok-ming, GBS, JP Beginning of the meeting 2:09 p.m.

Vice-chairman Ms. WONG Pik-kiu, BBS, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting

Members Mr. AU Chun-wah Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHAN Cho-leung, MH Beginning of the meeting 1:55 p.m. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting 3:09 p.m. Mr. CHENG Chun-ping, JP Beginning of the meeting 1:59 p.m. Mr. CHENG Chun-wo Beginning of the meeting 12:31 p.m. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. KWAN Wing-yip Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Dr. LAU Chee-sing Beginning of the meeting 2:16 p.m. Mr. LAU Yung-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LI Kwok-ying, BBS, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LI Wah-kwong, Rex Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LI Yiu-ban, BBS, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting 12:30 p.m. Mr. LO Hiu-fung Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. TAM Wing-fun, Eric, MH Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. TANG Ming-tai, Patrick Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YAM Kai-bong, Francis Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YAM Man-chuen Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YU Chi-wing, Ken Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting

Secretary Mr. LEE Yu-sau, Terence Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Tai Po District Office, Home Affairs Department - 2 -

In Attendance

Ms. LUI Siu-chu, Andy, JP District Officer (Tai Po), Home Affairs Department Ms. LEE Kai-ying, Iris Assistant District Officer (Tai Po), Home Affairs Department Mr. LEE Kwok-chung District Commander (Tai Po), Police Force Mr. YAM Mun-ho District Social Welfare Officer/ Tai Po and North, Social Welfare Department Ms. CHU Ha-fan, Jessica District Planning Officer/Sha Tin, Tai Po and North, Planning Department Ms. LEUNG Miu-yin, Karen District Lands Officer/Tai Po, Lands Department Mr. CHAN Wing-yiu, Ronald Administrative Assistant (Lands), District Lands Office/Tai Po, Lands Department Mr. CHUNG Wing-hong, John Chief Engineer/N3, Civil Engineering and Development Department Mr. HO Fuk-on, Arthur Senior Engineer/11 (N), Civil Engineering and Development Department Mr. CHAN Kai-lam, Allan Chief Manager (Tai Po, North & Shatin Region), Housing Department Ms. FUNG Wai-kwan, Louisa Chief Transport Officer/ East, Transport Department Ms. LAM Sung-kit, Tracy Chief School Development Officer (Tai Po), Education Bureau Mr. LAI Siu-kwong District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Tai Po), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Ms. HEUNG Ching-yee, Alice Chief Leisure Manager(New Territories East), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Ms. LIU Pui-wah, Stella District Leisure Manager(Tai Po), Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr. CHAN Hoi-ming, Peter Senior Liaison Officer (1) , Tai Po District Office, Home Affairs Department Ms. WONG Yu-hang, Anita Senior Liaison Officer (2) , Tai Po District Office, Home Affairs Department Executive Officer I (District Council), Tai Po District Office, Home Ms. LEE Ho-yee, Trazy Affairs Department

Absentee

Mr. WOO Kin-man, Clement

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Mr. CHEUNG Hok-ming, Chairman of the (“TPDC”), was not available to chair the meeting due to sickness. Under Order 6(2) of the Tai Po District Council Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”), Ms. WONG Pik-kiu, Vice-chairman of the TPDC, would preside at the meeting as Acting Chairman (hereafter referred to as “Acting Chairman”).

Announcements

2. The Acting Chairman welcomed Members and departmental representatives to the meeting and made the following announcements:

(i) Ms. Stella LIU, District Leisure Manager (Tai Po) of Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) replaced Mr. TAM Hung-kong, who had already retired, to attend TPDC meetings from now on.

(ii) Ms. Alice HEUNG, Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories East) of LCSD and Mr. Arthur HO, Senior Engineer/11 (N) of Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”) attended this meeting.

(iii) Mr. Clement WOO was unable to attend the meeting owing to other commitments and had submitted an application for absence to the Secretariat before the meeting. Pursuant to Order 51(1) of the Standing Orders, TPDC would only give consent to applications for absence from meetings filed on the grounds of sickness (including sickness due to pregnancy), jury service, attendance at another meeting or an activity on behalf of the DC, attendance at a Legislative Council (“LegCo”) or Executive Council meeting, confinement or paternity leave. Pursuant to the above requirements, no consent could be given to the application filed by Mr. Clement WOO.

I. Meeting with the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services

3. The Acting Chairman welcomed Ms. Michelle LI Mei-sheung, JP, Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, accompanied by Senior Staff Officer (HQ) Mr. CHIU Chung-yan, Charlson, Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories East) Ms. Alice HEUNG, Chief Librarian (Operations and District Council Management) Ms. LEE Fung-yee, Susanna, Chief Executive Officer (Planning) Ms. CHEUNG Yuk-shan, Linda and District Leisure Manager (Tai Po) Ms. Stella LIU of LCSD to the meeting.

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4. Ms. Michelle LI said that she would brief Members at this meeting on LCSD’s work in the areas of recreation and sports programmes, works and optimisation projects, public library service, arts, antiques and monuments as well as cultural heritage as follows:

Recreation and sports programmes

(i) With a population of some 320,000 at present, Tai Po District had five sports centres, two artificial turf pitches, one swimming pool, one sports ground, one waterfront park, 79 sitting-out areas as well as barbeque sites and ancillary facilities for recreational fishing. Among the venues and facilities, covered an area of about 22 hectares and was the largest park in Hong Kong offering a great variety of facilities catering for both quiet and vibrant activities.

(ii) Water Sports Centre was also in Tai Po District. Since its commissioning in 1982, many activities had taken place at the Water Sports Centre which had nurtured a lot of water sports athletes and lovers.

(iii) LCSD’s recreation and sports programme highlights in 2017/18 included the 6th Hong Kong Games, “Sport For All Day”, “Storm the Park Days”, “School Planting Plot in Park” Scheme cum tree-planting activities and various special programmes.

(iv) The 6th Hong Kong Games had taken place from April to May 2017. With dedicated support from TPDC and Tai Po Sports Association, 171 athletes from Tai Po District had won a total of 22 medals (12 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze) in eight sports items, topping the list among 18 Districts territory-wide in terms of the number of gold medals won. Besides, Tai Po District also won the “District with Impressive Progress” and “District with the Best Progress” awards for swimming. LCSD was now actively preparing for the 7th Hong Kong Games to be held in 2019. With the leadership of DC Members, Tai Po District would definitely be able to achieve even better results in the Hong Kong Games next year.

(v) To support China’s National Fitness Day, LCSD organised the “Sport For All Day” on the first Sunday in August each year. “Sport For All Day” activities held in 18 Districts territory-wide each carried special characteristics and Tai Po District had “Stay Active Let’s Dance” as its theme for 2017 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

(vi) LCSD had also made a new attempt in the year 2017/18 to organise “Storm the Park Days” at Tai Po Waterfront Park to add colours to the park. Family Camp under the Stars@Tai Po Waterfront Park held last November let participants set up tents in designated lawns, view fireflies, fly kites and sing folk songs. LCSD would review whether it would be feasible to organise similar activities again in the future.

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(vii) “School Planting Plot in Park” Scheme cum tree-planting activities was LCSD’s highlight greening and tree-planting programme in Tai Po District, with several TPDC Members as Green Ambassadors to promote greening in the district. In addition, District Councils of all 18 Districts gave staunch support each year to Hong Kong Flower Show. The attendance of this year’s Flower Show hit a record high of some 700,000.

(viii) LCSD also organised various special programmes in Tai Po District such as table-tennis and hiking activities. Moreover, Mr. LO Hiu-fung and Mr. YAM Man-chuen acted as Sports Ambassadors to help promote recreation and sports activities in the district.

(ix) TPDC provided LCSD various assistance as far as software and hardware were concerned. In the year of 2017/18, TPDC had allocated more than $3 million via District Minor Works (“DMW”) Programme to carry out five improvement and beautification projects in Tai Po District, while allocating some $4 million to organise over 1 000 community recreation and sports activities, in which more than 70 000 people had participated.

Works and optimisation projects

(x) LCSD, Home Affairs Bureau (“HAB”) and relevant departments had in January 2018 briefed TPDC on the latest progress of the project “Development of a Bathing Beach at Lung Mei, Tai Po” and secured TPDC’s support. Design refinement of the project and preparation of tender documents were currently underway and LCSD anticipated the tender exercise to take place end of this year, and that the works would commence in the third quarter in 2019 and complete in 2021. Besides, having heeded DC Members’ views, LCSD had reserved room in the vicinity of the beach for road widening works which might be carried out in the future.

(xi) The project to provide Stadium, Community Centre and Soccer Pitch in Area 1, Tai Po had already secured Legislative Council’s (“LegCo”) funding in 2016 and commenced in February 2017. The project was expected to complete in 2021. The stadium would have an indoor heated swimming pool, a main games arena and parking spaces (including 200 parking spaces for private cars).

(xii) Support from LegCo’s Home Affairs Panel for the project “Local open space in Area 6, Tai Po” had been obtained on 23 April 2018, which was currently awaiting vetting by the Public Works Subcommittee (“PWSC”). Should funding be granted by the Finance Committee (“FC”) within the current legislative session, the project would commence within 2018 and was expected to complete in the third quarter in 2020.

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(xiii) The Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address had proposed that 26 sports and recreational facilities be provided or enhanced within the next five years and the project “11-a-side artificial turf soccer pitch-cum-rugby pitch in Area 33, Tai Po” was among the said facilities. LCSD was aware of the views which expressed the hope that a car park could also be provided in the project. However, such views might have an impact on the works progress. When discussing with TPDC what facilities were to be included in the project, LCSD would also take into consideration the project timetable with a view to expediting the implementation of the project.

(xiv) The upgrading works of facilities in Tai Po Civic Centre would include the provision of 700 fixed seats at the auditorium, enhancement of stage, lighting and audio facilities, provision of additional storage space and passenger and goods lifts as well as hall expansion. At present, LCSD had already entrusted Architectural Services Department (“ASD”) with the appointment of a consultant company to design the upgrading works. LCSD expected to consult TPDC and relevant stakeholders by the end of this year and actively competed for resources under the existing mechanism with a view to commencing this project as soon as possible.

(xv) Apart from the above major projects, LCSD also carried out several DMW projects in the district such as the works of Kwong Nam Sitting-out Area where elderly fitness equipment, arbours and benches would be provided.

Public library services

(xvi) There were one district library and nine mobile library stops in Tai Po. The district library in Tai Po covered an area of some 3 600 square metres which was larger than average district libraries and offered services such as study rooms. LCSD would continue reviewing ways to further enhance library services in different areas to cater for the needs of community development.

(xvii) LCSD also actively worked together with various NGOs through Community Libraries Partnership Scheme to provide community-based library services. There were nine community libraries in Tai Po in the meantime and LCSD would continue exploring how support for community libraries could be further strengthened to provide members of the public better library services.

(xviii) Following the change in reading habit of the younger generation, LCSD was actively expanding its electronic resources and services such that members of the public could access library services without having to go out. At present, LCSD had 75 online databases and 10 e-book databases which allowed members of the public access the electronic resources from any place and at any time via the internet or in libraries.

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(xix) Reading could enhance the overall quality of the public and intellectual standard of the society. Hence, LCSD had already planned a series of measures to launch a citywide reading promotion campaign with the theme “Discover & Share the Joy of Reading” to inject new dynamics into public libraries, making public libraries a platform for the public to enjoy reading. Under this campaign, LCSD would devise large-scale library publicity and promotion events whereas libraries in various districts would also organise diversified activities to promote reading. Besides, LCSD would also work together with the Education Bureau to enhance block loan services to kindergartens and nurseries which brought books to schools to enable schoolchildren to enjoy library services without having to go to libraries in person. LCSD was willing to heed views from Tai Po District with a view to working together to promote reading activities and enhance the culture of reading.

Arts

(xx) In Tai Po District, there were Tai Po Civic Centre and an arts centre which would be converted from the former Tai Po Government Secondary School. LCSD hoped that the said centres could enable Tai Po District to keep making performance spaces available to the public.

(xxi) Via the Community Cultural Ambassador Scheme, LCSD organised from time to time arts performances at various spaces such as Central Town Square and community centre in Tai Po District for members of the public to enhance the cultural and artistic ethos in the community. In addition, LCSD also organised several free cultural and recreational activities. For instance, through organising lantern carnivals at major festivals each year, major performing groups from various provinces in the Mainland were invited to take part in dance or music performances so as to keep promoting performing arts to members of the public.

(xxii) LCSD also actively promoted public arts so that members of the public could appreciate artworks at a close distance. For instance, LCSD had in 2017 set up art benches in Tai Po Central Town Square where members of the public could listen to the sound of waves while sitting on the benches, so they could appreciate artworks and feel the nature at the same time.

(xxiii) The revamping project of the , which had been redeveloped from the original Old Railway Station, was in the meantime being carried out in phases and was expected to complete in 2019.

(xxiv) The Music Office would continue to promote music education via various music workshops and programmes.

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Monuments and cultural heritage

(xxv) There were currently seven statutory monuments in Tai Po District, among which was King Law Ka Shuk. The full restoration project of King Law Ka Shuk won the Award of Merit of the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation in 2001. Besides, there were also a number of graded historic buildings in the district.

(xxvi) Several intangible cultural heritage items of Tai Po District including Jiao Festival in Tai Hang and , Sek Pun (Basin Feast) of Tai Po Tau and festive events such as lantern-lighting rituals at Yuen Chau’s Birthday, Tai Wong Yeh’s Birthday and Tin Hau’s Birthday had become increasingly popular among members of the public and attracted many visitors.

