Summary of Discussions and Decisions of the 5th Meeting of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council held on 24 June 2004

Opening Remarks

The Chairman welcomed District Councillors and Government Representatives to the meeting.

Item 1 Confirmation of Minutes of the 5th Meeting

2. Minutes were confirmed without amendment.

Item 2 Concern Over the Planning and Tendering of the West Kowloon Cultural District (YTMDC Paper No. 57/2004)

3. The response of representatives of government departments to questions raised in the paper are summarised as follows:

4. By the deadline for submission of proposals for the development of the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), the Government received a total of five submissions, four from organisations and one from an individual. The Government would check whether the proposals complied with the mandatory requirements before further evaluation. The proposals would be assessed by a Proposals Evaluation Committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary for Housing, Planning and Lands and assisted by officials from relevant government bureaux and departments. The expected completion date of the evaluation was the end of the year. The Government would publicise the proposals complying with the mandatory requirements and conduct public consultation at the beginning of next year.

5. The canopy was a key feature of the winning design of the open competition on concept plan. The canopy linked up the various facilities in the development area and would also become a new and distinct architectural icon of Hong Kong and a tourist attraction. Besides, the canopy could create an open and comfortable environment so that the public would not be affected by weather conditions. To achieve this, the canopy should cover at least 55% of the total area. The Government

1 had conducted an evaluation and consulted professional bodies regarding the design of the canopy. The design of the canopy was considered to be technically viable, but its safety standards would be examined in future in accordance with relevant ordinances as set out by the Buildings Department.

6. The project was large in scale and involved the concept of overall development. As the Government was faced with financial deficit, it was unable to allocate additional resources for constructing new cultural and arts facilities. The project had to be implemented on a self-financing basis. If it was divided into small packages, it would be very difficult to achieve an integrated development. Moreover, if the land was put for sale by batches, the income generated might not be able to cover the construction cost of cultural and arts facilities and their operating expenses involved. Therefore, the Government decided to adopt the overall development approach. As stated in the Invitation for Proposals for the development of the WKCD, the proponents shall submit feasible proposals on financial appraisal (i.e. the proponents shall assume operating expenses for 30 years) and state clearly their financial sources. The project should not have financial implications for the Government.

7. In drawing up the proposals for the development of the WKCD, the Government had stated that the facilities in the WKCD shall tie in with the existing arts facilities.

8. Upon completion of internal evaluation by the Government, all proposals that had satisfied the mandatory requirements would be exhibited for public consultation. The Government would also consult the Town Planning Board, the Legislative Council and the Yau Tsim Mong District Council.

9. As there were still 7 to 9 years to come towards the completion of the WKCD, the proponents should have ample time to prepare the “software”.

10. As the current usage rate of many arts facilities in the district exceeded 90%, the facilities in the WKCD would definitely be in great demand upon its completion. As set out in the Invitation for Proposals, four thematic museums covering the aspects of contemporary arts, water and ink, design and film should be built in the WKCD.

11. The Invitation for Proposals for the development of the WKCD stated that the project was aimed at attracting local residents and visitors. The promotion of local arts development and introduction of international performances were equally important to

2 the development of the project. The emergence of the WKCD would feature Hong Kong’s multi-faceted cultures integrating Chinese and Western elements.

12. The West Kowloon Station would be built at the junction of Canton Road and Austin Road. Early completion of the West Kowloon Station would bring convenience to the residents of the properties above the Kowloon Station and in Jordan areas. The developers of the WKCD would make arrangements to facilitate access by passengers of West Kowloon Station.

13. A District Councillor asked whether the Government would consider converting the Hong Kong Cultural Centre into a district-based cultural and arts facility upon completion of the WKCD. Representative of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department responded that the interaction between the WKCD and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre would depend on the nature of the facilities in the WKCD and the activities organised by the operator.

14. A District Councillor asked whether there would be any conflict of interest arising from hiring Norman Foster, first prize winner of the Concept Plan Competition, as a consultant by the consortium company formed by the Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited and the Cheung Kong Limited. Representative of the Housing, Planning and Lands Bureau responded that the Government was no longer connected with the winners after the announcement of competition results and the prize presentation, so no conflict of interest occurred when the winner served as the consultant for the consortium company.

15. A District Councillor asked about the mechanism that the Government would adopt to ensure that the operator could manage the facilities effectively for 30 years. Representative of the Home Affairs Bureau responded that as set out in the Invitation for Proposals, the Government reserved the rights to hand over the management of these core arts facilities to any parties. In the event that the operator performed unsatisfactorily, the Government had the rights to terminate its operation.

