Summary of the Minutes of 3rd Meeting of the District Council

The 3rd Meeting of the Council was held on 25 March 2008. The major issues discussed were summarised as follows:

Visit of Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Department to Tsuen Wan District Council 2. Some Councillors pointed out that the library and study room facilities in Tsuen Wan were not enough. A Councillor suggested altering the Fong Yuen Study Hall to a library for public use. Other Councillors urged relevant departments to study the feasibility of altering vacant shops in some public housing estates to study rooms. They also requested Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) to enhance the existing library and study room services. A Councillor said that only one beach in Tsuen Wan was suitable for swimming and hoped that LCSD would re-open the other seven beaches. Also, the facilities of the beaches should be improved, so that residents could carry out different water sports after the beaches re-opened. Some Councillors concerned about the beach replenishment works of Tung Wan Beach. They urged LCSD to follow up the issue so that the beach could be opened as soon as possible. Some Councillors hoped that the construction works of the Tso Kung Tam Valley Ecology Park could be commenced as soon as possible. They also made suggestions about the facilities to be provided at the park. A Councillor disagreed with the suggestion about the parking location of coaches as it might cause traffic congestion at Tsuen King Circuit. She suggested that the carpark should be situated at the traffic interchange at Discovery Park. Councillors also made suggestions about improvement of LCSD facilities.

3. In response, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services (DLCS) pointed out that the demands for library and study room facilities were great. However, with the resources constraint, the Government could not meet all demands. Instead of opening more libraries, LCSD would provide more electronic devices such as e-books and Wi-Fi services or enhance the existing e-system to facilitate the public. The Education Bureau was responsible for the supply of study rooms and LCSD would assist in the provision of such facilities as far as possible. For example, temporary study corners would be provided in suitable LCSD facilities during the peak of examination period. The Housing Department might also consider providing vacant units for Councillors and LCSD to establish community libraries. The representative of the Housing Department said that if the vacant units were not managed by the Link, the Department could handle the requests flexibly. Councillors could submit their recommendations on suitable locations for library and study room facilities to the District Facilities Management Committee for consideration. Besides, if any non-profit-making organisation was interested in the operation of Fong Yuen Study Hall, they could submit application to the Development Bureau. The Government would only finance the operation at the initial stage and the library had to be self-financing afterwards. Regarding the beaches in Tsuen Wan, DLCS said the water quality of the beaches might be improved after the completion of the Harbour Area Treatment Scheme Stage 2 in 2009 and the beaches could be re-opened to the public at that time. He agreed that the facilities had to be retrofitted before the beaches were re-opened. In addition, he would follow up the schedule of the beach replenishment works of Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach. LCSD would maintain close contact with the Architectural Services Department (ASD) to monitor the progress of the construction of Tso Kung Tam Valley Ecology Park. They would consider planting special specie of trees as the theme tree and carrying out greening work on the nearby slope. DLCS also responded to other suggestions about LCSD facilities made by Councillors.

A Proposal to Ban Idling Vehicles with Running Engines 4. Most Councillors supported the proposal and some of them thought that the vehicle mix, design of the engines and so on should also be improved to achieve a better effect of improving the air quality. Some Councillors pointed out that in order to speed up the progress of improving the air quality, the Government should also implement at the same time other measures, such as encouraging the owners to use liquefied petroleum gas vehicles and so on. A Councillor expressed that the Government should carefully formulate the enforcement procedures of the legislation to avoid conflicts between drivers and enforcement officers. In Paragraph 7 of the paper, it was stated that the Government could, in consideration of the special situation occurred in individual area, exempt the requirement from being implemented in that area during a certain period. A Councillor considered that it would create conflict between the public and DC, and no area should be exempted from implementing the requirement. He also pointed out that manpower would be insufficient if only Traffic Wardens and staff of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) were authorised to take enforcement actions. He suggested allowing staff of other departments to be authorised officers. The Chairman wished to know if police officers could also take enforcement actions.

5. In response, the representative of EPD pointed out that the requirement to ban idling vehicles engines was just one of the measures for improving the environment. Other measures included improving the vehicles mix and emission standards of new vehicles and so on. As DC was familiar with district matters, the Government would consult DC before granting exemption to certain areas. At present, it was proposed that the enforcement actions were mainly taken by Traffic Wardens and EPD staff. However, the overall resource and enforcement arrangement would be considered when finalising the legislation.

7. Chairman concluded that TWDC supported the proposal to ban idling vehicles with running engines. He urged that Government to consider the opinions of Councillors, so as to develop an option that was widely accepted.

