For Consideration Of

RNTPC Paper No. A/NE-LT/662D For Consideration by the Rural and New Town Planning Committee on 15.5.2020 APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION UNDER SECTION 16 OF THE TOWN PLANNING ORDINANCE APPLICATION NO. A/NE-LT/662 Applicant City University of Hong Kong represented by P.K. NG & Associates (HK) Limited Site Lots 335 S.B (Part), 336 S.A, 336 S.B, 336 S.C, 337 S.B, 338, 339, 340, 341, 345 S.A and 346 in D.D. 16, Wo Tong Pui, Tai Po, New Territories Site Area About 9,330 m2 Lease Block Government Lease (demised for agricultural use) Plan Approved Lam Tsuen Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/NE-LT/11 Zonings “Recreation” (“REC”) (about 9,274m2 or 99.4%) and “Green Belt” (“GB”) (about 56m2 or 0.6%) Application Proposed Temporary Educational Institution (Teaching Farm) for a Period of 3 Years and Excavation of Land 1. The Proposal 1.1 The applicant seeks planning permission for proposed temporary educational institution (teaching farm) for a period of 3 years and excavation of land at the application site (the Site), which falls within an area largely zoned “REC” (99.4%) with a very small portion at the south-eastern part encroaching onto the adjoining “GB” zone (0.6%) on the approved Lam Tsuen OZP No. S/NE- LT/11 (Plans A-1 and A-2). According to the covering Notes of the OZP, temporary use or development of any land or building not exceeding three years, notwithstanding that the use or development is not provided for in terms of the OZP, and excavation of land in “REC” and “GB” zones requiring planning permission from the Town Planning Board (the Board). The Site is mostly vacant with a container and some tree clusters. 1.2 According to the applicant, the Site will be used as a demonstration and teaching farm operated by the Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). The proposed farm is mainly for the milking of Jersey cows (comprising 32 cows and 25 younger stock) for students to gain hands-on experience with the cattle. There will be two barns on the site, with one for cattle (i.e. adult barn) and another one for calves (i.e. young stock barn). Both the cattle and calves will be kept in barns - 2 - instead of grazing to avoid causing any environmental impacts within the Site and on the surrounding area. The applicant states that a maximum number of six veterinary students will undertake internship at the proposed farm on a roster basis. On-site accommodation for the farm manager and veterinary students is proposed at Block 5 (Drawing A-1) as the milking of cows has to begin early in the morning. The proposed development will be operating 24 hours a day and seven days a week. Moreover, a maximum number of ten visitors will visit the farm under guidance in a month. 1.3 As shown on the proposed master layout plan at Drawing A-1, there will be 15 single-storey structures and a covered walkway (linking Blocks 3 & 4) (with building heights ranging from 3.0m to 5.8m) on the Site with a total GFA of 2,871m2, which will be mainly used for farm operation/supporting facilities including barns, main building, changing room, caretaker’s quarters, transformer room, pump rooms and other associated facilities . In association with these structures, excavation of land with a depth ranging from 0.5m to 2.5m will be required for the construction of raft footing, underground facilities and emergency vehicular access (EVA). Moreover, to address Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO)’s concerns that the south-eastern part of the Site is overlooked by steep natural terrain and a natural terrain hazard study (NTHS) is required, the applicant proposes to designate an “no-build” zone thereat (Plan A-2) with no works and no structures. As such, the requirement for NTHS is waived by GEO. 1.4 The Site is accessible from Ngau Kwu Leng Path and the proposed ingress/ egress is at the south-western side of the Site (Drawing A-1). Three private car parking spaces (including one accessible parking space) and two loading/unloading spaces will be provided on the Site. The proposed master layout plan and layout/section plans for the barns are shown on Drawings A-1 to A-3. 