5. Mr. LI Kwok-ying said that cotton trees were planted at several places in Tai Po. The trees would come to fruition after blossoming. As the fruits became mature, the cotton fibres of the trees could be seen floating in the wind, posing a health hazard to people with more sensitive respiratory system and respiratory tract. He had in the past written to LCSD to relay complaints from residents and LCSD would remove the fruits before fruition of the trees to prevent the cotton fibres from floating. However, since a Member of North District Council had complained about LCSD’s removal of fruits, LCSD refused to remove the fruits again and as a result, the amount of cotton fibres became out of control. He hoped that LCSD could “make exceptional arrangement under special circumstances” and adopt measures in accordance with local needs in individual places.

6. Mr. CHENG Chun-ping raised the following views:

(i) Athletes of Tai Po District had achieved brilliant results. He hoped that LCSD could allocate additional resources to organise with TPDC and sports associations more sports programmes for members of the public to participate.

(ii) A vacant site between Tai Po Centre and Tai Yuen Estate would be recovered by the Government for constructing a government office building. The said site was conveniently located adjacent to several housing estates. He recommended that the first and second levels of the building be used as a library for the convenience of the public.

(iii) It had frequently been reported by the media that service at beaches and swimming pools were often affected by strikes of lifeguards. He hoped that LCSD would pay attention as to whether the problem of lifeguard shortage existed.

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(iv) The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (“HZMB”) was located at a scenic environment. He recommended that HZMB be opened for public visit before its official commissioning or even distance running races be held on HZMB to allow members of the public to view it at a close distance.

(v) During this Chinese New Year, LCSD had planted in the district chrysanthemums which withered in about one week after being planted. He hoped that LCSD would use caution when deciding on which seasonal flowers to plant. Besides, he had joined TPDC duty visits to Hangzhou and Ningbo earlier as well as visited Singapore with Tai Po Rural Committee. He found the greening work done in the said cities and country outstanding and recommended that LCSD make reference to the experience in greening work of other regions.

7. Mr. Francis YAM had submitted two papers (see Annex 1 and Annex 2 to the meeting minutes) at the meeting and raised the following views:

(i) LCSD had in December 2017 launched 24-hour self-service library stations so that members of the public could borrow, return and reserve books round-the-clock, which had been well received by the public. However, self-service library stations currently were not available in every district. According to information, LCSD had in 2014 conducted an opinion survey on self-service library stations but had not introduced any self-service library stations until 2017, lagging far behind neighbouring cities such as Taipei and Fuzhou in terms of progress. According to information on the internet, it would cost no more than several ten thousand dollars to acquire a self-serviced library station. Hence, he hoped that LCSD could set up self-serviced library stations in every district territory-wide.

(ii) Several sites that had been used as temporary car parks in Tai Po District such as Area 1, Area 6 and Area 33 either had already been or would be recovered for constructing leisure and cultural facilities. While there was already shortage of parking spaces in the district at present, the problem would be further aggravated by the recovery of the aforementioned sites in the future. LCSD had in the past indicated that it was responsible only for the provision of parking spaces for persons who used its facilities. However, to take Tai Po Waterfront Park as an example, only staff parking spaces were available while the number of metered parking spaces nearby was small, thus falling short of meeting the need of park users. He recommended that LCSD make reference to the experience of various attractions, schools and major parks in Taipei in making use of underground space to provide parking spaces to avoid wastage of land resources.

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(iii) The main arena of Fu Shin Sports Centre was not equipped with any air-conditioning and members of the public and staff felt very uncomfortable in the said venue in hot weather. He hoped that LCSD could negotiate with the property owner of the Sports Centre and arrange for installation of air-conditioners so that members of the public could feel more comfortable when using the Sports Centre in the summer.

8. Mr. KWAN Wing-yip raised the following views:

(i) He commended LCSD front-line staff and planning personnel of Tai Po District for following up on DC Members’ views actively and conscientiously.

(ii) Collection of public libraries was updated at a frequency that was far from satisfactory. Many new books that had been available on the market could not be borrowed from public libraries and members of the public would often have to buy the books themselves, costing them considerable money. He hoped that LCSD could expedite acquisition of books.

(iii) Since traditional characters were used in Hong Kong, he did not quite agree to public libraries’ acquiring books in simplified Chinese version. Nonetheless, in certain categories of books, there might be fewer choices in traditional Chinese version than in the simplified one, in which case LCSD might consider acquiring more books in simplified characters to provide members of the public more options so as to promote reading in Hong Kong and let members of the public acquire more knowledge.

9. Mr. CHAN Cho-leung raised the following views:

(i) Littering was frequent. Should rubbish be found in planters, LCSD would need to notify Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) to clean up, which was time-consuming and inefficient. He recommended that LCSD discuss with FEHD to improve relevant arrangements.

(ii) Many weeping paperbarks were grown in the planters on both sides of Lam Kam Road. Two to three weeping paperbarks had been blown over by typhoons in the past and affected road traffic. Last year, he had written to the Tree Management Office (“TMO”) which had sent specialist to examine the trees on both sides of the road and confirmed that eight of them had to be removed immediately owing to problems with termites. He opined that planters at the said location did not have sufficient space to accommodate large trees and LCSD should review what should be done with the said planters or if other vegetation should be grown in the planters instead.

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10. Mr. LAU Yung-wai raised the following views:

(i) According to Planning Department’s Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (“Guidelines”), leisure and cultural facilities in Tai Po District had not only persistently remained insufficient, but also lagged behind neighbouring districts. He cited an example that while neighbouring districts (such as North District and Shatin District) had two bowls of rice, Tai Po had no more than half a bowl, which was not fair. He hoped that LCSD would pay more attention to the problem of insufficient facilities in Tai Po District.

(ii) One district library could cater for a population of 200 000. As the population of North District had reached 200 000 over a decade ago, there had already been two district libraries. However, Tai Po District currently had a population slightly larger than that of North District, there was only one district library. It was now possible that Tai Po District might have an additional library, which he hoped could reach the level of a district library (i.e. having an area of 2 900 square metre or more). Should the proposed site for the new library fail to meet the conditions required for providing a district library, LCSD should nevertheless take into consideration the construction of a district library in other locations in Tai Po District, in particular in areas north of , while planning for the construction of the said new library, so as to cater for the need of Tai Po residents to acquire knowledge.

(iii) The introduction of self-service library stations was a far-sighted idea. However, the three test points currently in use failed to reflect the actual effectiveness of self-service library stations. He recommended that LCSD increase the number of test points while Tai Po District, which was deprived of library resources, should be among the additional test points too.

(iv) LCSD’s “My Library” mobile application was very convenient. However, there was insufficient publicity and promotion while there was also a lack of online resources. He suggested that LCSD increase resources for mobile applications and multi-media information so as to boost the number of users and enhance public interest in reading.

(v) As per the Guidelines, districts with a population between 20 000 and 250 000 should be provided with a sports ground. At present, there was only one sports ground in Tai Po District whereas there were two in North District, of which the population was about the same as that of Tai Po. This was not fair. As far as he was aware, LCSD had not yet planned for the construction of a sports ground in Tai Po District. Since it would take at least a decade from planning to completion of facilities, it could therefore be anticipated that when the population of Tai Po

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exceeded 400 000 in 10 years, there would still be no more than one sports ground in the district, which would fall short of meeting residents’ need.

(vi) was located very close to residential areas and therefore no competition could be held late in the evening. In view of this, he hoped that when LCSD would in the future build a new sports ground in the district, it would choose a site located further away from residential areas and hold schools’ athletic meets and sports matches at the new sports ground with a view to minimising the impact on residents.

(vii) There would be a 25 x 25 metre heated swimming pool in Tai Po District in a couple of years. Yet, many residents had reflected to him their wish that a standard 50 x 25 metre heated swimming pool could become available in the district. He hoped that upon the completion of the new swimming pool, LCSD would review the current operation of swimming pool and consider upgrading the main pool of the existing Tai Po Swimming Pool to a heated one so that members of the public could use the standard pool all year round.

(viii) He hoped that LCSD would strengthen its staff training to prevent the tree pruning incident at the junction between Kwong Fuk Road and Wan Tau Kok Lane last year resulting in egrets being killed from happening again.

(ix) He thanked LCSD staff of Tai Po District for taking advice in various aspects and for heeding Members’ views.

11. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai raised the following views and questions:

(i) Shortage of parking spaces was serious in the district, which not only led to illegal parking but also gave rise to private car parks’ jacking up their rates at will and members of the public had no choice but to accept the unreasonable rates. Hence, he hoped that LCSD would actively explore the provision of underground car parks in existing facilities or projects being planned so as to alleviate the shortage of parking spaces in the district.

(ii) At present, there was only one library in Tai Po District. Despite its being larger both in size and in its collection than libraries of other districts, the library still fell short of satisfying the need of Tai Po District which had a population of as many as 320 000. Moreover, it was also inconvenient for residents from different parts of Tai Po District to use the library. As regards mobile library vans, both their collection and service hours were rather limited while the number of people they served was not large either. Hence, he hoped that there would be a new library in Tai Po District as soon as possible.

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(iii) During the examination season, students often needed to queue up for study rooms in libraries. He hoped that LCSD would provide library and study rooms in the project at the site of former Tai Po Jockey Club Swimming Pool.

(iv) The existing fitness equipment of Mui Shue Hang Playground was obsolete and not suitable for use by elderly and women. Besides, such fitness equipment was located rather deep inside the playground and members of the public had to walk for 10-15 minutes in the park before reaching the equipment, which was extremely inconvenient. He recommended that LCSD relocate the fitness equipment to different parts of the park to facilitate public access.

(v) Ticket scalping problem for concerts or other performances had recently drawn much attention. Some singers had asked their fans not to buy tickets from ticket scalpers but given the huge demand for tickets in the Mainland, the problem of ticket scalping could not necessarily be curbed even if Hong Kong people refused to buy tickets from scalpers. He enquired how LCSD could improve the ticketing arrangements of URBTIX to combat ticket scalping and protect the rights and interests of Hong Kong people to enjoy performances.

12. Mr. YAM Man-chuen raised the following views:

(i) He praised LCSD staff in Tai Po District for always making every effort to provide assistance, such as promptly solving the noise problem with the air-conditioning system of Fu Heng Sports Centre not long ago.

(ii) Whether according to the Guidelines or taking into consideration of residents’ need in the district, it was all the same the responsibility of LCSD to build a new library in Tai Po District. He suggested that a district library be provided in the project at the site of former Tai Po Jockey Club Swimming Pool. Should the said project fail to provide any library, LCSD should nevertheless provide a library somewhere else in the district.

(iii) He expressed his concern over the issues related to athlete selection of Karatedo Federation of Hong Kong, China and opined that LCSD as a department to promote sporting culture in Hong Kong should enhance supervision to prevent athletes with talents and potentials from being denied of the opportunity to give full play to their abilities.

(iv) The media reported that sports venues were frequently occupied by major sporting events. He hoped that LCSD would pay more attention while allocating venues such that more venues could become available for organising sporting events of smaller scale.

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(v) He hoped that LCSD could step up supervision of the scalping of booking confirmations of sports venues under its management.

13. Mr. LO Hiu-fung raised the following views and questions:

(i) He commended LCSD frontline staff for their respect and keenness towards their jobs and for fully understanding the aspirations DC Members raised regarding the community and sparing no effort in providing assistance.

(ii) It had been mentioned in the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address that the Government intended to allocate $20 billion for implementing 54 sports and recreational facilities projects in 18 Districts territory-wide, among which four were in Tai Po District, namely the Football-cum-Rugby Pitch in Area 33, the open space in Area 6, Hang Village Playground in Area 31 and Sports Centre in Area 6. The open space in Area 6 had been fought for and discussed for years by members of the public and TPDC. Now its construction was finally confirmed. He hoped that LCSD would take into consideration both the views of the public back then and needs of the community nowadays when planning for the project.

(iii) The Highways Department (“HyD”) currently used the site beneath the bridge on Tat Wan Road near the expressway as storage of temporary material. He recommended that the said site be converted into a temporary car park to alleviate the problem of insufficient parking spaces arising from land resumption for construction projects of cultural and recreational facilities.

(iv) It had been mentioned in the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address that the Government would examine and plan within five years for sports facilities in the territory. According to the projections by the Census and Statistics Department, population of Tai Po District would rise to 380 000 in 2024 and seven sports centres would be required by then to meet the public demand for cultural and recreational facilities. Even if those projects under planning and construction were taken into account, Tai Po District would still be short of one sports centre. He was of the view that relevant departments should begin this year to discuss the planning of public facilities in Tai Po to cater for the district’s needs.

(v) He recommended that green belts and vacant land such as the Government land next to Shek Kwu Lung Tsuen, Tai Po and the one next to Ma Wo Tsuen be released and put into temporary recreational use by the public.

(vi) He enquired if Town Planning Board (“TPB”) agreed to the increase in height of the community medical centre project at the site of former Tai Po Jockey Club Swimming Pool. He was of the view that the said project should include library facilities. Since it would take rather long time to provide new library facilities,

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LCSD should also enhance the service of mobile library vans in the short term to satisfy the demand of Tai Po residents, in particular those in rural areas, for library services.

