Minutes of the 1st Meeting in 2019 of the Traffic and Transport Committee of Tai Po District Council Date: 11 January 2019 (Friday) Time: 2:33 p.m. – 7:37 p.m. Venue: Conference Room, Tai Po District Council (“TPDC”) Present Time of Arrival Time of Withdrawal Chairman Dr. LAU Chee-sing Beginning of the meeting 6:55 p.m. Vice-chairman Mr. WOO Kin-man, Clement Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Members Mr. AU Chun-wah Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHAN Cho-leung, MH 2:39 p.m. 5:51 p.m. Mr. CHAN Siu-kuen, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHOW Yuen-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. KWAN Wing-yip Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LAU Yung-wai Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LI Kwok-ying, BBS, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LI Wah-kwong, Rex Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. LO Hiu-fung Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. TAM Wing-fun, Eric, MH Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. TANG Ming-tai, Patrick Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Ms. WONG Pik-kiu, BBS, MH, JP Beginning of the meeting 5:53 p.m. Mr. YAM Kai-bong, Francis Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YAM Man-chuen Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YU Chi-wing, Ken Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Co-opted Members Mr. AU Chun-ho Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Ms. CHAN Wai-ka, Olive Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. CHEUNG Kwok-wah Beginning of the meeting 5:09 p.m. Mr. CHEUNG Kwok-wai Beginning of the meeting 6:02 p.m. Mr. MAN Nim-chi Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. MUI Siu-fung Beginning of the meeting 6:46 p.m. - 2 - Mr. TSANG Hon-man Beginning of the meeting 6:25 p.m. Mr. WAN Hing-choy Beginning of the meeting 5:09 p.m. Mr. WU Cheuk-him Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. WU Yiu-cheong, Max Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Mr. YIU Kwan-ho, Herman Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Secretary Mr. LEUNG Chung-wa, Alvin Beginning of the meeting End of the meeting Executive Officer (District Council) 1 / Tai Po District Office (“TPDO”) / Home Affairs Department (“HAD”) In Attendance Ms. LEE Kai-ying, Iris Assistant District Officer (Tai Po) / TPDO / HAD Ms. MA, Flora Senior Transport Officer / Tai Po / Transport Department (“TD”) Mr. LI Kin-yip, Charles Transport Officer / Tai Po / TD Ms. PUN Fun-yu, Winnie Engineer / Tai Po 1 / TD Mr. CHEUNG Wai-fung Engineer / Tai Po 2 / TD Ms. MAK Pui-yan Engineer / 19 (North) / North Development Office / Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”) Mr. CHENG Wun-chee District Engineer / Tai Po 1 / Highways Department (“HyD”) Mr. LAU Tak-cheong Assistant Housing Manager / Tai Po, North and Shatin 7 / Housing Department (“HD”) Mr. LEUNG Chi-tak Station Sergeant (Acting) / District Traffic Team / Tai Po Police District / Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”) Mr. TAM Tsun-hei, Jeff Manager / Public Affairs / Transport Planning and Public Affairs Department / Kowloon Motor Bus Company (1933) Limited (“KMB”) Mr. TANG Ching-kit Assistant Manager / Transport Planning / Transport Planning and Public Affairs Department / KMB Mr. WONG Tsz-kin Assistant Manager / Operations / Shatin Depot / KMB Mr. LEE Yu-sau, Terence Senior Executive Officer (District Council) / TPDO / HAD Ms. WONG Yu-hang, Anita Senior Liaison Officer (2) / TPDO / HAD Applicant for absence Mr. LI Yiu-ban, BBS, MH, JP - 3 - Absent Mr. CHAN Tsz-wah Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed Members and departmental representatives to the Traffic and Transport Committee (“TTC”) meeting and announced the following: (i) Mr. LAU Chung-hon had resigned from his position as a Co-opted Member of the TTC. (ii) He welcomed Mr. YIU Kwan-ho, Herman, joining the TTC as a Co-opted Member. (iii) Mr. HUI Ka-kit of the HyD had been transferred out and Mr. CHENG Wun-chee attended this meeting on his behalf. (iv) Mr. YEUNG Chiu-tim of the HD had been transferred out and Mr. LAU Tak-cheong attended this meeting on his behalf. (v) Mr. TSUI Yik-fuk of the HKPF was unable to attend this meeting due to other commitments and Mr. LEUNG Chi-tak attended this meeting on his behalf. (vi) Mr. LI Yiu-ban was unable to attend this meeting due to other commitments and had submitted his notice of absence to the Secretariat. Pursuant to Order 51(1) of the TPDC Standing Orders (“Standing Orders”), the TTC would only give consent to a Member’s application