Minutes of 1004th Meeting of the Town Planning Board held on 3.2.2012 Present Permanent Secretary for Development Chairman (Planning and Lands) Mr. Thomas Chow Mr. Stanley Y.F. Wong Vice-Chairman Mr. K.Y. Leung Mr. Walter K.L. Chan Mr. B.W. Chan Ms. Maggie M.K. Chan Mr. Raymond Y.M. Chan Mr. Felix W. Fong Professor Paul K.S. Lam Professor Edwin H.W. Chan Mr. Rock C.N. Chen Mr. Maurice W.M. Lee Mr. Timothy K.W. Ma Professor P.P. Ho Professor Eddie C.M. Hui Dr. C.P. Lau Mr. Clarence W.C. Leung Mr. Laurence L.J. Li Dr. W.K. Lo 2 - Mr. Roger K.H. Luk Ms. Anita W.T. Ma Professor S.C. Wong Ms. Pansy L.P. Yau Dr. W.K. Yau Director of Lands Miss Annie K.L. Tam Deputy Director of Environmental Protection Mr. Benny Y.K. Wong Assistant Director (2), Home Affairs Department Mr. Eric K.S. Hui Principal Assistant Secretary (Transport) Transport and Housing Bureau Mr. Fletch W.W. Chan Director of Planning Mr. Jimmy C.F. Leung Deputy Director of Planning/District Secretary Miss Ophelia Y.S. Wong Absent with Apologies Ms. Anna S.Y. Kwong Mr. Y.K. Cheng Dr. James C.W. Lau Dr. Winnie S.M. Tang Ms. Julia M.K. Lau Mr. Stephen M.W. Yip 3 - In Attendance Assistant Director of Planning/ Board Mr. C.T. Ling Chief Town Planner/Town Planning Board Ms. Christine K.C. Tse (a.m.) Ms. Maggie M.Y. Chin (p.m.) Senior Town Planner/Town Planning Board Mr. J.J. Austin (a.m.) Ms. Johanna W.Y. Cheng (p.m.) 4 - Agenda Item 1 [Open Meeting] Confirmation of Minutes of the 1002nd Meeting held on 13.1.2012 and the 1003rd Meeting held on 17.1.2012 [The meeting was conducted in Cantonese.] 1. The minutes of the 1002nd meeting held on 13.1.2012 and the 1003rd meeting held on 17.1.2012 were confirmed without amendments. Agenda Item 2 [Open Meeting] Matters Arising [The meeting was conducted in Cantonese.] (i) New Town Planning Appeal Received Town Planning Appeal No. 1 of 2012 Temporary Open Storage of New and Scrap Stainless Steel for a Period of 3 Years in “Agriculture” zone, Lots 758 S.B RP (Part) and 767 S.B (Part) in D.D. 46 and Adjoining Government Land, Sha Tau Kok Road, Fanling (Application No. A/NE-MUP/63) 2. The Secretary reported that an appeal was received by the Appeal Board Panel (Town Planning) on 20.1.2012 against the decision of the Town Planning Board (the Board) to reject on review an application (No. A/NE-MUP/63) for a temporary open storage of new and scrap stainless steel for a period of 3 years at a site zoned “Agriculture” (“AGR”) on the approved Man Uk Pin Outline Zoning Plan No. S/NE-MUP/11. The application was rejected by the Board for the following reasons: (a) the development under application was not in line with the planning intention of the “AGR” zone for the area which was primarily intended to retain and 5 - safeguard good agricultural land/farm/fishponds for agricultural purposes and to retain fallow arable land with good potential for rehabilitation for cultivation and other agricultural purposes. There was no strong planning justification in the submission for a departure from the planning intention, even on a temporary basis; (b) the development under application did not comply with Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 13E for Application for Open Storage and Port Back-up Uses in that no previous planning approval had been granted to the application site and there were local objections to the application; (c) the development under application was not compatible with land uses of the surrounding areas which were largely rural and agricultural in character; and (d) the approval of the application would set an undesirable precedent for similar applications within the “AGR” zone, the cumulative impact of approving similar applications would result in a general degradation of the environment in the area. 3. The hearing date of the appeal had not yet been fixed. Members agreed that the Secretary would act on behalf of the Board in dealing with the appeal in the usual manner. (ii) Withdrawal of Application for Review Review of Application No. A/TM-LTYY/222 Temporary Private Vehicle Park (Private Cars Only) for a Period of 1 Year in “Village Type Development” zone, Lots 647 S.A, 647 S.B, 647 S.C, 647 S.D, 647 S.E, 647 S.F, 647 S.G, 647 S.H, 647 RP, 648 S.A, 648 S.B, 648 S.C and 648 RP in D.D. 130, Lam Tei, Tuen Mun, New Territories 4. The Secretary reported that the review of application No. A/TM-LTYY/222, which was originally scheduled for consideration at this meeting, had been withdrawn by the applicant after the issue of the relevant TPB Paper. 6 - Agenda Item 3 [Open Meeting] Public Consultation on Licensing Scheme for Private Columbaria (TPB Paper No. 9003) [The meeting was conducted in Cantonese.] Presentation Session 5. Professor S.C. Wong declared an interest on this item as one of the government representatives making the presentation was his sibling. Members agreed that as the item did not require a decision of the Board, Professor Wong could stay in the meeting and participate in the discussion. 