1.5 In support of the application, the applicant has submitted the following documents: (a) Application form with attachment received on (Appendix I) 28.1.2019 (b) Supplementary information received on 30.1.2019 (Appendix Ia) (c) Further information (FI) received on 31.7.2019# (Appendix Ib)* providing a revised carpark layout plan, swept path analysis and water and air quality impact assessment (WAQIA)* (d) FI received on 3.9.2019^ providing supplementary (Appendix Ic) information to WAQIA (e) FI received on 20.11.2019# providing a revised (Appendix Id)* layout plan, drainage proposal, tree survey plan and supplementary information to WAQIA - 3 - (f) FI received on 4.12.2019^ providing a revised layout (Appendix Ie)* plan (g) FI received on 17.3.2020# providing revised layout/ (Appendix If)* section plans, revised WAQIA, revised stormwater drainage proposal and responses to departmental and public comments (h) FI received on 25.3.2020^ providing a revised layout (Appendix Ig)* plan (i) FI received on 26.3.2020^ providing clarifications on (Appendix Ih) background information (j) FI received on 21.4.2020^ providing a revised layout (Appendix Ii)* plan, supplementary information to WAQIA, revised drainage proposal and information on consultation with local villagers (k) FI received on 27.4.2020^ providing a revised layout (Appendix Ij) plan, Environmental Assessment (EA) Report, revised drainage proposal, a letter from the Provost of CityU, leaflet/information on the proposed teaching farm, the Veterinary Medicine degree programme and site selection criteria and supplementary information on local consultation (l) FI received on 8.5.2020^ providing updated layout (Appendix Ik) and section plans, replacement pages to EA report, and response to departmental and public comments (# accepted but not exempted from publication and recounting requirements) (^ accepted and exempted from publication and recounting requirements) (* submissions in the FI superseded by Appendix Ij) 1.6 On 22.3.2019, 31.5.2019, 20.9.2019 and 7.1.2020, the Rural and New Town Planning Committee (the Committee) of the Board agreed to the applicant’s request to defer making a decision on the application each for two months to allow time for the applicant to prepare FI in support of the application. The latest FI was received on 8.5.2020 and the application is scheduled for consideration by the Committee on 15.5.2020. 2. Justifications from the Applicant The justifications put forth by the applicant in support of the application are detailed in the attachment of the Application Form at Appendix I and FI submissions at Appendices Ib to Ik. They can be summarized as follows: (a) the Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree programme of CityU was approved by the University Grants Committee (UGC) in 2018 to meet the society’s need for a professional community of veterinarians. With the UGC’s support, CityU - 4 - (i.e. the applicant) is able to offer an affordable programme for local students to study veterinary medicine and become professional veterinarians. They will contribute to improving the public health and food safety of the community. The proposed teaching farm is a required facility for accreditation by the Australian Veterinary Boards Council, which is a prerequisite for becoming a licensed veterinarian college. An information leaflet and website link to video clips introducing the teaching farm have been provided by the applicant at Appendix Ij; (b) it is the programme requirement for veterinary students to gain hands-on experience to a variety of animals including dogs, cats, food animals (pigs, cattle and poultry), horses and wildlife/exotic animals. Since there is no active dairy farm in Hong Kong, it is essential to develop and operate a dairy farm for the training of veterinary students; (c) the applicant has assessed more than 50 pieces of land in the whole territory. The application site has been chosen for a number of reasons: it is large enough to allow the building of an adult barn and young stock barn; the location and disposition of the barns could protect the cattle from direct sunshine and strong wind; there is a direct vehicular access to public road; and the land is good for agricultural use with electricity and water supply; (d) the proposed development is designed according to the highest possible international standards for sustainable development. State-of-the-art systems are in place to ensure it is environmental friendly and uphold the stringent standards of environmental and social responsibility. The design is based on those farms operating in the USA with similar climate, ensuring that the waste management systems, hygiene, animal health and welfare, and management systems and processes are based on a proven and existing fit-for-purpose design; (e) the cattle will be imported from Australia, which is listed by the World Organization for Animal Health as having a negligible risk of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) (i.e. normally known as ‘mad cow disease’). In the event of a sick/injured animal, it will be treated within the barn/moved into the isolation unit; (f) from animal health perspective, no chemicals (including pesticides, insecticides, flammable solvents, etc.) will be permitted. Agrochemical would not be stored or used on-site. The only operation involving chemicals in the proposed farm is the dairy plant and barn cleaning.

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