Information Paper No. 13/2014 (for discussion on 11.3.2014)

Wan Chai District Council Preservation-cum-development Proposal for the Residence at 23 Coombe Road

Purpose

This paper seeks Members’ views on the preservation-cum-development proposal for the residence at 23 Coombe Road.

Heritage Conservation Policy Statement

2. The Government seeks to protect, conserve and revitalise as appropriate historical and heritage sites and buildings through relevant and sustainable approaches for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations. In implementing this policy, the Government will give due regard to development needs in the public interest, respect for private property rights, budgetary considerations, cross-sector collaboration and active engagement of stakeholders and the general public.

Administrative Grading System

3. The Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB), having regard to the assessments of the heritage value of individual historic buildings by an independent assessment panel and the views and additional information received from members of the public and the owners of the buildings concerned during the public consultation exercise, has accorded Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 3 status 1 to individual historic buildings. The

1 Under the grading system, – Grade 1 status refers to buildings of outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible; – Grade 2 status refers to buildings of special merit; efforts should be made to selectively preserve; and – Grade 3 status refers to buildings of some merit; preservation in some form would be desirable and alternative means could be considered if preservation is not practicable.

1 grading of historic buildings provides an objective basis for determining the heritage value, and hence the preservation need, of historic buildings in Hong Kong. The grading system is administrative in nature and does not provide historic buildings with statutory protection.

4. Besides, the list of Grade 1 buildings is regarded as providing a “pool” of highly valuable historic buildings for consideration by the Antiquities Authority (i.e. the Secretary for Development) under the Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (the Ordinance) (Cap. 53) for possible monument declaration. Section 8 of the Ordinance provides for a mechanism for the owner or lawful occupier of a monument to claim compensation in respect of financial loss suffered or likely to be suffered by him by reason of -

(a) the exercise by the Antiquities Authority, or by a designated person authorised by him, of the powers specified in section 5(1)2; or

(b) a refusal to grant a permit or any conditions imposed in a permit.

Policy on the Conservation of Privately-owned Historic Buildings

5. It is the Government’s policy objective to strike a proper balance between respect for private property rights and heritage conservation. The Government recognises that on the premise of respecting private property rights, we need to offer appropriate economic incentives to encourage private owners either to hand over or conserve historic

2 Section 5(1) of the Ordinance provides that - “Subject to this section, the Authority, and any designated person authorised by him in writing, may, for the purposes of this Ordinance, at all reasonable times - (a) enter and inspect any proposed monument or monument; (b) with the prior approval of the Chief Executive- (i) fence, repair, maintain, preserve or restore any proposed monument or monument; (ii) excavate or search for relics in any proposed monument or monument and remove any relics hitherto undiscovered.”

2 buildings in their ownership. Given individual circumstances, the requisite economic incentives to achieve the policy objective would be considered on a case-by-case basis. Land exchange is one form of economic incentive. In the past, the Government has discussed with owners of monuments / historic buildings in the following cases about exchanging Green Belts of similar development parameters (such as the site area and the gross floor area) near the monuments / historic buildings concerned for preserving the monuments / historic buildings; and under the land exchange arrangements, the owners concerned have to pay full market value premium for the land exchange in accordance with the established policy -

(a) King Yin Lei The Chief Executive in Council approved in 2008 a non-in-situ land exchange with the owner of King Yin Lei in order to preserve the historic building for revitalisation. Under the land exchange arrangement, the owner of King Yin Lei surrendered the entire site of King Yin Lei to the Government, while the Government granted an adjacent Green Belt site of the same size to the owner for residential development.

(b) Ho Tung Gardens The Government suggested land exchange to the owner of Ho Tung Gardens in order to preserve the important parts of Ho Tung Gardens. The proposed site for exchange comprises three lots. Among them, one belongs to the Ho Tung Gardens site where the tennis court and garage are located, while the other two are Green Belts adjacent to Ho Tung Gardens. Under the land exchange proposal, we proposed to apply the original development parameters of Ho Tung Gardens to the proposed site for exchange. But regrettably we have not reached an agreement with the owner.