Proposal on Traffic and Transport Arrangement for Ma Wan 8. Councillors pointed out that the traffic and transport arrangement for Ma Wan should be made considering the opinions of Ma Wan residents and the conditions of Ma Wan. The car-ferry ratio should be reviewed and adjusted according to the demands of the residents. Most Councillors considered that the bus service should be enhanced and taxis should be allowed to enter Ma Wan at night. However, the ferry service should also maintain so that residents had more choices. Councillors also urged the Transport Department (TD) to allow more coaches to take visitors to Ma Wan Park as to cope with the increase of visitors.

9. The representative of TD said that the Department had been keeping contact with Ma Wan residents all along. The proposals for allowing taxis to enter Ma Wan at night and the location of passenger boarding/alighting point were formulated according to the views of the residents. These arrangements would be reviewed after they had been implemented for some time. The Department would discuss with relevant parties the transportation services to meet the needs of the residents. For example, they would discuss with the ferry service provider about the traffic arrangement and mechanism in times of typhoons. Regarding the transportation services for Ma Wan Park, TD was studying the arrangement in this aspect with the developer. They would consult relevant parties after they had come up with the specific arrangement.

Progress Report on Major Works in Tsuen Wan as at 29.2.2008 10. Some Councillors concerned about the progress of two projects, that is the works of Route 9 (Shek Wai Kok to Chai Wan Kok Section) and Tso Kung Tam Valley Ecology Park. The completion date of the former had been delayed for more than three years, whereas the commencement date of the latter had been postponed. Besides, Chairman and a Councillor would like to have information about the traffic arrangement for the school at the junction of Texaco Road and Castle Peak Road. Another Councillor wished to know the progress of the retrofitting of noise barriers at Tsing Yi and Tsuen Wan Approaches.

11. In response, the representative of Civil Engineering and Development Department said that he understood Councillors’ concerns about the works of Route 9. For the retrofitting of noise barriers on Tsing Tsuen Bridge at Tsing Yi and Tsuen Wan Approaches, he would send relevant information to the Secretariat later. Regarding the traffic arrangement for the school at the junction of Texaco Road and Castle Peak Road, the representative of ASD explained that the department would study carefully the impact of the work on nearby traffic and make appropriate arrangement. He would also forward Councillors’ opinions to the Education Bureau. ASD was conducting the preliminary technical feasibility study for Tso Kung Tam Valley Ecology Park and the latest estimated completion date was early 2015, which was later then the original one. The complexity and scale of the works was greater than initially expected.

Strategy and Work on Improvement to Environmental Hygiene of 12. Councillors concerned about the environmental hygiene of different areas in Tsuen Wan and urged the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) to enhance their cleansing services. Some Councillors asked about the effect of the rodenticide and if there were other methods for killing rodents. Councillors would like to know the role of FEHD in the Building Department/FEHD Joint Office. Some Councillors wished that FEHD would pay attention to the issues about illegal extension of operating area of shops, portable racks and the hygiene of restaurants.

13. The representative of FEHD pointed out that their staff would check the public areas of private buildings. If they found that there were mosquitoes breeding, they would follow up immediately. The schedule for street cleaning was planned in consideration of different factors. The cleaning work for busy roads was usually arranged at non-peak hours or at night. If public had any opinion about the cleansing service, they could contact FEHD or Government Hotline 1823. The methods recently used to deal with the rodent problems were using poisonous bail or cage trap and depriving rodents of harbourage, and they were quite effective. The Building Department/FEHD Joint Office was still under trial and review would be carried out in 2009. Regarding illegal extension of operating area, FEHD would patrol the blackspots such as Lo Tak Court and Sam Pei Square and take prosecutions actions if necessary. For the problems of portable racks, the Department would remove the racks if they obstructed the street cleansing work. FEHD would work with the Police and other relevant departments to deal with the problem. Health Inspectors would conduct regular inspections to check the hygiene of licensed restaurants. They would issue warnings if the situation was unsatisfactory, and take prosecution actions if there was no improvement after warnings were issued. FEHD was responsible for the licensing of fumes extracting systems of restaurants, whereas the emission of cooking fumes during operation was controlled by EPD.

Issue about Dragon Garden – Historical Building at 14. The representative of the Development Bureau said that the Bureau was very concerned about the development of Dragon Garden and had followed up the issue since it took over the management of heritage conservation policy on 1 July 2007. He thanked the owner of the Dragon Garden for donating the premise to the Government for public visit. The Bureau kept close contact with the owner to discuss the arrangement and details of the donation. They had put forward three options to the owners last November and were now waiting for reply. As the issue involved complicated details, the owner might need more time for consideration.