Item 3 Impacts of Construction of the Central Kowloon Route on the Provision of Community Facilities (YTMDC Paper No. 58/2004)

16. The representative of the Highways Department (HyD) said that the Central

3 Kowloon Route (CKR) was 11 kilometres long, running from Tseung Kwan O in the east to the Yau Ma Tei Interchange in the west via Kwun Tong, Kowloon City and Ho Man Tin. The alignment of the CKR was aimed to avoid passing through residential premises in the district as far as possible. The proposed alignment mainly affected the Government and institutional facilities in the district. The Government would adopt the approach of reprovisioning in order to lessen the impact on residents.

17. A District Councillor asked whether the Government departments concerned had consulted local residents as the current alignment involved the reprovisioning of some Government and institutional facilities in the district. The representative of the HyD responded that in view of the scale of the project and the preliminary stage of the reprovisioning scheme, no detailed information would be available for reference of the public and District Councillors if consultation was conducted at this stage.

18. Some District Councillors were of the view that the relocation of the library and the Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club Polyclinic (Polyclinic) to the new reclamation area would cause inconvenience to the public. They enquired about the progress of the feasibility study on maintaining the Polyclinic at the current site. The representative of the HyD responded that the department was aware of the wish of residents to maintain the existing out-patient service. As the Polyclinic was not affected much by the project, the HyD was studying the possibility of maintaining the Polyclinic at the existing site. In view of the area of the construction site, he said that there would be some difficulties in keeping the facilities at the existing site and therefore they had to be reprovisioned to the nearest point in West Kowloon. Some District Councillors proposed to relocate the Polyclinic to the Fruit Market after the latter’s removal because it was better than the location suggested by the Government. The representative of the HyD said that in identifying the location for reprovisioning facilities, the site nearest to the original would be considered to minimise the impacts on residents. The Government would consider the Fruit Market if District Councillors were of the view that it was appropriate for relocating the Polyclinic. The representative of the Planning Department said that they had to take into account many factors before relocating the Polyclinic to the Fruit Market. For example, the possibility of identifying an appropriate place for reprovisioning of the Fruit Market and such arrangement would take quite a long time. On the other hand, a site in West Kowloon was readily available for reprovisioning of the Polyclinic and it would speed up the reprovisioning and minimising the impacts on users.

19. A District Councillor enquired the use of the vacant land upon the completion

4 of the CKR. The representative of the HyD responded that as it would take 8 to 9 years to complete the project, there would be ample time to plan for the use of the vacant land arising from the reprovisioning after the commencement of works.

20. A District Councillor was of the view that the Government should enhance communication with the shop operators on the site for reprovisioning of the Jade Market. The representative of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) responded that the FEHD would liaise closely with the traders about the relocation of the Jade Market.

21. A District Councillor said that the Gascoigne Road Flyover would be widened according to the works programme. Owing to the loading constraints, acoustic shields were not erected on the existing flyover though it was very close to residential premises. She was of the view that acoustic shields must be erected if the flyover was widened. The representative of the HyD advised positive.

22. Some District Councillors asked the Police how they could maintain the law and order and rendered services to local residents upon the relocation of the police station. The representative of the Hong Kong Police Force said that the proposed reprovisoning was only at its initial stage, the Police was studying the impacts of reprovisioning of the Yau Ma Tei Police Station. He pointed out that relocation of the police station would not lead to a reduction in the number of patrolling police officers.

Item 4 Yau Tsim Mong District Council Standing Orders: Admission of the Public Including Local and Professional Bodies to Meetings (YTMDC Paper No. 59/2004)

23. A District Councillor said that recently there was a change in the conduct of meetings of the District Council, the Committees and the Working Groups as more members of the public were allowed to attend meetings to air their grievances, join in the discussion and argue with representatives of Government departments. He hoped that District Councillors could give further thoughts to this new arrangement for the conduct of meetings and come to a consensus. When the public who attended the meeting persisted in his arguments for self interst or in airing the grievances, the smooth functioning of the meeting would be affected. Other District Councillor considered that if members of the public wished to raise a particular issue or lodge a complaint, special meetings should be arranged for District Councillors and representatives of the concerned Government departments to listen to their views and

5 grievances.

24. Other District Councillors opined that the flexibility of the District Council to invite anyone to attend meetings should be maintained. Members of the public had been invited to attend meetings on several occasions without causing serious problems. However, some District Councillors said that meetings of the District Council should not be conducted as consultative forums in which the public might freely express themselves. They said that the objective of the proposal put forward in the paper was to promote more mature and efficient conduct of meetings in the development for democracy.