(vii) He had earlier visited Hangzhou together with TPDC and found that greening work was done brilliantly in many communities in the Mainland. On the contrary, despite the fact that considerable resources had been spent on greening work in Tai Po, the result was far from perfect. He asked if there were any ways to make communities in Hong Kong more pleasing to the eye, and opined that LCSD should strengthen its monitoring of outsourced service contractors to ensure that they would take proper care of the vegetation after planting.

14. Mr. Patrick TANG raised the following views:

(i) He praised personnel of Tai Po Waterfront Park for their dedicated effort in carrying out gardening work in the park.

(ii) TPB had approved during the period between 2000 and 2004 the use of land of 550 000 square metres for the development of Mont Vert, but required that 75 000 square metres of land must be reserved for agricultural use. Relevant conditions had already been incorporated into the land lease. The developer of Mont Vert was responsible for the management, repair and maintenance concerned. Residents of Phase I and II had moved in respectively in 2015 and 2016 but the developer had after selling the flats refused to discharge its obligations to manage, repair and maintain the aforementioned land for agricultural use in accordance with the requirements, while “Le Jardin” on the land concerned was not open to the public either. He had enquired of the Development Bureau about the above issues and was subsequently referred to Environment Bureau and FEHD for some minor patching and mending work. Though “Le Jardin” was of great importance to the residents, the developer would not actively follow up on it in the absence of economic incentives. He hoped that LCSD would negotiate with relevant departments and the developer to explore a win-win solution. He recommended that reference be made to the practice of a site on Fung Yuen Road which was converted from privately managed to government managed and that LCSD take over “Le Jardin” and open it for public use as soon as possible.

15. Dr. LAU Chee-sing raised the following views:

(i) He had in 2012 raised that Lung Mei Beach Building should be built at least five metres away from Road so that room could be reserved for subsequent road widening. The beach building was located in present proposal 10 metres

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away from Ting Kok Road, which was an even bigger distance than what he had initially proposed. Hence, he thanked LCSD and ASD for having actively responded to his suggestion. Moreover, the local community had fought for the implementation of Lung Mei Beach project for over two decades, he hoped that tender exercise for the project could be carried out as soon as possible such that Lung Mei Beach could be open for public use soon.

(ii) “Le Jardin” had been built by private developer and had never been open for public use while the desolate garden would give rise to mosquito breeding and affect environmental hygiene. He hoped that departments concerned would negotiate with the developer to open the garden for public use.

(iii) Many cotton trees were grown on both sides of Ting Kok Road. As the fruits became mature, the cotton fibres of the trees could be seen floating in the wind. Some members of the public had complained about the cotton fibres’ causing trachea diseases. He was of the view that the number of cotton trees in the long run should be reduced and consideration should be given to planting trees of other species to minimise problems caused by cotton fibres of the cotton trees.

(iv) Some residents had complained about LCSD’s removal of five trees and some shrubs on Sam Mun Tsai Road. The said trees and shrubs had been grown between the cement plant and the residential areas to serve as a green barrier for noise and dust mitigation. He hoped that LCSD would plant at the said site suitable trees again to replace those which had been removed.

16. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen raised the following views:

(i) He thanked LCSD personnel for actively complementing district work. He also expressed his gratitude to LCSD, TPDO and TPDC Members for leading athletes of Tai Po District to attain outstanding results in the 6th Hong Kong Games.

(ii) He opined that the mechanism to award contracts to the lowest bidders might probably be the reason why Hong Kong’s greening work was not as well done as in the neighbouring regions. He hoped that LCSD would enhance the quality of greening work in Hong Kong.

(iii) Hong Kong food was well received by visitors from around the world. He suggested that a gourmet zone be set up in Tai Po Waterfront Park such that visitors could enjoy culinary delicacy and the beautiful scenery of at the same time, thereby promoting tourism of Tai Po District.

(iv) He recommended that either underground or elevated car park be provided at Tai Po Waterfront Park to alleviate the problem of parking space shortage in the district.

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17. Mr. Ken YU raised the following views:

(i) He praised LCSD staff in Tai Po District for their remarkable performance. (ii) He hoped that LCSD would explore ways to combat ticket scalping, such as introducing real-name ticketing system.

(iii) He hoped that LCSD would provide library facilities in the project at the site of former Jockey Club Tai Po Swimming Pool.

(iv) Since the commencement of cultural and recreational facilities projects in Tai Po District, the number of temporary parking spaces in the district had dropped significantly. He was of the view that LCSD had to increase the number of parking spaces in the district by, for instance, providing underground or multi-storey car park at Tai Po Waterfront Park to meet the demand of members of the public for parking spaces. In addition, he also hoped that LCSD would consider providing more parking spaces when planning cultural and recreational facilities projects in Tai Po District in the future.

18. Mr. Eric TAM had submitted two papers (see Annex 3 and Annex 4 to the meeting minutes) at the meeting and raised the following views:

(i) The site of former Jockey Club Tai Po Swimming Pool had been deserted for close to two decades. He had conducted a survey in the district and members of the public expressed a strong hope that library and study room facilities would be included in the project to be constructed at the said site. He had already written to officials of various levels to reflect aspirations of the public and took this opportunity of Director of Leisure and Cultural Services’ visit to TPDC to relay residents’ requests once again.

(ii) When carrying out construction projects such as government buildings and housing estates, the Government was required to plan in accordance with the Guidelines. However, planning according to the Guidelines might give rise to many problems. For instance, the Government had planned Tai Po Complex and Po Heung Estate in accordance with the Guidelines, which led to the insufficiency of parking spaces around Tai Po Complex and Po Heung Estate. As a result, other locations in the district had to be identified for the provision of additional parking spaces. He also pointed out that while government departments on one hand insisted on adhering to the Guidelines when planning construction projects of government facilities, they failed on the other hand to follow the Guidelines to provide sufficient cultural and recreational facilities in Tai Po District.

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(iii) The number of members of the public keeping pets was on the rise and so was the demand for pet gardens. He recommended that LCSD consider designating some areas within parks in the district for use by pets.

(iv) Incidents of trees collapsing were seen during the typhoon season each year, which led to traffic congestion. He suggested that LCSD take initiative to prune the trees before the typhoon season to minimise the chance of trees collapsing and problems arising therefrom.

(v) Tickets of concerts and other events were currently not sold by real-name registration system in Hong Kong whereas scalping of booking confirmations of venues managed by LCSD was not any criminal offence. As a result, scalping activities had become rampant. Tickets of performances or sports matches in other countries had been sold by way of real-name registration for years and doing so had effectively eradicated ticket scalping such that showgoers who genuinely wanted to watch a performance or sports match could purchase tickets without a problem. He opined that whether or not to implement the real-name registration system, LCSD would need to consider if it was compatible with URBTIX as well as various factors such as venue management. He hoped that LCSD would look into the feasibility.

19. Mr. AU Chun-wah had submitted a paper (see Annex 5 to the meeting minutes) at the meeting and raised the following views:

(i) He commended LCSD personnel in Tai Po District for having worked diligently all along.

(ii) The Government intended to build a community medical centre at the site of the former Jockey Club Tai Po Swimming Pool. He was of the view that departments concerned should make optimal use of the site to provide facilities as appropriate such as library and study rooms. He pointed out that the library of Tai Po District was located in Tai Po South and residents of Tai Po North had to cross Lam Tsuen River and reach the library via Tai Po Market, which was very inconvenient. As residential developments in the district completed progressively, population of Tai Po North would increase significantly and departments concerned should make proper and sound planning for cultural and recreational facilities in Tai Po North as early as possible. He continued that Members of the pro-democracy camp had since 2000 followed up with relevant government departments on how the said site of former Jockey Club Swimming Pool would be used. He hoped that LCSD could provide a new library and study rooms at the site.

(iii) He suggested that activities be held to celebrate the brilliant results Tai Po athletes had achieved at the Hong Kong Games.

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(iv) Despite the fact that LCSD personnel had once indicated that seasonal flowers with vibrant colours would wither sooner, he still hoped that LCSD would plant some seasonable flowers with longer flowering period and brighter colours in the district to add colours to the community.

(v) He recommended that the Government make optimal use of the underground space of those sports facilities development projects which had no layout plans yet. He pointed out that TPDC had visited Hangzhou earlier where the local administration could make good use of the underground space to build facilities such as shopping malls, restaurants and car parks for public use and convenience. Land was scarce and roads were narrow in Hong Kong with numerous people and vehicles. Many problems would have been solved if underground space could be put to good use.

(vi) LCSD should put safety of members of the public and their access to services before everything and provide reasonable remuneration packages to lifeguards. Besides, he pointed out that the utilisation rate of Tai Po Swimming Pool was on the rise. The number of visitors was close to saturation during peak periods such as Saturday afternoons when members of the public might have longer waiting time before entering the swimming pool.

(vii) He had seen swimmers in unsuitable outfits enter the swimming pool, whereby affecting the cleanliness and hygiene of the pool. In the past, there had been staff at swimming pools who checked if swimmers had appropriate clothing but such staff were no longer present in recent years. He hoped that LCSD would impose requirements for swimmers’ clothing such as swimming caps and specified swimwear had to be worn. In addition, he also hoped that LCSD would deploy additional resources to arrange for staff to carry out inspection at swimming pools.

(viii) He recommended that LCSD examine the relocation of cluster of sports facilities such as Tai Po Sports Centre, Tai Po Swimming Pool and Tai Po Sports Ground. He pointed out that the facilities mentioned above occupied considerable area and relocating such facilities would free up the sites for other uses. The Government could also consider putting the underground space of such facilities to good use when building the facilities at new locations.

(ix) Hong Kong Railway Museum in Tai Po was not sufficiently attractive. He suggested that LCSD increase resources to enhance its attractiveness.

(x) Some projects of the former municipal council had not yet completed after almost two decades. He recommended that LCSD allocate additional resources to make up for the work progress that had been lagging behind before.

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20. Mr. LI Yiu-ban said that his constituency was big in area but small in population, it was therefore difficult to compete for resources to build recreation and sports facilities. Nevertheless, his constituency had a beautiful natural environment and cultural heritage, among which the Holy Family Chapel at Chak Kang Village had been the training base of Dongjiang Column during the anti-Japanese period and it was said that there were many cultural relics of historical value in the neighbourhood of the Chapel. However, no repair or maintenance had been done during the past 70 years to the Chapel which as a result had become dilapidated and had to be supported by temporary iron frames. The Secretary for Home Affairs had visited the Chapel on 4 April this year to understand the situation. Besides, descendants of members of the Dongjiang Column had also visited the Chapel earlier and lamented at Hong Kong Government’s lack of respect for historical heritage. Currently, recording of related history relied solely on elderly people who had served as members of Dongjiang Column to recount orally. When they passed away, the Government would have no way to trace relevant history and it would be a real shame. The Holy Family Chapel belonged to the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. He hoped that LCSD could discuss and explore with the Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong how to restore and rehabilitate this Chapel with great historical significance as soon as possible, and consider converting it into a museum so that the history could be handed down further.

21. The Acting Chairman said that some wheelchair-users had been unable to enter and view performances at Tai Po Civic Centre in the past and felt very disappointed. She hoped that when carrying out upgrading works for Tai Po Civic Centre, LCSD could also take into consideration the needs of wheelchair users.

22. Ms. Michelle LI gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions as follows:

(i) LCSD would actively look into inclusion of library and other cultural and recreational facilities into the community medical centre project at the former site of Jockey Club Swimming Pool. LCSD was among the users of the community medical centre project and needed to co-ordinate with other departments and take into consideration factors such as plot ratio, accessibility within the building, compatibility of the facilities and space available for LCSD and so on. Besides, LCSD would refer to relevant departments Members’ proposal to include an underground car park in the project for consideration while LCSD would be willing to co-operate in this regard.

(ii) The population of Tai Po District was approximately 320 000. Therefore, in addition to one district library, LCSD also provided nine mobile library stops as support. At present, the routeing of 12 mobile library vans was nearing full capacity and LCSD would review the routeing concerned. Despite the difficulty in providing additional routes, LCSD would actively carry out study.

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(iii) LCSD currently operated a trial self-service library station in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and New Territories each. Upon completion of the pilot scheme, LCSD would review the usage, cost-effectiveness, mode of operation and so on of the self-service library stations. Besides, LCSD was aware that neighbouring cities such as Shenzhen provided self-service library stations. However, types and modes of library services provided to the public by different regions or cities varied. At present, on top of 70 static libraries, Hong Kong also had 12 mobile library vans to provide library services to more than 110 locations. Such service points of different scales and types were evenly distributed throughout the territory, which was in no way inferior to library services in cities of comparable size to Hong Kong. LCSD maintained an open mind on the provision of self-service library stations and hoped that self-service library stations could complement the overall five-tier structure of libraries to meet the need of members of the public.

(iv) At present, there were dedicated subject teams in libraries to select books. Moreover, LCSD also provided on library website forms for members of the public to make book suggestions and recommendations. Each year, libraries acquired some 800 000 books and views of members of the public would be sufficiently considered when purchasing new books.

(v) When acquiring new books, libraries would accord priority to books in traditional characters. However, as traditional character version might not necessarily be available for certain categories of books, LCSD would select books in simplified characters with suitable subjects for collection as appropriate.

(vi) Hong Kong Public Libraries actively developed the use of new information technology to provide e-book collection and mobile applications via internet and mobile platforms to provide members of the public library services without time and spatial constraints. LCSD would step up promotion of mobile applications and electronic databases.

(vii) Study room service was co-ordinated by the Education Bureau (“EDB”). When providing study room service in libraries, LCSD would continue to co-operate with EDB to perfect relevant services.