Preservation-cum-development Proposal for the Residence at 23 Coombe Road

Heritage Value

6. The residence at 23 Coombe Road was constructed in 1887 and

3 is a private property. The building is probably one of the oldest surviving European houses on the Peak. Its first owner was Mr John Joseph Francis. Mr Francis was prominent in civic affairs. In 1878, the then Governor Sir John Pope Hennessy appointed a committee of four (including Mr Francis) to investigate the issue of mui-tsai (妹仔, indentured Chinese girls working as unpaid domestic servants). This committee recommended the constitution of a Chinese association for the protection of women and girls, leading to the subsequent establishment of Po Leung Kuk. When bubonic plague attacked Hong Kong in 1894, Mr Francis was appointed as the chairman of a committee of the Sanitary Board. According to records, the residence at 23 Coombe Road is the only remaining building in which Mr Francis has lived. The residence at 23 Coombe Road was accorded with a Grade 1 historic building status by the AAB, that is a building of outstanding merit, which every effort should be made to preserve if possible. However, in the absence of any statutory protection mechanism, the owner is under no statutory obligation to preserve the building. Photos of the residence are at Annex A.

Preservation-cum-development Proposal

7. The residence at 23 Coombe Road has been under the threat of demolition in the past. The Development Bureau subsequently had explored various preservation-cum-development options with the owner, but the owner considered that land exchange was the only acceptable option and offered surrendering the site of 23 Coombe Road (the original site) to the Government in exchange for the Government site opposite to 23 Coombe Road (the proposed site for exchange).

8. According to the owner’s proposal, the owner will surrender the original site to the Government in exchange for the proposed site for exchange which is of the same size as the original site; the owner will pursue residential development on the proposed site for exchange based on the development parameters of the original site. According to the Peak Area Outline Zoning Plan (No.: S/H14/11), the original site is zoned “Residential (Group C) 2” and the proposed site for exchange is zoned Green Belt. The owner is applying for the Town Planning Board’s approval to rezone the proposed site for exchange to “Residential (Group

4 C) 2” and the original site to “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Historical Building Preserved for Cultural, Community and Commercial Uses”. Details of the owner’s proposal are at Annex B.

9. The Development Bureau supports in principle offering of economic incentives such as through exchanging land of the similar development parameters for preserving the residence at 23 Coombe Road from the heritage conservation perspective. In discussing the land exchange proposal with the owner of 23 Coombe Road, we have adopted the established principles (such as exchanging Green Belts of similar development parameters near the monuments / historic buildings concerned and requiring the owners to pay full market premium). If the land exchange proposal is materialised, the Government will consult Members on the future use of the residence at 23 Coombe Road.

Advice Sought

10. Members are invited to comment on the above proposal.

Development Bureau February 2014

5 Annex A

Annex B - 1

Executive Summary

E1. This rezoning proposal is submitted on behalf of Juli May Limited (the Applicant) to seek Town Planning Board’s approval to rezone site where the graded historical building at No. 23 Coombe Road is located (the original site) for conservation and to rezone a substitute site (the proposed site for exchange) of the same size in the opposite “Green Belt” zone for residential development. By doing so the rare 126-year-old European house at No. 23 Coombe Road will be preserved in-situ with minimal intervention for wider appreciation by the general public.

E2. Upon approval of this rezoning proposal, the original site will be rezoned “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Historical Building Preserved for Cultural, Community and Commercial Uses”, which will be surrendered to the Government. The proposed site for exchange will be rezoned “Residential (Group C)2” (“R(C)2”) for a single house development by the Applicant. The development parameters of the proposed site for exchange will be the same as those applied to the original site, which is zoned “R(C)2” under the Approved Peak Area Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/H14/11, with an as-of-right permitted plot ratio of 0.5 or the plot ratio of the existing building whichever is greater, and a maximum building height of 4 storeys including carports.

E3. The rezoning proposal evolved from discussions held between the owner and the Government on options to preserve the historic building at No. 23 Coombe Road. The proposed site for exchange to be granted to the landowner will be of the same area and development parameters as those of the original site.

E4. The boundaries of the proposed site for exchange have been carefully adjusted to avoid felling of important or vulnerable trees in the Green Belt zone. Furthermore, dense vegetation to the east and south was excluded from the proposed site for exchange. Multi-leveled greening is adopted in the single house development to create landscaped buffers, soften the edges of the house and allow a smooth transition from the house to the woodland. Stilt structures supporting the house platform are landscaped to minimize the visual impact.