25. After discussion, the meeting agreed to withheld the discussion of the paper until the next in-house meeting early next year, or as and when necessary when circumstances warrant.

Item 5 Feasibility Study on the Construction of a Public Transport Terminal Building (YTMDC Paper No. 60/2004)

26. The representative of the Transport Department (TD) said that the District Council meeting held on October 2002 had discussed the issue “Concern over the Planning and Development of the Existing Site of the Water Supplies Department (WSD) in Sai Yee Street in Mong Kok”. According to the meeting, the site would be redeveloped upon the removal of the WSD in 2007. After the Planning Department, the Lands Department and the Buildings Department had finalised the development plan of the site, the TD would discuss with relevant departments and jointly study the feasibility of constructing a public transport interchange.

27. A District Member expressed support for the concept of constructing a public transport terminal building but objected to building it on the existing site of the Yaumatei Wholesale Fruit Market (Fruit Market). The Member was of the view that the polyclinic should be relocated to the above site after the Fruit Market was moved to another place after the implementation of the Central Kowloon Route. The TD representative responded that at present the department had no plan to develop public transport services with a terminus at the Fruit Market. Whether the above site would be used to build the terminal building would be subject to the decision of the relevant departments over the future use of the land.

6 28. A District Member expressed support in principle for the construction of a public transport terminal building at the existing site of the Water Supplies Department to improve the traffic in the district. However, in view of the area of the site, the proposed construction plan could only help to relieve congestion and might not be unable to solve all traffic problems in the district. He thought that besides constructing the above building, the government should also plan for the future development of the transportation networks and examine whether there were too many buses.

29. A District Member asked whether the TD would conduct a feasibility study of the concept of building a public transport terminal building. The TD representative said that the department had to discuss the issue of feasibility before deciding to conduct a study. At present no funding was earmarked for the said study.

Item 6 Annoying Phone Calls Late at Night (YTMDC Paper No. 61/2004)

30. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority and the Hong Kong Police gave written replies on the procedures and methods of handling nuisance phone calls.

Item 7 Hong Kong Citizens’ Worry about Loss of Freedom of Speech (YTMDC Paper No. 62/2004)

31. Some District Councillors said that unsubstantiated incidents should not be used as the basis of argument about the loss of freedom of speech of Hong Kong people. They pointed out that whether the renowned personalities in the media were under threats of violence and forced to quit had not been verified. Motion 1 in the paper should be amended as “Some members of the public are worried that freedom of the press and freedom of speech in Hong Kong are at stake; this Council expresses grave concern about this and urges the Government to investigate these incidents and take measures to defend such freedoms.” Motion 2 in the paper should be amended as “This Council would write to the Commissioner of Police and the Chief Executive urging them to be serious about the departure of the hosts of phone-in programmes, to uphold freedom of speech in Hong Kong and to affirm such freedom is one of the qualities Hong Kong boasts, and that freedom of speech shall be inviolable.” The amended motions were supported by the meeting.

32. A District Member said the incident concerning the departure of the hosts of phone-in programmes had already been discussed thoroughly by the public and the Legislative Council. It was untimely for the meeting to vote on Motions 1 and 2. The

7 meeting supported the spirit of the two motions, and no voting was held.

Item 8 Financial Position of the Yau Tsim Mong District Council Funds as at 14.6.2004 (YTMDC Paper No. 63/2004)

33. District Councillor noted the paper.

Item 9 Application for District Council Funds by the Working Group on Publicity and Promotion (YTMDC Paper No. 64/2004)

34. The meeting approved a funding of $340,000 for the production of printed publicity materials, souvenirs and “Yau Tsim Mong District Strategy 2003-2007” by the Working Group in this year.

Item 10 Application for District Council Funds by the 2004/2005 Yau Tsim Mong District Building Management Promotion Campaign Organizing Committee (YTMDC Paper No. 65/2004)

35. The meeting approved a funding of $135,000 for the Yau Tsim Mong District Building Management Promotion Campaign Organizing Committee to organise activities in this year

Item 11 National Day Bunting Design Competition (YTMDC Paper No. 66/2004)

36. The meeting supported the suggestions listed in the paper.

Item 12 Application for District Council Funds by the 2004 Yau Tsim Mong District Council National Day Celebration Activities Organizing Committee to Organise Activities in Celebration of the 55th Anniversary of the National Day (YTMDC Paper No. 67/2004)

8 37. The meeting approved the funding proposal listed in the paper.

Item 13 Progress Reports (YTMDC Paper No. 68-78/2004)

38. The District Councillors noted the progress reports.

YTMDC Secretariat August 2004

9