(viii) When taking forward cultural and recreational facilities projects, the Government had all along observed the principle of “multi-function site”. For example, the stadium in Area 1, Tai Po provided not only cultural and recreational facilities, but also some 200 parking spaces. LCSD would adhere to the“multi-function site” principle when planning, but was also required to take into consideration factors such as work schedule, feasibility and overall planning. LandsD would maximise the use of space and therefore some sites which had been planned for cultural and recreational facilities were used as temporary car parks before the projects

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commenced. As such, LCSD would be under pressure when implementing new facilities as it had to explore ways to provide car parks in the vicinity or at the original site. The project “Local open space in Area 6, Tai Po” had reached a rather mature stage and she thanked Members for their understanding that no car park could be provided at the said site. As regards the sports centre in Area 6, LCSD was willing to heed more views regarding the configurations of the sports centre as well as whether or not to provide an underground car park. As far as the recreational facilities project in Area 33 was concerned, LCSD hoped to take forward the project within five years. Given the presence of gas facilities near the project site, if an underground car park were to be built, time required for conducting risk assessment and the project timetable would need to be considered for making a choice.

(ix) Members could contact LCSD district managers directly should they wish to provide fitness equipment in the district, so that provision of relevant facilities at suitable locations via District Minor Works or other approach could be considered.

(x) LCSD had looked into the provision of air-conditioning in Fu Shin Sports Centre with ASD since the middle of last year. At the same time, LCSD had also liaised with Link REIT and other relevant organisation (i.e., CLP Power Hong Kong Limited) to explore the practicability of providing other additional power supply to install the said air-conditioning system. Should power supply be feasible, LCSD would follow up with ASD and other organisations on the viable options for providing an air-conditioning system for the sports centre under relevant mechanism and with additional resources secured.

(xi) The Guidelines served as the basis for design and planning while allowing for flexibility to facilitate the consideration of various factors such as whether or not suitable land was available for development, residents’ characteristics, age cohorts, will and so on. Existing sports and recreational facilities in Tai Po District basically fulfilled the requirements of the Guidelines. When carrying out planning, LCSD would not only satisfy the need of current population, but would also have the future in mind to cater for the need generated from the population growth.

(xii) The Development Bureau, CEDD and HyD had a set of established standards governing the choice of tree species to be planted in new development areas. LCSD understood that Tai Po District wished to have sakura, Enkianthus quinqueflorus, jacaranda, ginkgo biloba and so on planted in the district. LCSD would accommodate such requests as far as possible and select suitable species to grow in the district.

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(xiii) Planting flowers would generate plenty of landscaping-related waste. Hence, LCSD would concentrate on growing evergreen plants and shrubs to facilitate waste reduction at source. Nonetheless, LCSD would also grow seasonal flowers related to festive celebrations, such as plants grown at the Floral Display of Tai Po Waterfront Park earlier which had been very well received by visitors. LCSD would consider growing bright-coloured and more durable species in the district.

(xiv) LCSD would complete inspection of some 600 000 trees under its management before the typhoon season each year. If need be, LCSD would follow up immediately to prevent trees from being uprooted by typhoon.

(xv) LCSD welcomed Members’ sharing the experience of greening work in other cities or regions. Besides, LCSD also arranged from time to time for its personnel to receive training overseas with a view to further enhancing its greening work.

(xvi) The Government observed a set of stringent criteria for tree removal which stipulated under which circumstances a tree would need to be removed and which species would be suitable for planting at the site concerned. LCSD would co-ordinate with the Development Bureau in dealing with the problem with weeping paperbarks on Lam Kam Road.

(xvii) TMO had laid down clear guidelines regarding cotton trees and opined that people and trees should co-exist harmoniously as far as possible. It was a natural phenomenon for cotton trees to shed cotton fibres. Unless shedding of cotton fibres posed a significant threat to the public, TMO would not interfere the growth of cotton trees. LCSD would complement the work of FEHD on various fronts and intensify clearing up. Should any cotton trees be found dead and not suitable for growing further at the same place, they would be replaced by other species as appropriate.

(xviii) LCSD would strive to organise more activities, especially those DC-funded programmes suitable for Tai Po District.

(xix) LCSD handled together with HAB regulatory matters of sports federations and endeavoured to enhance corporate governance standards and transparency of sports federations.

(xx) Many members of the public had already voiced to Transport and Housing Bureau (“THB”) their wish to have sports events organised on HZMB. She believed that THB would follow up as appropriate.

(xxi) Members’ views had already been taken into consideration for the design of the project “Development of a Bathing Beach at Lung Mei, Tai Po” and the location of the beach building had also been amended as appropriate to ensure that traffic on Ting Kok Road would not be affected in the future.

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(xxii) LCSD would adjust the remuneration packages of lifeguards every year to ensure that they were commensurate with the prevailing market rate. Nonetheless, with an ageing population, the overall working population declined and the industry of lifeguards also had to face the challenge of manpower shortage.

(xxiii) Swimming pools managed by LCSD laid down certain requirements for swimmers’ clothing. LCSD would step up publicity and monitoring to ensure that swimmers wear suitable and clean clothing when entering the precincts of a swimming pool.

(xxiv) LCSD would spare no effort in tackling any environmental hygiene problems found in facilities under its management. Besides, LCSD also hoped to promote via DC platform territory-wide cleansing campaign to raise public awareness of cleanliness for a comfortable and hygienic environment.

(xxv) As far as she understood, “Le Jardin” was privately-owned, with which LCSD alone was not in a position to deal. She was aware that Members had already reflected the issue to relevant departments such as the Development Bureau and District Lands Office. LCSD would maintain close contact with departments concerned and actively co-operate.

(xxvi) Tai Po Civic Centre was subject to certain spatial constraints. LCSD would nonetheless look into Members’ views to cater for the needs of people with disabilities.

(xxvii) LCSD currently adopted multi-pronged measures to deal with the problem of ticket scalping. Should LCSD notice any persons’ buying multiple tickets by “ticket-buying robots”, it would keep updating and upgrading the computer system to stop it. Besides, LCSD had all along communicated with organisers hiring the venues with a view to persuading the organisers to allocate a larger proportion of tickets for general sale to increase the chance for the public to get a ticket. In the long run, LCSD would actively explore the implementation of real-name ticketing system while a concert to be held at Cultural Centre later this month would try out real-name ticketing. However, the implementation of real-name ticketing system would not only require the co-operation between LCSD and the organisers, but also involve venue management issues which would affect the audience too. Take the above-mentioned concert as an example, audience would need to arrive at the venue 1.5 hours in advance. In addition, once the real-name ticketing system was implemented, people who bought the tickets but failed to attend the shows due to other commitments would suffer loss. In the meantime, LCSD closely monitored the ticketing mechanism adopted in developed places in the world and maintained an open mind on implementing real-name ticketing. In addition, LCSD would work together with HAB and Hong Kong Police to study amending legislation to step up combating ticket scalping activities. To conclude, LCSD took the problem

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of ticket scalping very seriously and would keep tackling the problem by adopting multi-pronged measures.

23. The Acting Chairman thanked Ms. Michelle LI for attending the meeting to brief Members on the work of LCSD and to answer questions put forward by Members.

24. The meeting was adjourned for five minutes after this agenda item.

25. The meeting was resumed afterwards.

II. ICAC Regional Office (New Territories East) Work Plan 2018/19 (TPDC Paper No. 24/2018)

26. The Acting Chairman welcomed Ms. YU Wai-fan, Monica, Regional Officer/New Territories East and Senior Youth and Education Officer Ms. Amy Chung of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) to the meeting.

27. Ms. Monica YU recapped Paper No. 24/2018.

28. Mr. Patrick TANG said that a DC Member had to be investigated by ICAC in the past due to minor mistakes or omissions of $10-odd while declaring election expenses. The investigation of the said case had taken over one year, which had not only caused disturbance to persons concerned, but also affected the said Member’s discharge of duties. He hoped that ICAC could improve the relevant procedures that whether the prosecution could in the end be substantiated or not, the investigation should be completed as soon as possible.

29. The Acting Chairman indicated that since the case mentioned above involved individual Members, it might not necessarily be appropriate for ICAC to respond at the meeting. She recommended that Ms. Monica YU respond to Mr. Patrick TANG’s views after the meeting. Ms. Monica YU agreed to the recommendation of the Acting Chairman.

30. TPDC endorsed to become a partner organisation of the 2018/19 “All for Integrity 45” probity promotion programme in Tai Po District and authorised ICAC to display TPDC’s emblem on publicity materials relating to the programme.

(Post-meeting note: Ms. Monica YU responded to Mr. Patrick TANG after the meeting that ICAC was aware of candidates’ concern about the situation. In fact, the Government had already made legislative amendments to allow candidates to adjust minor mistakes or omissions in the declaration of election returns. At

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present, the ceilings for District Council Election and Rural Representative Election were $500 and $200 respectively and the said ceilings would be adjusted from time to time. As regards investigation work, Ms. Monica YU said that upon receipt of referrals from relevant departments or complaints, ICAC would start investigating as soon as possible and, in the light of the facts of individual cases and the circumstances concerned, inform persons involved of the investigation status in due course.)

III. Review on the Number of Public Payphones (TPDC Paper No. 25/2018)

31. The Acting Chairman welcomed the following representatives of the Office of Communications Authority (“OFCA”) to the meeting for the discussion of this agenda item:

(i) Mr. YEUNG King-hang, Kingsley, Head, Market & Competition 2; (ii) Mr. SIN Kwok-kei, Senior Telecommunications Engineer (Regulatory 12); (iii) Mr. LEE Kam-wah, Senior Controller of Telecommunications (Market & Competition 21); and

(iv) Mr. WONG Yik-kwan, John, Regulatory Affairs Manager (Market & Competition 21)1.

32. Mr. Kingsley YEUNG introduced Paper No. 25/2018.

33. Mr. LI Kwok-ying raised the following views:

(i) He opposed the removal of payphone kiosk No. 7181. (ii) Payphone kiosk Nos. 7181 and 7615 should be equipped with Wi-Fi installations. (iii) Payphone kiosk No. 7569 was located on a narrow pavement. He recommended that the said kiosk be relocated towards the direction of Tai Po Complex.

(iv) Payphone kiosk Nos. 7587(1) and 7587(2) obstructed the sightlines of motorists and pedestrians, hence, he agreed to the removal.

(v) The pavement on which payphone kiosk Nos. 7616, 7617 and 7981 were located was narrow, the said kiosks should be removed.

(vi) Payphone Kiosk Nos. 7986 and 8821 should be retained. (vii) Payphone Kiosk No. 8771 was located outside Po Hong Building instead of Po Heung Building.

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34. Mr. CHAN Cho-leung raised the following views:

(i) He had consulted stakeholders of Constituency before the meeting and they supported the suggestions of OFCA. He recommended that OFCA consult in writing after the meeting the stakeholders including Tai Hang Village Office and the village head of Hang Ha Po.

(ii) Mobile phone signal reception of certain spots at Lam Tsuen Wishing Square was currently poor. He recommended that Wi-Fi devices be provided at Lam Tsuen Wishing Square.

(iii) OFCA had earlier approved the provision of mobile communications radio base stations (“RBSs”) at Fong Ma Po Public Toilet. However, some 10 villagers had raised objections to District Lands Office owing to their worries that radiation from the radio base stations would be health-hazardous. After some persuasion, some of the villagers said that they would withdraw their objections and he would continue lobbying the remaining villagers who opposed the provision of RBSs. Residents of Lam Tsuen Valley had a keen demand for RBSs and he had already written to Tai Po District Lands Office and TPDO to reflect residents’ aspirations earlier.

35. Mr. KWAN Wing-yip raised the following views and questions:

(i) He enquired how much would be saved if 43 payphones in kiosks were removed as per OFCA’s recommendation and whether the amount of money saved would be ploughed back into the community.

(ii) Members of the public had indeed little demand for public payphones, which however might serve emergency purposes. If the amount saved from removing those payphone kiosks was not significant while consumers could not benefit from the removal either, he would not support the removal of payphone kiosks.

(iii) Telecommunications operators could consider offering advertising space on phone kiosks or using other means to increase their income to cover the costs for providing public payphone services.

36. Dr. LAU Chee-sing raised the following views:

(i) He opposed the removal of four payphone kiosks located within Shuen Wan constituency. Shuen Wan constituency covered a vast area and the said four payphone kiosks were evenly distributed in the constituency while two of them were even equipped with Wi-Fi devices.

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(ii) Telecommunications operations reaped a rather handsome profit and they must also bear social responsibilities to provide comprehensive basic communications services. At present, it was not easy to set up mobile communications RBSs at private properties. Telecommunications operators should make good use of existing facilities to enhance telecommunications services in rural areas such as installing mobile communications RBSs at phone kiosks.

(iii) He requested that Payphone Kiosk Nos. 7161 and 7162 be equipped with Wi-Fi devices for visitors to use when needed or in case of emergency.

37. Mr. YAM Man-chuen raised the following views and questions:

(i) He enquired based on what principle(s) OFCA had proposed to remove individual payphone kiosks from the universal service obligation (“USO”).

(ii) Should the payphone kiosks be very close to residential areas while substitute communication facilities were available nearby, he agreed that removal of such payphone kiosks could be considered. However, those payphone kiosks which were far away from urban areas or with a five to ten minute walking distance from substitute communication facilities should not be removed.