for absence from meeting filed on grounds of sickness (including sickness due to pregnancy), jury service, attendance at another meeting / activity on behalf of the District Council (“DC”), attendance at a Legislative Council or Executive Council meeting, confinement or paternity leave. Pursuant to the above requirements, his application was not approved. I. Confirmation of the minutes of the 6th meeting in 2018 of the TTC on 9 November 2018 (TPDC Paper No. TT 1/2019) 2. The Chairman said that as the Secretariat did not receive any proposed amendments prior to the meeting and there were no amendments proposed by Members at the meeting, the above minutes were confirmed with no amendments necessary. II. Demand for comprehensive improvement to the traffic in Pak Shek Kok (TPDC Paper No. TT 2/2019) - 4 - 3. Mr. WOO Kin-man, Clement, the Vice-chairman introduced the captioned paper. 4. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had earlier invited the representative of the Railway Development Office (“RDO”) of the HyD to the meeting for this agenda item. However, the RDO staff was unable to attend this meeting due to other commitments and had responded to Members’ questions in writing instead. The written reply concerned had been set out in Annex 1. 5. Mr. CHENG Wun-chee indicated that the RDO had responded in writing as regards the matters concerning the setting up of a railway station at Pak Shek Kok. If Members had any comments or questions, he would forward them to his RDO colleagues for follow-up actions. He suggested the TTC again invite the RDO staff to the next meeting if necessary. 6. Mr. CHEUNG Wai-fung responded as follows: (i) At present, the traffic of Tolo Highway during peak hours was nearly saturated while that during non-peak hours was acceptable. In general, the TD opined that the current traffic condition of Tolo Highway was acceptable. (ii) Vehicles on the northbound Tolo Highway mainly used the two roundabouts on Chak Cheung Street on their way to Pak Shek Kok, and the current traffic of Chak Cheung Street was nearly saturated during peak hours. (iii) The CEDD would carry out road widening works on Tai Po Road (Sha Tin Section). It was expected that upon completion of the works, the traffic condition there would improve. (iv) When constructing its Medical Centre, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (“CUHK”) would carry out road improvement works at the roundabout on Chak Cheung Street near the CUHK at the same time. It was believed that this works would help improve the traffic of Chak Cheung Street. (v) Apart from Chak Cheung Street, drivers could also make their way to Pak Shek Kok via Tai Po Road, Yau King Lane and Pok Yin Road. (vi) For the above reasons, the TD had no plans to study for a new carriageway connecting the northbound Tolo Highway and Pak Shek Kok for the time being. The department would continue to keep an eye on the traffic condition near the site and propose improvement measures where necessary. 7. Mr. TAM Wing-fun, Eric’s comments were as follows: (i) Members submitted the paper as early as a month before the meeting. He expressed regret and dissatisfaction that the RDO of the HyD had still failed to send a - 5 - representative to this meeting with so much time in hand. (ii) The “Railway Development Strategy 2014” study report indicated that there was no sufficient transport demand to support the setting up of a railway station at Pak Shek Kok. He was not sure if the Government had taken into account the current development and changes in Pak Shek Kok when conducting the study back then, and did not know whether there was any difference between the Government’s expectation at that time and the actual situation today. However, he opined that there were indeed substantial changes in the development and planning of the Pak Shek Kok area in recent years. (iii) When the Government constructed the West Rail Line years ago, the areas surrounding several stations were not fully developed yet. On the contrary, there were already many people living and working in Pak Shek Kok, and the population was expected to further increase substantially in the future. As such, it was difficult to see why the Government still did not consider setting up a railway station there. (iv) He was not happy with the RDO’s written reply. 8. Ms. WONG Pik-kiu’s comments were as follows: (i) As Members submitted the paper as early as a month in advance, she opined that the HyD should respect the TTC and attend the meeting. She asked the department to make a direct response regarding the setting up of a railway station at Pak Shek Kok later.