E5. The site boundary and house design scheme largely complies with the planning criteria for house development under TPB Guidelines TPB PG-No. 10 - Application for Development within Green Belt Zone Under Section 16 of the Town Planning Ordinance. The proposed house development is also sustainable on traffic, noise and other infrastructural grounds.

E6. Based on the above, the Applicant requests the Town Planning Board to favorably consider this rezoning proposal.

Annex B - 2

Development Parameters Original Site (existing Proposed Site for Development Proposal at in accordance with OZP R(C)2 zone) Exchange (to be rezoned the Proposed Site for R(C)2) Exchange Site Area (approx.) 1,099.96m2 1,099.96m2 1,099.96m2 Maximum Permissible Plot 0.5 or PR of the existing 0.5 or existing PR of No. 0.5 Ratio (PR) building, whichever is 23 Coombe Road, greater whichever is greater Maximum Permissible Gross 549.98m2 or GFA of the 549.98m2 or existing GFA 549.98m2 Floor Area (GFA) existing building, of No. 23 Coombe Road, whichever is greater whichever is greater Maximum Permissible 4 storeys including 4 storeys including 2 storeys Building Height (BH) carports carports 8.75m Site Coverage ------~35% No. of Blocks ------1 No. of Units ------1 No. of Private Car Parking ------2 Spaces Provision of Local Open Minimum 1m2 per person Minimum 1m2 per person Not less than 1m2 per person Space in accordance with Hong in accordance with HKPSG in accordance with HKPSG Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) Greening Ratio ------Approximately 34.67% Tree Compensation Ratio ------0.68:1 in terms of no. of trees 0.37:1 in terms of tree girth

Table 1: Permissible development Parameters in accordance with OZP

Development Proposal at the Original Development Proposal at Proposed Site Site Approved by the Building Authority for Exchange in 2010 Site Area 1,099.96m2 1,099.96m2 Proposed PR 0.5 0.5 Proposed GFA 549.98m2 549.98m2 Proposed BH 2 storeys 2 storeys 9.09m (G/L and 1/F) 8.75m (G/L and 1/F) Site Coverage 35% ~35% No. of Private Car 2 2 Parking Spaces Local Open Space 232.26m2 Not less than 232.26m2 Greening Ratio Not less than 20% Approximately 34.67%

Table 2: Development parameters of the proposed development at the proposed site for exchange are comparable to those at the original site approved by the Building Authority in 2010.

Annex B - 3 N Coombe Road + 250.90 甘道

LEGEND 圖例 架空車道至嘉樂園 Vehicular ramp to Carolina Gardens Application site boundary 1 申請地盤邊界

2 + xx.xx Typical levels + 250.90 標高 Existing tree planting 250.90 + 現有樹木

Transplanted palm 7 移植棕櫚樹

Proposed feature tree planting 建議種植特色樹

3a 5. 4. Proposed tree planting 4. 1. Driveway Bridge 建議種植樹 + 259.652. + 250.00 車道 + 259.65 Proposed palm planting 5 6 2. Arrival courtyard 到達庭院 建議種植棕櫚樹 3 3. Woodland walK Shrub Planting 林地漫步 灌木種植 4. Poolside Terrace 池畔平台 4. Lawn area 5. Function Area 草坪種植 活動區 + 250.45 + 255.55 6. BBQ Area Timber Decking 燒烤區 木材地板平台 2. 7. Shady Seat 樹蔭休息區 Natural Stone Paving 天然石材路面 + 250.90 4 4. Driveway paving 車道路面

Swimming Pool 3 游泳池

Water Feature + 250.90 水景 1.

Aberdeen香港仔水塘道 Reservoir Road

0 2 4 6 8m 10m + 248.50

Linked Heritage Conservation Rezoning Proposal, No. 23Coombe Road, The Peak SCALE N.T.S. DATE October 2013 Scenic Landscape Studio Limited FIGURE TITLE Part 2: The Substitute Site for Single House Development CHECKED JBC DRAWN JEC LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPE PLANNING & ASSESSMENT

FIGURE NO. REV Room 2004,CentreMark,299 Queens Telephone: 2468 2422 Facsimile: 3016 2422 Landscape Master Plan – Combined Plan 園景設計總圖– 綜合平面圖 Figure 4.1 Road Central, Sheung Wan,Hong Kong Email : [email protected] -