(iii) Despite the popularity of mobile phones, fixed telephone services provided by payphone kiosks would become an indispensable substitute communication facility under many circumstances such as loss of mobile phone, failure of mobile phones in connecting to mobile networks, mobile phones’ running out of battery or mobile communication network failure due to major accidents and disasters. Should the removal of payphone kiosks fail to deliver sizeable cost savings for the telecommunications operators, while members of the public generally accepted the occupation of pavement by some payphone kiosks, he would not agree to the removal of payphone kiosks and recommended that consideration be given to relocating those which obstructed the sightlines of pedestrians and motorists.

(iv) He reluctantly accepted the removal of Payphone Kiosk No. 7495 but opposed the removal of Payphone Kiosk No. 8096 as it was near a hospital.

38. Mr. Kingsley YEUNG gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions as follows:

(i) This review had first used the average daily income of payphone kiosks as the basis for consideration. OFCA preliminarily recommended that payphone kiosks with extremely low usage be removed from USO. OFCA would decide as to whether or not remove such payphone kiosks from USO only after consulting relevant stakeholders (including DC Members).

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(ii) USO providers (i.e. PCCW-HKT Telephone Limited and Hong Kong Telecommunications (HKT) Limited (“HKT”)) provided Wi-Fi services at certain payphone kiosks based on commercial considerations. However, Wi-Fi services did not belong to USO. OFCA would carefully consider Members’ suggestion of retaining some payphone kiosks which provided Wi-Fi services.

(iii) Based on the USO cost of 2016, the average cost of each payphone kiosk was approximately $6,700.

(iv) Under the Block Licence issued by LandsD, payphone kiosks could only be used for the provision of public payphone and Wi-Fi services while advertising was not allowed at payphone kiosks.

(v) Should individual payphone kiosks obstruct passage or the sightlines of pedestrians and motorists, members of the public or DC Members could follow the established practice to express their opinions to OFCA, which would refer the opinions to HKT for follow up. If a payphone kiosk was found to cause construction, LandsD could demand under the requirements of Block Licence that HKT remove the payphone kiosk in question.

39. Mr. LAU Yung-wai raised the following views and questions:

(i) It was the social responsibility of telecommunications operators to provide public payphone services. He doubted as to whether or not the Government should take initiative to cut expenses for private organisations, and asked how consumers could benefit from the expenses saved. It would be largely meaningless to remove payphone kiosks if members of the public were unable to benefit from the review.

(ii) OFCA had not comprehensively considered relevant factors regarding removal of payphone kiosks. For instance, payphone kiosk Nos. 7977 and 8158 stood side by side but the removal of the latter had been proposed due to under-utilisation. However, OFCA had not taken into consideration that with the removal of kiosk No. 7977, members of the public might concentrate on using kiosk No. 8158 in which case not only the usage rate would improve but also the existing Wi-Fi services of the said kiosk could be retained too.

(iii) As mobile communication services became increasingly popular, payphone kiosks were used primarily for contingency. As such, the review should not adopt as an indicator whether the average daily income was more than $1, instead, the criteria for removing a payphone kiosk should be whether any 999 emergency calls had been made during the period between January and September 2017.

(iv) Since payphone kiosks nowadays were mainly used for emergency purposes, they should be kept and additional ones should even be provided in rural areas (such as

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hiking trails). In the event that members of the public were unable to use mobile communication services due to various reasons during emergency, they could only rely on public payphone services.

(v) The review focused only on ways to attain cost savings for telecommunications operators. He opined that OFCA should in the first place consider other ways to maintain public payphone kiosk services rather than proposing the removal of payphone kiosks straight away. OFCA had neither carefully considered the suggestion to offer advertising space at payphone kiosks to defray the costs for providing public payphone services, nor explored if relevant terms or policies could be amended. He was of the view that allowing telecommunications operators to use payphone kiosks for advertisement could not only cover the operating costs of the kiosks, but also maintain public payphone services, thus killing two birds with one stone.

(vi) It would give little cause for criticism to remove payphone kiosks on such grounds as obstruction they caused to the sightlines of pedestrians and motorists, their being located on narrow pavements and so on.

(vii) He urged OFCA to accept views Members put forward at the meeting and act with flexibility to adopt other approaches instead of removing payphone kiosks.

(viii) He asked OFCA to contact him after the meeting to discuss how to handle the payphone kiosks in his constituency one by one.

40. Mr. Eric TAM raised the following views:

(i) Among the payphone kiosks in Chung Ting constituency, 12 were located at the junction between On Cheung Road and On Chee Road, some of them standing two or three side by side. He agreed in principle to OFCA’s review in accordance with the guiding principles set down by the Communications Authority (“CA”) whether they would need to be removed.

(ii) Payphone kiosk No. 7426 with Wi-Fi services should be retained such that there would be at least one payphone kiosk available for On Chee Road and Block C of Treasure Garden.

(iii) He recommended that payphone kiosk No. 7439 be removed to alleviate the problem of the road surface there being narrow. Members of the public could use the payphone kiosks nearby instead, for instance kiosk No. 7438.

(iv) Advertising at payphone kiosks was similar to doing so at bus stops. Income generated from displaying advertisements at payphone kiosks would be enough to subsidise the operating costs for the provision of public payphone services and even act as a subsidy when fixed telephone services were operating at a loss so that

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increase in telephone charges could be minimised.

(v) There were still some rural areas which had either no mobile communication networks or poor signal reception, hence, payphone kiosks with Wi-Fi services or emergency help-lines should be provided at such locations or along hiking trails so that visitors could call to seek assistance in case of accidents.

(vi) Through this review, OFCA should also consider how to improve the quality of public phone services.

41. Mr. Francis YAM raised the following views:

(i) He had reservation about the proposal to remove a large number of public payphone kiosks in rural areas.

(ii) One of the key functions of payphone kiosks was to provide stable telephone services in emergency situations. During an emergency in urban areas, members of the public could seek help from shops nearby or people around, whereas mobile communication networks in rural areas were not stable and there were also fewer shops and passers-by, rendering it relatively difficult to seek assistance. Hence, there was an even stronger need to retain payphone kiosks in rural areas than in urban areas to ensure that members of the public could call for help in emergency situations. In particular at tourist spots such as Tai Mei Tuk, Bride’s Pool, Pier, barbecue site at Lo Wai, Sai Kung North and so on, payphone kiosks might become the only means to call for help where mobile communication networks were unstable.

42. Mr. Rex LI said that as reception of mobile communication networks was poor in rural areas and on outlying islands (such as Tap Mun), he requested that payphone kiosks in the said areas be retained for use during emergency situations. He would discuss directly with OFCA how to handle the payphone kiosks in his constituency one by one shortly.

43. Mr. Patrick TANG raised the following views and questions:

(i) He enquired which expenses were included in the operating costs of payphone kiosks.

(ii) There had been no mobile communication network coverage in Lam Tsuen Valley in recent days and some residents had reported failure in making 999 emergency calls. The importance of fixed telephone services provided by payphone kiosks was thus evident. He recommended that content of the USO be amended to require that, after removing payphone kiosks, universal service providers install fixed telephone emergency helplines at the same locations where the kiosks had

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been, and equip those helplines with Wi-Fi devices.

(iii) Provision of Wi-Fi services at payphone kiosk would offer an additional protection. Members of the public could seek help via Voice over Internet Protocol (Vo IP ) service by connecting to Wi-Fi if they did not have any $1 coin. He had reservation about removing payphone kiosks equipped with Wi-Fi devices.

44. Mr. LO Hiu-fung raised the following views and questions:

(i) He had no objection to the removal of payphone kiosks on such grounds as street obstruction or poor hygiene conditions. However, if payphone kiosks were removed simply to save costs for telecommunications operators, the Administration should revise the licence conditions to require that money saved must be ploughed back into the community.

(ii) He enquired if service providers could still decide on their own whether to retain those payphone kiosks which OFCA had decided to delete from the USO.

45. Mr. AU Chun-wah raised the following views and questions:

(i) He asked if OFCA had concrete usage statistics of payphone kiosks, such as the actual daily usage, numbers of regular calls and 999 emergency calls made and so on.

(ii) He could not see why payphone kiosks with Wi-Fi devices would be removed whereas those without could be kept. At present, other cities had already opened Wi-Fi services for use by visitors. The development of Hong Kong’s Wi-Fi network had so far been unsatisfactory with very limited coverage that visitors had no access to free Wi-Fi services upon arrival in Hong Kong. The Government should put existing facilities such as payphone kiosks to good use for the perfection of Wi-Fi network.

(iii) OFCA should discuss with LandsD to amend the terms for installing payphone kiosks on government land to allow advertising at payphone kiosks.

(iv) Should more than one payphone kiosks be available at the same location, he agreed to keep only one.

(v) Payphone kiosks in rural areas should be kept, for examples those in Sai Kung North, Shuen Wan and . Given their remote location, their usage rate was inevitably low but they did serve an important contingency function in case of emergency. Hence, he had grave reservation about the proposal to remove such payphone kiosks.

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46. Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai raised the following views and questions:

(i) He opposed the removal of payphone kiosks in rural areas. (ii) Payphone Kiosk No. 7187 was located at a site with high pedestrian flow, hence, he requested that it be retained.

47. Mr. Kingsley YEUNG gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions as follows:

(i) Pricing of telephony services hinged upon multiple factors, including the market competition at that time. Since universal service contribution (“USC”) was an actual cost for telecommunications operators, the amount of USC saved via this review would make some room for fare reduction to allow telecommunications operators to give back to members of the public by means of fare adjustments when market competition was fierce.

(ii) He re-iterated that this review would in the first place take the income of payphone kiosks as basis for consideration. As regards Members’ request that in the case where two payphone kiosks stood side by side, the one without Wi-Fi services should be removed, OFCA would consider relevant views carefully.

(iii) The prevailing USO also covered the provision of fixed network emergency helpline telephones along hiking trails. Calls made from such telephones would connect directly to nearby police stations or 999 police report centre.

(iv) After OFCA had decided on which payphone kiosks to remove, HKT could still opt to retain those payphone kiosks based on commercial considerations. If HKT decided to keep them, it would have to continue operating such payphone kiosks at its own cost and defray the costs for removing them in the future without further receiving any USC.

(v) HKT only recorded the income of each payphone kiosk without any details of calls being made. Nonetheless, the income records were roughly indicative of the usage while the paper also contained information about individual payphone kiosks with more than one 999 emergency calls made per week on average during the period between January and September 2017.

(vi) He re-iterated that owing to the Block Licence issued by LandsD, no advertising was currently allowed at payphone kiosks.

(vii) OFCA would give serious consideration to views which Members put forward at the meeting, including the request to retain payphone kiosks in remote locations (such as Sai Kung North, Shuen Wan and Hong Lok Yuen) for emergency assistance.

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OFCA would also follow up on requests of some Members that OFCA personnel discuss with them after the meeting whether to keep or remove individual payphone kiosks in their constituency.

48. Ms. Karen LEUNG advised that LandsD was primarily responsible for the drafting and preparation of documents to support the direction and intention of policy bureaux and departments. Should CA intend a change in policy to allow advertising at payphone kiosks, it could contact LandsD.

49. The Acting Chairman recommended that OFCA contact Members after the meeting to consult them on the removal or retention of each payphone kiosk.

I V. Extendable Allocation Arrangement for Public Niches (TPDC Paper No. 26/2018)

50. The Acting Chairman welcomed Miss WONG Shuk-han, Diane, Principal Assistant Secretary for Food and Health (Food)2, Miss HO Tsz-ting, Agnes, Assistant Secretary for Food and Health (Food)3 of Food and Health Bureau (“FHB”) and Mr. LAI Chun-kwong, Senior Superintendent (Ops)3 of FEHD to attend the meeting.

51. Miss Diane WONG introduced Paper No. 26/2018.

52. Mr. Patrick TANG opined that it might contravene the religious beliefs of some persons if the Government disposed of the ashes of the deceased by scattering them into the Gardens of Remembrance (“GoRs”) managed by FEHD or at designated areas in Hong Kong waters in the event that the niche allocatee or his or her nominated representative could not be contacted after repeated attempts. FHB should respect traditional Chinese culture and take into consideration the will of people with religious beliefs to explore alternative options such as storing the ashes concerned in other ways.

53. Mr. KWAN Wing-yip raised the following views and questions:

(i) Benefits brought forth by the increase in the number of niches via extendable allocation arrangement might not be sufficient to offset the administrative costs required for recovering the niches and the inconvenience caused to members of the public.

(ii) How would FHB deal with cases where family members wanted to handle the renewal of niches in place of the representative initially nominated which led to conflicts and disputes?

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(iii) Certain traditional concepts remained unchanged nowadays and some members of the public might not wish to place the ashes of their deceased family members in used niches. He enquired if members of the public could turn down the offer of used niches and whether FHB would let such members of the public use niches that had not been used.

(iv) Relatives were required to arrange for exhumation for earth burials in public cemeteries after certain years. He enquired about the number of cases where relatives failed to arrange for exhumation each year.

54. Mr. Francis YAM raised the following views:

(i) He understood FHB’s intent to increase public niches but the extendable arrangement for newly allocated niches was a remote solution that provided no prompt remedy for an imminent problem since members of the public had to wait for at least 20 years before the first re-usable niche became available for use and the problem of dire shortage of niches at present could therefore not be solved. Hence, while considering implementing the extendable arrangement for newly allocated niches, FHB should also work on existing niches and amend relevant legislation to enhance the turnover of niches. For instance, the Government could put up notices about renewal arrangement on age-old niches which had been unattended to for years with sufficient notification period. If the interment of the niches was not renewed before the deadline, FHB could handle the ashes in the niches in an appropriate and respectful way and then free up the niches for re-use.

