Land Use Review on the Western Part of Kennedy Town
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Discussion Paper C&W DC Paper No. 29/2015 Land Use Review on the Western Part of Kennedy Town Purpose 1. This paper is to brief the Central and Western District Council (C&WDC) on the Revised Land Use Proposal of the Land Use Review on the Western Part of Kennedy Town and to solicit views of members of C&WDC. Land Use Review on the Western Part of Kennedy Town Background 2. In order to enhance the land uses in the Western District and to grasp the opportunity of the commissioning of the MTR West Island Line (WIL) in 2014, the Planning Department (PlanD) has undertaken the Land Use Review on the Western Part of Kennedy Town (the Land Use Review). The review area covers the Ex-Mount Davis Cottage Area, the Ex- Police Married Officers Quarters at Ka Wai Man Road, the Ex-Temporary School Site for Hong Kong Academy and the Ex-Kennedy Town Incinerator and Abattoir (Plan 1). 3. During May and June 2013, PlanD consulted the C&WDC and the Task Force on Harbourfront Developments on Hong Kong Island under the Harbourfront Commission, and attended two public forums organised by local District Council members to solicit views of the stakeholders on the Preliminary Land Use Proposal of the Land Use Review. After taking into account the views of different parties and the current housing supply target, PlanD and relevant Government departments have revised the Preliminary Land Use Proposal. 1 Revised Land Use Proposals (Plan 2) 4. The suggestions in the Preliminary Land Use Proposal supported by C&WDC will be retained, including the waterfront promenade, enhancement of the land uses at the waterfront, relocation of the Victoria Public Mortuary (VPM) and Salt Water Pumping Station, as well as the provision of public and private housing and community facilities within the review area, e.g. primary school and social welfare facilities. Some proposals will be further enhanced through the following measures – (a) the section of proposed new access road separating the primary school and the waterfront promenade will be deleted without affecting the traffic network in order to improve pedestrian accessibility to the waterfront promenade. The area of the waterfront promenade will also be increased accordingly; (b) more space will be allocated for providing additional community facilities in the proposed residential development at the junction of Victoria Road/Cadogan Street; and (c) the western pavement near the waterfront at Cadogan Street will be widened and a total of two footbridges across Victoria Road will be provided to enhance the accessibility of the waterfront area. 5. To increase and expedite housing land supply in the short to medium term, we need to optimise the use of the concerned land. We understand the concern of the C&WDC on the proposed number of housing units, particularly the visual and air ventilation impacts of future new developments on the surroundings, as well as the impact on the existing community facilities and traffic and transport system in the district arising from the increase in population. In view of the above, we will reduce the impacts of the relevant residential developments and enhance community facilities in the district through the following measures – 2 (a) Public Housing Sites on Ka Wai Man Road (Phases 1 & 2) (i) after thorough consideration of the planning concept and overall public housing supply in the district, the total number of public housing units is reduced by about 400 units, i.e. providing a total of about 2 340 public housing units; (ii) the building height of the western portion of the site, (i.e. the portion facing The Sail at Victoria, Serene Court and Regent Height), will be substantially reduced from the originally proposed 120-140 mPD to 65 mPD; (iii) a relatively low-rise community complex would be developed within the western portion of the site to provide social welfare facilities (including youth and elderly centres, etc) and parking facilities (including public light goods vehicle parking spaces); and (iv) regarding the site layout, three non-building area (NBA)/building gaps will be provided to serve as air/visual corridors. (b) Air Ventilation and Visual Aspects of Existing Buildings (i) a stepped height profile at the proposed residential development at the junction of Victoria Road/Cadogan Street (i.e. building heights for the portion facing Centenary Mansion, Ka Wai Man Road Garden and the remaining portion of the site at 120mPD, 100mPD and 40mPD respectively) will be considered, so as to further alleviate the air ventilation and visual impacts of the future developments on existing developments in the vicinity (such as Cayman Rise); and (ii) the width of the NBA between the two buildings of the China Merchants Godown will be increased from the originally proposed 15m to 30m. (c) Traffic and Transport (i) the MTR WIL has been commissioned and the new Kennedy Town