6. The following representatives of the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) were invited to the meeting at this point: Ms. Kitty Choi Deputy Secretary for Food and Health (Food)1, FHB Miss Diane Wong Principal Assistant Secretary (Food) 2, FHB 7. The Chairman extended a welcome and invited the representatives of FHB to brief Members on the public consultation on the proposed licensing scheme for private columbaria issued by the Government in December 2011. [Mr. Laurence L.J. Li and Mr. Raymond Y.M. Chan arrived to join the meeting at this point.] 8. With the aid of a powerpoint presentation, Ms. Kitty Choi presented the proposals as detailed in the Paper and made the following main points: (a) in July 2010, the FHB published a consultation document on review of columbarium policy and the Board was briefed on 20.8.2010. The Legislative Council Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene was briefed in April 2011 on the outcome of the public consultation and 7 - some preliminary proposals for a licensing scheme to enhance regulation of private columbaria. FHB undertook to put forward more detailed proposals on the licensing scheme and the second public consultation was launched on 13.12.2011; Present Position (b) according to the most up-to-date “Information on Private Columbaria” (the Information) published by the Development Bureau on 30.12.2011, there were 32 private columbaria in Part A of the Information, i.e. private columbaria that were compliant with user restrictions in the land leases and the statutory town planning requirements, and were not illegally occupying government land, and 53 private columbaria in Part B of the Information, i.e. other private columbaria that did not fall under Part A; (c) over the second half of 2011, FHB and the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) had visited 53 private columbaria that were listed in the “Information on Private Columbaria” to understand their current operation; Four Main Considerations of the Proposals (d) public views obtained from the first public consultation exercise showed strong support for a licensing scheme for private columbaria. However, views on the scope and intensity of regulation under the licensing scheme and the arrangements for pre-existing columbaria were diverse; (e) to facilitate a focused discussion of the subject and to balance the interests of different stakeholders, FHB had adopted four main factors for consideration as follows: (i) the proposed licensing scheme should be a robust but pragmatic way forward; 8 - (ii) the proposals should respect arrangements that were already made under traditional customs and measures which might upset the resting place of the deceased should not be contemplated lightly; (iii) the proposals should have due regard to the living and suitable management measures that should be put in place to take into account the concerns of the residents living near to columbaria; and (iv) the proposals should allow sustainable development of the trade; [Mr. Stanley Y.F. Wong arrived to join the meeting at this point.] Proposed Licensing Scheme for Private Columbaria (f) it was proposed to introduce a statutory licensing scheme under a new piece of legislation to be entitled the Private Columbaria Ordinance; (g) a statutory Private Columbaria Licensing Board (the Licensing Board) would be set up as the licensing authority. The Licensing Board would comprise officials and non-officials and would be appointed by the Secretary for Food and Health. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) would be the executive arm and enforcement agency of the Licensing Board; (h) a private columbarium would be defined as any place which offered to store human cremains, but which was not built and/or operated/ maintained by the Government. This would include any columbarium that was in existence before the enactment date of the new legislation, and those run by charitable organisations as well as religious institutions (e.g. temples and monasteries). The keeping of cremains of a limited number of deceased family members at home would not normally be covered by the definition; (i) a licence would be valid for 5 years, subject to renewal; 9 - (j) any application for a licence for private columbaria had to meet the following requirements: (i) for new columbaria which came into being after the commencement of the licensing scheme, the operator would be required to operate on self-owned premises to ensure long-term occupation of the premises to safeguard the interests of consumers.