(ii) He pointed out that at present, earth burial spaces would become available after exhumation for other members of the public to apply for re-use.

55. Miss Diane WONG gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions as follows:

(i) FEHD would record when and how cremains which had been removed were handled for descendants’ or relatives’ inspection. Descendants or relatives might also file an application with FEHD to provide a plaque for the deceased where circumstances so require and permit.

(ii) When applying for newly-allocated niches, members of the public could choose on the application form the way in which the ashes would be handled in the future. FHB would handle the ashes in accordance with the applicants’ wish.

(iii) Members of the public could change via simple procedures the nominated representative for matters regarding niche renewal. As per experience with exhumation carried out in public cemeteries, many descendants or relatives of the

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deceased would arrange for exhumation.

(iv) FHB understood that there might be diverging views among family members as to how ashes of the deceased should be handled. According to experience, a consensus could be reached through negotiation in most cases. Should negotiation fail in the end, persons concerned could also solve their problems by legal means.

(v) FHB currently did not consider enacting extendable allocation arrangement for existing niches that were already in use. Prior to making relevant arrangements, FHB also had to handle technical and legal issues as well as public acceptability. FHB would introduce the extendable allocation arrangement first to the new niches and consider taking forward other measures only after gaining some experience.

(vi) FEHD would provide sufficient notice period for members of the public to handle interment renewal of niche.

(vii) Each year, FEHD had several hundreds of re-used niches available for members of the public to apply and it was entirely voluntary as to whether one wished to apply. At present, there were some 30 000 applications on the waiting list for re-used niches. It was thus evident that members of the public had already accepted the re-use of niches.

56. Mr. Patrick TANG indicated his opposition to scattering of ashes, which had been placed in niches for which no renewal application was made, into GoRs or at designated areas in Hong Kong waters. He opined that the said arrangements were inconsistent with Chinese tradition of ancestral worship and hoped that FHB could keep the ashes for descendants or relatives to claim.

57. Mr. LO Hiu-fung raised the following views:

(i) He was of the view that it was inappropriate to scatter ashes into GoRs or at designated areas in Hong Kong waters without the descendants or relatives’ being notified. At present, the Government had premises for temporary storage of cremains and he asked if FHB could store unclaimed ashes temporarily at such premises.

(ii) It was currently not allowed to observe religious rites at premises for temporary storage of cremains, rendering such premises not the first choice for members of the public to store the cremains of their ancestors. He recommended that FHB consider allowing members of the public to observe simple religious rites elsewhere near the premises.

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58. Miss Diane WONG gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions:

(i) When applying for new public niches, applicants could select on the application form the way the cremains would be handled in the event that they were unclaimed and FEHD would handle the cremains in accordance with the applicants’ wish.

(ii) At present, the Government had some 28 000 places for temporary storage of cremains and the number would increase to 68 000 in the next two years. Only a small number was currently in use.

(iii) In addition to using the website memorial.gov.hk, families of the deceased whose cremains were kept in FEHD temporary storage facilities could also use existing facilities in the nearby columbarium to observe religious rites. Besides, FEHD currently followed up with relevant departments on the works to provide information kiosks at Kwai Chung Crematorium and hoped that the said works could complete as early as possible. Upon completion, members of the public could scan the QR code or enter details of the deceased at the information kiosks to locate the electronic plaque of the deceased to pay their respect.

(iv) Private Columbaria Ordinance had come into effect on 30 June 2017 and FEHD had also updated the website of temporary storage service for cremains to remind members of the public that they could apply for the said service where necessary to store cremains of the deceased being affected. Those descendants or relatives who did not have any Permit to Take Away Cremated Ashes or Certificate of Cremation of the deceased might submit document(s) proofing the cremains of deceased had been interred in a private columbarium in Hong Kong prior to the submission of application to apply for temporary storage service for cremains.

59. The Acting Chairman thanked Miss Diane WONG for her introduction which facilitated Members’ understanding of the extendable allocation arrangement of public niches and for answering Members’ questions.

V. Confirmation of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the TPDC on 12 February 2018 (TPDC Paper No. 27/2018)

60. Neither had the Secretariat received any proposed amendments to the minutes of the captioned meeting, nor did Members propose any amendments to the said minutes at this meeting. The said minutes were confirmed without amendment.

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VI. Confirmation of the Minutes of the 2nd Meeting of the TPDC in 2018 on 1 March 2018 (TPDC Paper No. 28/2018)

61. Neither had the Secretariat received any proposed amendments to the minutes of the captioned meeting, nor did Members propose any amendments to the said minutes at this meeting. The said minutes were confirmed without amendment.

VII. Civil Engineering and Development Department District Annual Work Plan (TPDC Paper No. 29/2018)

62. Mr. John CHUNG introduced Paper No. 29/2018.

63. Dr. LAU Chee-sing hoped that CEDD would provide details about the projects “Rehabilitation of underground sewers” and “Rehabilitation of underground stormwater drains” (Project Codes 4414DS and 4172CD) which took place in Shuen Wan, and the estimated timetable for application for funding from the Legislative Council and tender exercise of the project “Tolo Harbour Sewerage of Unsewered Areas Stage 2” (Project Code 4125DS).

64. Mr. John CHUNG said that he would contact Drainage Services Department (“DSD”) after the meeting to obtain relevant information and revert to Dr. LAU Chee-sing.

VIII. Tai Po District Office Work Plan 2018/19 (TPDC Paper No. 30/2018)

65. Ms. Iris LEE introduced Paper No. 30/2018.

66. Mr. Francis YAM raised the following views and questions:

(i) TPDC had visited Hangzhou earlier to get to know the local government’s work in managing shared bicycles. He enquired if Tai Po District Office (“TPDO”) would draw management experience from other places to strengthen the role TPDO played in managing the issue of shared bicycles in the district.

(ii) Some bicycle parking spaces in the district were occupied by dilapidated and broken bicycles over extended periods of time that such parking spaces became unavailable for use by members of the public. He asked if the proposed pilot scheme to be launched in Tai Po District to step up the efforts in combating illegal parking of bicycles (“pilot scheme”) would work together with departments such as

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Transport Department (“TD”) and LandsD to remove abandoned and dilapidated bicycles occupying bicycle parking spaces.

(iii) Would the pilot scheme be even-handed and remove all bicycles that were illegally parked (including shared bicycles)?

67. Ms. Iris LEE responded as follows:

(i) In addition to the on-going inter-departmental joint operations for bicycle clearance (“joint operations”) which had been carried out in the past, departments would also intensify their efforts and measures in bicycle clearance. Hence, departments would launch the pilot scheme as a new measure with a view to tackling the problem of illegal parking of bicycles in the district more effectively.

(ii) The on-going joint operations which had been in place not only removed bicycles illegally parked on the street, but would also remove those abandoned bicycles occupying bicycle parking spaces over extended periods of time.

68. The Acting Chairman recommended that upon completion of the Duty Visit Report, Members discuss the experience they had gained from Hangzhou’s management of shared bicycles at the meeting of Working Group on Road Safety Campaign and Cycling Network Development (“Working Group”) under Traffic and Transport Committee.

69. Mr. AU Chun-wah raised the following questions:

(i) What were the differences between the pilot scheme launched in North District and the prevailing handling procedures? What were the merits of the pilot scheme?

(ii) Would the pilot scheme also remove publicity materials of telecom companies displayed on railings as well?

(iii) Should prevailing legislation allow removal without notice of illegally parked bicycles causing obstruction, why had departments not taken enforcement actions in accordance with the laws before and launched the pilot scheme only now?

70. Ms. Iris LEE responded as follows:

(i) The joint operations currently did not invoke the same legislation as the pilot scheme. The joint operations invoked primarily the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 28) to remove illegally parked bicycles and bicycles that were abandoned or occupied bicycle parking spaces over extended periods of time, whereas the pilot scheme invoked the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap.

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228). Hence, the two were not identical in the actual enforcement and the major difference was that when invoking the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228) to take enforcement actions, enforcement departments could remove the illegally parked bicycles immediately without notice. Since the pilot scheme was not launched in Tai Po District yet, TPDO would keep following up and discussing with relevant departments, and review after implementing the pilot scheme if it was conducive to alleviating the problem of illegal parking of bicycles in the district.

(ii) After implementing the pilot scheme, TPDO would review with relevant departments the effectiveness of the scheme and examine if it would be suitable to deal with other objects (such as publicity and marketing materials) on the streets via this scheme. TPDO noted the opinion of Mr. AU Chun-wah and would discuss with relevant departments in due course.

71. Mr. AU Chun-wah raised the following questions:

(i) For how long would the pilot scheme be implemented before it would be reviewed? (ii) Legislation which the pilot scheme invoked had existed long time ago. Why had departments not invoked it in the past to take enforcement actions and only tried doing so now? He also asked for how long it would still need to be tried out before the legislation mentioned above could be invoked to take enforcement actions territory-wide.

72. Mr. LAU Yung-wai said that as far as he was aware, the pilot scheme had already been implemented in North District for at least two years. He enquired if any review deadline had been set for the pilot scheme in North District.

73. Ms. Andy LUI responded to Members’ views and questions as follows:

(i) As suggested by the Acting Chairman just now, this matter could be referred to the Working Group for follow up. Besides, according to the Summary Offences Ordinance (Cap. 228), relevant objects could be followed up on and immediately removed by relevant departments only if such objects caused obstruction or inconvenience to people or vehicles in public places.

(ii) Preparation for launching the pilot scheme took more time since the scheme called for additional resources. Besides, it was also necessary to make room available for placing the bicycles which were removed. The pilot scheme had already been launched in North District while some other districts including Tai Po would implement the pilot scheme in the year 2018/19.

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74. Mr. LO Hiu-fung welcomed the implementation of the pilot scheme in Tai Po District and asked which locations in the district would be chosen as test points.

75. Mr. AU Chun-wah raised the following views and questions:

(i) For how long would the pilot scheme be implemented? (ii) He recommended that during the pilot scheme, Members be notified to inspect removal operations on-site to facilitate their understanding of the scheme’s operation.

76. Ms. Andy LUI gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions:

(i) Relevant departments had already secured resources and would launch the pilot scheme in the district starting from the third quarter of this year. The scheme would be implemented for at least one year.

(ii) During discussion with relevant departments, TPDO had selected several locations in the district for the departments’ consideration to launch the pilot scheme. In addition, before launching the pilot scheme, departments concerned would need to carry out publicity work such as putting up banners to remind members of the public to remove illegally parked bicycles.

(iii) She noted Members’ views about their wish to inspect removal operations on-site.

77. The Acting Chairman raised the following views:

(i) The problem of illegal parking of bicycles in Tai Po District had remained unsolved for years. TPDC had paid a duty visit to Hangzhou earlier and Members were very interested in local government departments’ management of shared bicycles and had already learned from their experience. She was of the view that as far as the problem of illegal parking of bicycles was concerned, management of government departments was of paramount importance. She welcomed the implementation of the pilot scheme in Tai Po District and recommended that relevant issues be further discussed at meetings of the Working Group.

(ii) Some members of the public had complained to DC Members that they had not been aware that removal operations would take place at the locations where they had parked their bicycles, which had ended up being confiscated. She hoped that departments concerned would mount sufficient publicity efforts at relevant locations prior to launching the pilot scheme.

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IX. District Management Committee Report to the TPDC (TPDC Paper No. 31/2018)

78. Members noted the contents of the District Management Committee Report.

X. Reports of the TPDC Committees and Working Groups (TPDC Paper No. 32/2018)

Agriculture, Fisheries, Commerce, Industries, Tourism and Recreation Affairs Committee

79. The Agriculture, Fisheries, Commerce, Industries, Tourism and Recreation Affairs Committee (“ATRC”) had held its second meeting of this year on 9 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

District Facilities Management Committee

80. The District Facilities Management Committee (“DFMC”) had held its second meeting of this year on 8 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

Environment, Housing and Works Committee

81. The Environment, Housing and Works Committee (“EHWC”) had held its second meeting of this year on 7 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

82. Mr. AU Chun-wah indicated that he was deeply dissatisfied with the poor attitude of the representative of Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”) when answering questions which Members had raised at the aforementioned meeting and during the on-site inspection after the meeting. On that day, the HKPF representative had said that HKPF had no resources to handle non-criminal incidents or incidents which involved no casualty or fatality. As Members enquired about road obstruction problems, the said representative indicated that HKPF did not consider the objects concerned to have caused any obstruction. Despite the numerous photos which Members had sent to HKPF, her supervisor had not instructed her how to handle relevant objects, hence, she was not in a position to make any arrangement to deal with those objects. He opined that HKPF paid no heed to district issues about which DC concerned, such as street obstruction which would give rise to traffic safety hazards. He expressed his strong dissatisfaction.