MTR Station is only at a distance of about 300m from the review area, the public transport in 3 the area has hence become more convenient, which helps reducing car usage in the district; (ii) to facilitate the future developments in the district, the Transport Department (TD) has put forth several traffic improvement measures which include widening the section of Victoria Road between Cadogan Street and Island West Refuse Transfer Station; constructing a new access road to divert the Central bound traffic from Victoria Road eastbound to Cadogan Street so as to ease the traffic flow at the junction of Victoria Road/Belcher’s Street/Cadogan Street; enhancing the traffic signaling system at the junction of Belcher’s Street/Cadogan Street; and deleting the western arm of a pedestrian crossing at the junction of Belcher’s Street/Sands Street to improve the traffic capacity of the said junction; and (iii) a public transport interchange will be provided in the private housing site at the junction of Victoria Road/Cadogan Street so as to combine the two open-air bus termini at Sai Ning Street and Shing Sai Road. The environment where passengers wait for buses could also be improved. (d) Community Facilities (i) more space will be allocated for the provision of community facilities at the private housing development at the junction of Victoria Road/Cadogan Street; and (ii) to alleviate the shortage of parking spaces in the Western District, TD suggests providing basement car park within the private residential site at the junction of Victoria Road/Cadogan Street. According to TD’s preliminary estimate, about 200 parking spaces, including 50 goods vehicle parking spaces could be provided. TD is also examining other appropriate locations for parking purpose. TD is studying the actual provision of car parking spaces based on the estimated traffic flow within the district. 6. We note members’ concern on the number of trees to be removed and the corresponding mitigation measures in the review area. According to the information provided by relevant Government departments, about 700 trees are distributed in the major development sites, 4 most of them are common tree species such as Celtis sinensis, Cinnamomum camphora, Ficus microcarpa, Macaranga tanarius and Leucaena leucocephala. 1 Two Old and Valuable Trees listed in the Register of Old and Valuable Trees are located in the Kennedy Town Bus Terminus Sitting-out Area next to Victoria Road. Relevant departments will conduct detailed tree surveys at the detailed design stage and the affected trees will be preserved, transplanted or removed according to the recommendations in the assessment reports. Relevant departments will minimise the development impact on existing trees and provide appropriate landscape measures and feasible tree preservation and compensatory planting proposals in accordance with the Development Bureau (DEVB)’s relevant Technical Circular and Lands Department’s Land Administration Office Practice Note. 7. In addition, the relocation of incompatible facilities from the waterfront in the Preliminary Land Use Proposal is supported by C&WDC and the VPM will be reprovisioned to another site on Victoria Road, i.e. the ex-magazine site in the cavern and its adjoining area. We note members’ proposal to relocate the VPM to Queen Mary Hospital (QMH). According to the views of the Food and Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority conveyed by the Department of Health, in planning for the redevelopment of QMH, consideration has to be given to the improvement in clinical service efficiency as well as the enhancement in treatment environment and service quality for patients given the site area and topographical constraints of QMH. There is insufficient space for the reprovisioning of VPM under the QMH redevelopment plan. Short and Medium Term Housing Land Supply 8. In order to increase and expedite housing land supply in the short and medium-term, we must optimise the use of developed areas in the existing urban areas and new towns, as well as the nearby land in the vicinity of existing infrastructures. In this regard, DEVB, PlanD and the relevant Government departments have been conducting various land use reviews, including reviews on the government land currently vacant, under Short Term Tenancy or 1 Among a total of about 700 trees, about 200 trees are located within the Cadogan Street Temporary Garden. Tree roots of those 200 trees are contaminated and the trees will be handled in the future ground decontamination works. The Civil Engineering and Development Department will separately consult the C&WDC on the ground decontamination works at the Ex-Kennedy Town Incineration Plant and Abattoir site as well as the adjoining areas (including the Cadogan Street Temporary Garden) in the western part of Kennedy Town. 5 other different short-term or other government uses, as well as “Green Belt” sites, etc. so as to identify more suitable sites for residential use.