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83. The Acting Chairman said that Mr. LEE Kwok-chung had noted the comments about his subordinate which Mr. AU Chun-wah had voiced. As Mr. LEE Kwok-chung might need some time to look into the above incident, she requested that he respond to Mr. AU Chun-wah’s views after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: HKPF responded after the meeting as follows: (i) District Commander (Tai Po) thanked Mr. AU Chun-wah for his valuable views. As regards illegal shop extensions on Heung Sze Wui Square and Heung Sze Wui Street and problems of street obstruction and environmental hygiene arising therefrom, TPDO had held a cross-departmental special meeting on 22 March 2018 at request of HKPF Tai Po District to discuss solutions from the perspective of road works, street management and enforcement actions. At the meeting, TD representative had suggested that the two lorry parking spaces at Heung Sze Wui Square be converted to a no-stopping zone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and would conduct public consultation shortly. (ii) As regards the handling of complaints about illegal shop extensions, FEHD and HKPF would continue to keep a close watch on the situation, step up enforcement efforts and carry out joint operations. During the period between 16 and 20 April 2018, joint enforcement actions had been mounted at the Lane-Square, Heung Sze Wui Square, Heung Sze Wui Street and the vicinity of Kwong Fuk Road for five days in a row where street cleansing services had also been arranged. Improvement was gradually seen in the hygiene condition and street obstruction by goods on the streets concerned. (iii) District Commander (Tai Po) had even sent Divisional Commander (Tai Po) to attend the EHWC meeting on 9 May 2018 to enhance communication and follow up on the street obstruction problem on Heung Sze Wui Street and Heung Sze Wui Square.)

Social Services Committee

84. The Social Services Committee (“SSC”) had held its second meeting of this year on 7 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

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Traffic and Transport Committee

85. The Traffic and Transport Committee (“TTC”) had held its second meeting of this year on 9 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

86. Mr. LO Hiu-fung said that Dr. LAU Chee-sing had reflected on behalf of TTC to TD earlier that the department did not have sufficient front-line staff. At present, Traffic Engineering (NTE) Division had only two engineers who had to take up the workload of three engineers. As a result, even many of those rather simple minor works could not complete. He was worried that manpower shortage would not only make it difficult to deal with existing simple projects, but also make it even harder to cope with various long-term traffic improvement projects of larger scale in the future. Therefore, he urged TD to expedite the engagement of addition staff.

87. Ms. Louisa FUNG advised that as relevant matters fell within the scope of Traffic Engineering (NTE) Division of the TD, she would revert to Mr. LO Hiu-fung after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: TD replied after the meeting that it would strive to engage additional manpower within this year to fill up the current vacancies of Traffic Engineer in Tai Po District.)

Working Group on Duty Visit

88. The Working Group on Duty Visit had held its first meeting of this year on 14 March 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

89. The Acting Chairman said that TPDC had already paid a duty visit to Hangzhou, Ningbo and Xiangshan Port in April 2018. The Secretariat was currently preparing the report on the visit and would present the draft report at the next meeting of the Working Group on Duty Visit for Members’ reference.

90. Mr. LAU Yung-wai indicated that he had not participated in the duty visit to Hangzhou, Ningbo and Xiangshan Port, so his allowance for duty visit remained un-used. As far as he knew, the allowance of those Members who had taken part in the said duty visit had no more than some $2,000 left and he enquired if TPDC would carry out other duty visits.

91. The Secretary advised that the question as to whether any other duty visits would be organised could be discussed at meetings of the Working Group on Duty Visit.

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92. The Acting Chairman said that the above matter would be discussed at the next meeting of the Working Group on Duty Visit.

Working Group on Signature Projects of Tai Po District

93. Working Group on Signature Projects of Tai Po District had held its first meeting of this year on 12 April 2018. Members noted the contents of the report.

XI. Review on the Guidelines on TPDC Funds (TPDC Paper No. 33/2018)

94. The Secretary introduced Paper No. 33/2018.

95. TPDC endorsed the amendments contained in Annex II to Paper No. 33/2018 and adopted the revised Guidelines on TPDC Funds with immediate effect.

XII. TPDC Funds Allocation Budget 2018/19 (TPDC Paper No. 34/2018)

96. The Acting Chairman requested that Members declare interests where necessary in respect of the TPDC Funds Allocation Budget 2018/19.

97. The Secretary reported that TPDC Funds Allocation Budget 2018-19 would be vetted at this meeting. Pursuant to Orders 48(9) and 48(10) of the TPDC Standing Orders, a Member should declare interests if he found he had direct personal interests, pecuniary interests or other interests with the Fund Allocation Budget, or had links with the benefited party or the potential benefited party. He advised that the Secretariat had compiled a declaration form based on the information collected. The form set out the links between Members and the organisations which had been allocated DC funds, and had already been tabled for Members’ reference (see Annex 6 to meeting minutes). He asked Members to check the information contained in the declaration form and make revisions or give supplementary information where necessary. He continued that in addition to any links with the said organisations, Members should also declare interests if they had any direct personal interests, pecuniary interests or other interests with the organisations.

98. Members declared interests according to the information in the declaration form.

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99. The Acting Chairman indicated that she had declared her links with organisations that had been allocated DC funds budget. Pursuant to Order 48(11) of TPDC Standing Orders, she asked those Members who had not declared interests in accordance with Order 48(9) of TPDC Standing Orders to determine if she could speak in relation to the above-mentioned funds allocation budget or take part in voting, as well as whether she could remain in or had to withdraw from the meeting.

100. Mr. Eric TAM indicated that despite the substantive positions which the Acting Chairman held in the organisations that had been allocated DC funds budget, no pecuniary or other interests were involved. He recommended that she remain silent and abstain from resolution or voting of the fund allocation budget.

101. Members concurred with the said arrangement.

102. The Acting Chairman asked Members to refer to the declaration form tabled, in which non-substantive and substantive positions were respectively represented by the colours green and red.

103. As regards those Members who had declared interests, the Secretary introduced the suggestions made by the Acting Chairman as follows:

(i) If Members held a substantive position in the above-mentioned organisations without involving pecuniary interest or other interests, they were not required to withdraw from the meeting at which the fund allocation budget was being examined, but should remain silent during the discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

(ii) If they held a non-substantive position in the said organisations without involving pecuniary interest or other interests, they could take part in the discussion and resolution of the fund allocation budget concerned.

104. Members agreed to the said approach.

105. The Acting Chairman reminded those two Members who held a substantive position in the organisations concerned as indicated in the declaration form (i.e. Mr. CHAN Cho-leung and herself) to remain silent during the discussion of this fund application and abstain from resolution or voting. However, TPDC could ask the said Members to provide supplementary information if necessary.

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106. The Secretary recapped Paper No. 34/2017.

107. Mr. LAU Yung-wai raised the following views:

(i) He praised Tai Po Public Library under LCSD for organising with limited funding activities which were very well received by members of the public (such as guided tours to introduce culture of Tai Po District). He hoped that more funding could be allocated to the Library such that additional quality services could be provided to the public.

(ii) He recommended that the funding of $100,000 not be allocated to the mobile App for travel information of Tai Po District (“Tai Po Fun”). He said that he had reflected at ATRC meeting on 15 July 2016 that the said App had several problems and the ATRC secretary had indicated at the meeting that Members could consider giving the group three months to update the App. At the meeting of the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity under ATRC on 22 February 2017, the Chairman of the Working Group had indicated that as information update had just been completed on “Tai Po Fun”, it was not advisable to discontinue it immediately. Nonetheless, according to his follow up for over two years, the said App was far from satisfactory in terms of the number of downloads or information updates. He cited Tai Po Market as an example where there were close to 100 restaurants. However, only 39 had been recorded by the App, among which 17 had already closed down, with more than five of them having closed down as early as in 2016. It did not accord with what the Chairman of the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity had claimed on 22 February 2017.

(iii) As illustrated by the version information of the App, the Android version was updated in 2014 whereas the Apple version was also updated in 2014 with a general restoration in 2015. Updates involved nothing more than two to five news releases within a year and the content of each year’s news releases was more or less the same. The App had repeatedly been allocated DC funding in the past two years or so but no updates which met public expectations had been carried out. He quoted the report of Oriental Daily in December 2016 that some $180,000 had been spent on developing “Tai Po Fun” and the maintenance cost $40,000 per year. However, the App had been launched for almost three years and the number of downloads was some 2 600, i.e. fewer than 3 times per day while TPDC would spend $20,000 to update it. Yet, as reporters asked some 10-odd Tai Po residents randomly picked, none of them was aware of the existence of the App, nor would any of them download it. Despite the lack of effectiveness, funding for this App increased from $60,000 of last year to $100,000 this year, which was indeed mind-boggling.

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He opined that per his observation during the past two years, there had been ample time for the App to improve whereas continuous allocation of funds would bring no benefit, therefore he requested that TPDC stop allocating funds to “Tai Po Fun”.

108. The Secretary responded as follows:

(i) The Government currently promoted the updating of Apps of government departments to the version accessible for visually-impaired readers. As such, additional funding was needed to be granted to “Tai Po Fun” this year to carry out relevant updating work.

(ii) Funding for “Tai Po Fun” was temporarily allocated to the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity under ATRC. As to whether to use the said fund allocation or not, it would still subject to the approval of the Working Group and ATRC. Hence, he recommended that the funding for “Tai Po Fun” be retained for the time being and relevant matters be referred to the Working Group for discussion. The Secretariat would continue to monitor the use of and the application for use of the funding. If it was decided that the funding for “Tai Po Fun” would no longer be used, the funds concerned would be re-allocated.

109. Mr. YAM Man-chuen said that he agreed that funding for “Tai Po Fun” should stop and relevant matters be referred to the Working Group for further discussion. He also recommended that the item “Tai Po District Travel Information Mobile App” in the Funds Allocation Budget document be renamed as “Working Group on Promotion and Publicity” for the avoidance of doubts.

110. Mr. KWAN Wing-yip raised the following views:

(i) Since not all ATRC Members were included in the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity, he recommended that the above issue be discussed at ATRC meetings.

(ii) He recommended that when discussing the aforementioned issue, the Secretariat explain to Members matters concerning the updating of mobile Apps to the version accessible for visually-impaired readers.

(iii) The media would monitor how TPDC would make use of the public funds concerned, hence, he recommended that focus be placed on discussing the effectiveness and problems of “Tai Po Fun” at the ATRC meeting.

111. The Secretary gave a consolidated response to Members’ views and questions as follows:

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(i) The Secretariat noted the opinions of Mr. YAM Man-chuen and would amend the relevant Funds Allocation Budget document.

(ii) Applications for DC funds had to be vetted and approved by DC or relevant committees. Hence, funding application of “Tai Po Fun” would be discussed at ATRC meetings.

(iii) The Secretariat would explain to Members matters concerning the updating of mobile Apps to the version accessible for visually-impaired readers at ATRC meetings.

112. TPDC endorsed the TPDC Funds Allocation Budget 2018/19 contained in Paper No. 34/2018.

XIII. Applications for District Council Funds (TPDC Paper No. 35/2018)

113. The Acting Chairman welcomed Ms. TSE Ka-ying, Kimmy, Liaison Officer and Mr. Allan CHAN, Executive Assistant of TPDO to the meeting.

114. The Acting Chairman requested that Members declare interests where necessary in respect of the funding applications submitted to TPDC for vetting.

115. The Secretary reported that pursuant to Orders 48(9) and 48(10) of the TPDC Standing Orders, a Member should declare interests prior to handling an application for DC Funds if he found he had direct personal interests, pecuniary interests or other interests in an application for DC Funds under consideration, or had links with the benefited party or the potential benefited party. He advised that the Secretariat had compiled a declaration form based on the information collected. The form set out the links between Members and the hosting/partnering/co-hosting organisations concerned, and indicated by means of different colours whether Members were executors of the activities concerned, or held a substantive or non-substantive position. The form had already been tabled for Members’ reference (see Annex 7 to meeting minutes). He asked Members to check the information contained in the declaration form and make revisions or give supplementary information where necessary. He continued that Members should also declare interests if they had any direct personal interests, pecuniary interests or other interests in the applications for DC Funds to be examined at this meeting.

116. Members declared interests according to the information in the declaration form.

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117. The Acting Chairman indicated that she had declared her links with organisers of “Organisation of Tai Po District Football Teams for Participation in ‘HKFA’ Youth League at all Levels in 2018-2019” , “Football Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District” and“Tai Po Federation of All Circles Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to China”. Pursuant to Order 48(11) of TPDC Standing Orders, she asked those Members who had not disclosed interests in accordance with Order 48(9) of TPDC Standing Orders to determine if she could speak in relation to the above-mentioned funds applications or take part in voting, as well as whether she could remain in or had to withdraw from the meeting.

118. Mr. Eric TAM indicated that as the the Acting Chairman held non-substantive positions in the hosting organisations of “Organisation of Tai Po District Football Teams for Participation in ‘HKFA’ Youth League at all Levels in 2018-2019” and “Football Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District” and no pecuniary or other interests were involved, she could take part in the discussion and resolution of the fund applications of the said activities. Besides, the Acting Chairman held a substantive position in the hosting organisation of “Tai Po Federation of All Circles Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to China” without involving pecuniary interest or other interests, he recommended that she remain silent and abstain from resolution or voting of the fund application concerned.

119. Members agreed to the said approach.

120. The Acting Chairman asked Members to refer to the declaration form tabled, in which non-substantive and substantive positions were respectively represented by the colours green and yellow, while executors of activities were represented by the colour red.

121. As regards those Members who had declared interests, the Secretary introduced the suggestions made by the Acting Chairman as follows:

(i) Since Mr. Ken YU was the authorised person of the organiser of “Tai Po Federation of All Circles Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to China”, he had to withdraw from the meeting at which the fund allocation concerned was being examined.

(ii) If Members held a substantive position in the hosting/partnering/co-hosting organisations concerned without involving pecuniary interest or other interests, they were not required to withdraw from the meeting at which the fund application was being examined, but should remain silent during the discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

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(iii) If they held a non-substantive position in the hosting/partnering/co-hosting organisations concerned without involving pecuniary interest or other interests, they could take part in the discussion and resolution of the fund allocation budget concerned.

122. Members agreed to the said approach.

123. The Secretary and Ms. Trazy LEE recapped Paper No. 35/2018 (Revised).

124. The Acting Chairman asked Members to consider endorsing the seven fund applications which the Secretariat had just mentioned if they were satisfied that the activities were covered under the scope of and funded by DC Funds, while benefitting people living, working or attending schools in the district.

(I) “The 46th Cross Tolo Harbour Race”

125. The Acting Chairman reminded those two Members who had been shown in the declaration to hold a substantive position (i.e. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen and Mr. LI Kwok-ying) to remain silent during the following discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. However, TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

126. Mr. LAU Yung-wai raised the following questions:

(i) The estimated number of participants in the activity was 1 500. Why the numbers of slippers for athletes (expenditure item 27) and safety buoys (expenditure item 29) were only 1 200 pairs and 1 300 pieces respectively?

(ii) Why 300 staff uniforms (expenditure item 31) were required while the activity would hire only 190 part-time staffs?

(iii) The expenditure of trophies (expenditure item 8) was $1,500 a set (10 trophies per set) in the budget for the same activity last year but the expenditure increased significantly to $3,400 a set (also with 10 trophies per set) this year, while the expenditure on trophies for “Tai Po Sports Association 2018-2019 Taekwondo Invitation Tournament”, which was also organised by Tai Po Sports Association, was $350 per set (4 trophies per set), i.e. $80 each on average. He enquired about the reason for the significant difference between the expenditures of the two competitions.

(iv) He enquired about the arrangement for the race route of the cross-harbour swimming competition and whether or not the Marine Police and the Marine Department would provide any assistance.

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(v) Which medical groups were invited to provide assistance on-site?

127. Based on the information the organiser had given to the Secretariat prior to the meeting, Ms. Trazy LEE responded as follows:

(i) The number of participants in last year’s cross-harbour swimming event was fewer than expected and several hundred pairs of slippers and hundreds of safety buoys were left unused. Such leftover materials would be used at the event this year. In addition, last year’s event had some remaining towels and swimming caps too. However, as the name of last year’s event was printed on the said towels and swimming caps, they would not be provided to participants of this year’s race for use. The remaining towels would be placed on rescue boats for unexpected needs. Besides, since the colour of swimming caps varied from year to year and participants were required to wear swimming caps of the current year, those from last year could therefore not be used in this year’s race.

(ii) In addition to those 190 part-time staffs, each of the following persons would also be given a uniform: 30 staffs of service groups responsible for watching over materials in the coaches; 20 staffs operating rescue boats; 30 staffs of Tai Po Sports Association; and 30 guests. Hence, the total number of uniforms should be 300.

(iii) The actual expenditure on trophies for “The 45th Cross Tolo Harbour Race” held in 2017 was $3,400 a set (10 trophies per set). She would check with Tai Po Sports Association after the meeting if lower quotations for the trophies could be found to reduce the expenses.

(iv) The organiser invited Hong Kong Life Saving Society and Hong Kong St. John Ambulance to provide life-saving and medical services at the event.

(v) The organisation of cross-harbour swimming races required the filing of application for the license for water sports activities with Marine Department in advance. Starting from the planning stage, representatives of the Marine Police and Marine Department had taken part in the discussion of arrangements such as the design and safety of race route, whereas on the day of the event, vessels of the Marine Police and Marine Department would be stationed nearby. Besides, Hong Kong Life Saving Society would not only take care of the safety of the participants but also pay attention to the sea conditions to make sure that no other swimmers and vessels would enter the race route area. Prior to the race, Tai Po Sports Association would also write to groups which organised aquatic activities (such as Tai Po Boat Club) to remind them not to hold activities or go to sea in the vicinity of the race route on the day of the race.

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128. TPDC resolved to allocate $495,500 to Tai Po Sports Association and to waive the expenditure ceiling of individual expenditure items for the Association to organise“The 46th Cross Tolo Harbour Race”.

(II) “Tai Po Sports Association 2018-2019 Taekwondo Invitation Tournament”

129. The Acting Chairman reminded those two Members who had been shown in the declaration to hold a substantive position (i.e. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen and Mr. LI Kwok-ying) to remain silent during the following discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. However, TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

130. Mr. Francis YAM raised the following questions:

(i) Purchase of 80 sets of trophies was expected (expenditure item 6), did it mean there would be 80 matches?

(ii) Was participation in the tournament open to all Taekwondo enthusiasts or exclusively to those recommended by Do Kwans or sport clubs?

131. Based on the information the organiser had given to the Secretariat prior to the meeting, Ms. Trazy LEE responded as follows:

(i) The tournament was divided into different groups according to criteria such as age, weight, belt colours and so on. A total of 80 matches would be held.

(ii) Participation was open to all and no recommendation by Do Kwans or sport clubs would be required. The organiser would place enrolment forms and prospectus at venues managed by LCSD. Nonetheless, as the tournament involved certain risks, participants must be members of Hong Kong Taekwondo Association and persons with no experience in Taekwondo would not be accepted for participation.

132. TPDC resolved to allocate $127,402 to Tai Po Sports Association and to waive the expenditure ceiling of individual expenditure items for the Association to jointly organise “Tai Po Sports Association 2018-2019 Taekwondo Invitation Tournament” with the Hong Kong Taekwondo Jung Do Kwan.

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(III) “Organisation of Tai Po District Football Teams for Participation in ‘HKFA’ Youth League at all Levels in 2018-2019”

133. TPDC resolved to allocate $600,000 to Tai Po Football Club for holding the activity of “Organisation of Tai Po District Football Teams for Participation in ‘HKFA’ Youth League at all Levels in 2018-2019”.

(IV) “Tai Po District Youth Programme”

134. TPDC resolved to allocate $154,600 to Tai Po District Youth Programme Committee for organising “Tai Po District Youth Programme”.

(V) “Football Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District”

135. TPDC resolved to allocate $104,568 to Tai Po Football Club for organising“Football Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District”.

(VI) “Badminton Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District”

136. The Acting Chairman reminded those two Members who had been shown in the declaration to hold a substantive position (i.e. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen and Mr. LI Kwok-ying) to remain silent during the following discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. However, TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

137. TPDC resolved to allocate $124,140 to Tai Po Sports Association for organising “Badminton Training for the Elite Athletes in Tai Po District”.

(VII) “Tai Po Federation of All Circles Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to China”

138. Mr. Ken YU had already withdrawn from the meeting. Besides, the Acting Chairman reminded those four Members who had been shown in the declaration to hold a substantive position (i.e. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen, Mr. CHEUNG Hok-ming, Mr. LI Kwok-ying and herself ) to remain silent during the following discussion and abstain from resolution or voting. However, TPDC could ask them to provide supplementary information if necessary.

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139. Mr. YAM Man-chuen said that some applications for DC Funds had multiple activities in a single application. He enquired if the application as a whole or individual activities would be taken into account when calculating the funding ceiling.

140. Ms. Trazy LEE advised that there were two kinds of funding ceiling in the Guidelines on TPDC Funds, with one being in actual money term (involving in most cases the funding ceiling for unit price of items) and the other a certain percentage of the approved funding for the activity. The former was calculated based on each expenditure item whereas calculation for the latter was based on the proposed total amount of DC funding being applied for of the entire application, in which case the funding ceiling would be calculated based on the application as a whole even if there were multiple small activities in the application.

141. Mr. LAU Yung-wai enquired which groups would be invited to perform at Item II “Chinese Folk Acrobatics & Art Troupe cum Prize Presentation Ceremony of Tai Po District Inter-school Putonghua Competition”. He reminded that if mainland groups were invited to perform, it was imperative to make sure that the performers had relevant work visas or they might be arrested and the reputation of TPDC would be affected as a result.

142. Ms. Trazy LEE said that the organiser was currently identifying suitable groups and inviting quotations. Mr. LAU Yung-wai had already expressed his concern about the relevant issues before the meeting and she had relayed to the organiser Mr. LAU Yung-wai’s views. She would once again remind the organiser after the meeting that when inviting overseas group to perform in Hong Kong, the organiser had to make sure that the performers had all the documents and visas required.

143. TPDC resolved to allocate $290,000 to Tai Po Federation of All Circles and to waive the expenditure ceiling of individual expenditure items for the Federation to organise “Tai Po Federation of All Circles Celebrating the 21st Anniversary of the Return of Hong Kong to China”.

144. Members noted the eight applications for DC funds approved by committees under TPDC within two months prior to this meeting.

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X I V. Any other business

(I) Invitation for TPDC to support the “HK Road Cycling National Championships-Individual Time Trial” to be held at Bride Pool, Tai Po (TPDC Paper No. 36/2018)

145. The Acting Chairman advised that the Cycling Association of Hong Kong, China Limited would hold the“HK Road Cycling National Championships-Individual Time Trial” at Bride’s Pool, Tai Po on 30 June 2018 and invited TPDC to become a supporting organisation of the activity. Details could be found in Paper No. 36/2018.

146. TPDC agreed to be the supporting organisation of the captioned activity and authorised the organiser to display TPDC’s emblem on publicity materials relating to the activity.

(II) Nomination of TPDC Representative to the Disciplinary Committee under sections 5(3A) and 11(4A) of the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123) for Secretary for Development’s consideration (TPDC Paper No. 37/2018)

147. The Acting Chairman said that the Buildings Department had invited TPDC to nominate a representative to the captioned Disciplinary Committee for Secretary for Development’s consideration. Details could be found in Paper No. 37/2018.

148. Mr. Eric TAM nominated Mr. LI Kwok-ying while Mr. YAM Man-chuen nominated Mr. LAU Yung-wai. Both Mr. LI Kwok-ying and Mr. LAU Yung-wai accepted the nominations.

149. Mr. AU Chun-wah raised that since an honorarium of $2,500 (full day) or $1,250 (half day) would be granted to the representative being appointed, he recommended that for fairness’ sake, lots be drawn to select a candidate among Members who were interested in joining the said Disciplinary Committee.

150. Members agreed to the above-mentioned arrangement and that lots would be drawn by Ms. Andy LUI.

151. Mr. LI Kwok-ying was drawn in the ballot. TPDC endorsed the nomination of Mr. LI Kwok-ying to be the representative to the captioned Disciplinary Committee for Development Bureau’s consideration.

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(III) Invitation to support the “Lai-See Packet Recycle & Reuse Programme” (TPDC Paper No. 38/2018)

152. The Acting Chairman indicated that Greeners Action had invited TPDC to support and participate in the“Lai-See Packet Recycle & Reuse Programme” to help promote reduction of wastage and reuse of lai-see packets. The Programme would include supporting the use of “recycled lai-see packets” and signing the “Eco lai-see Charter”. She recommended that the Secretariat follow up with Members after the meeting on matters concerning how to obtain “recycled lai-see packets” and for the time being, it would only be discussed as to whether to sign the“Eco lai-see Charter”. Should TPDC’s consent be secured, the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity under ATRC must comply with the requirements of the said Charter when producing the lai-see packets for this year.

153. TPDC agreed to sign the“Eco lai-see Charter” and matters concerned were referred to the Chairman of the Working Group on Promotion and Publicity for follow up.

(IV) YADF “HK Territory-wide Youths Painting Day 2018” (TPDC Paper No. 39/2018)

154. The Acting Chairman advised that YADF would organise on 7 July 2018 the opening ceremony of the “HK Territory-wide Youths Painting Day 2018” at the Central and Western District Promenade - Central Section. Flags would be presented during the ceremony to representatives of 18 Districts territory-wide.

155. The TPDC agreed to authorise YADF’s display of TPDC’s emblem on the flags to be presented at the above-mentioned flag presentation ceremony.

(V) The 7th Hong Kong Games (TPDC Paper No. 40/2018)

156. The Acting Chairman said that LCSD had invited TPDC to nominate a representative to the Organising Committee of the 7th Hong Kong Games (“HKG”). TPDC had in the past nominated either the Chairman or the Vice-chairman of ATRC to represent TPDC at the Organising Committee of previous HKGs. Mr. Ken YU had represented TPDC at the last HKG.

157. The TPDC agreed to continue having Mr. Ken YU, Chairman of ATRC, as its representative to the Organising Committee of the 7th HKG.

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(VI) Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance (Cap 371) Smoking (Public Health) (Designation of No Smoking Areas) (Amendment) Notice 2018

158. Mr. LO Hiu-fung put forward the following views in connection with the captioned notice:

(i) Smoking problem remained rather serious at many transport interchanges in the district. He hoped that Department of Health (“DH”) would deploy additional manpower to institute prosecution while increasing the number of no smoking areas.

(ii) A zone outside had been granted by the Transport Department for pick up/drop off of residents’ coaches. He opined that the said zone could be considered a transport interchange too and hoped that departments concerned would consider designating it as a no smoking area.

(iii) He recommended that DH also take into consideration factors such as the density of pedestrian flow in addition to the standard based on coverage of building when designating no smoking areas.

X V. Date of Next Meeting

159. The next meeting would be held at 9:30 a.m. on 5 July 2018 (Thursday).

160. There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:17 p.m.

Tai Po District Council Secretariat June 2018