TPB Paper No. 10608 for consideration by the Town Planning Board on 20.12.2019 REVIEW OF APPLICATION NO. A/SLC/155 UNDER SECTION 17 OF THE TOWN PLANNING ORDINANCE Proposed Temporary Holiday Camp (Caravan Holiday Camp) for a Period of 5 years and Excavation of Land (Sewerage and Drainage Facilities) in “Coastal Protection Area” zone, Lots 626 (Part), 627 (Part), 628 to 630, 632, 633 (Part), 634 to 637, 639 to 642, 647 to 650, 710 to 712, 715 RP, 716, 717 and 718 RP in D.D. 316L, Pui O, Lantau Island 1. Background 1.1 On 12.6.2019, the applicant, JK Group Ltd., sought planning permission for temporary holiday camp (caravan holiday camp) for a period of 5 years and excavation of land (sewerage facilities) at the Application Site (the Site) under s.16 of the Town Planning Ordinance. The Site falls within the “Coastal Protection Area” (“CPA”) zone on the approved South Lantau Coast Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) No. S/SLC/21 (Plan R-1). 1.2 On 2.8.2019, the Rural and New Town Planning Committee (RNTPC) of the Town Planning Board (the Board) decided to reject the application and the reasons were: (a) the application is not in line with the planning intention of the “CPA” zone which is to conserve, protect and retain the natural coastlines and the sensitive coastal natural environment, including attractive geological features, physical landform or area of high landscape, scenic or ecological value, with a minimum of built development. It is also intended to safeguard the beaches and their immediate hinterland and to prevent haphazard ribbon development along the South Lantau Coast. There is a general presumption against development in this zone. There is no strong planning justification in the submission for a departure from such planning intention, even on a temporary basis; (b) the applicant fails to demonstrate that the proposed development would not have adverse ecological and landscape impacts on the surrounding areas; and (c) approval of the application, even on a temporary basis, would set an undesirable precedent for similar applications within the “CPA” zone and the cumulative effect of approving such applications would lead to a general degradation of the natural environment of the area. 1.3 For Members’ reference, the following documents are attached: (a) RNTPC Paper No. A/SLC/155 (Annex A) - 2 - (b) Extract of minutes of the RNTPC meeting held on 2.8.2019 (Annex B) (c) Secretary of Town Planning Board’s letter dated 16.8.2019 (Annex C) 2. Application for Review 2.1 On 2.9.2019, the applicant applied, under s.17(1) of the Ordinance, for review of the RNTPC’s decision to reject the application (Annex D). In support of the review application, the applicant submitted the following documents: (a) further information (FI) received on 9.10.2019 with (Annex E) clarifications on background information, responses to departmental comments, a concept plan and a revised drainage proposal (not exempted); (b) FI received on 28.11.2019 with responses to departmental (Annex F) and public comments, a revised layout plan, revised drainage and landscape proposals, a revised existing tree plan, a revised landscaping plant plan and a revised sewage layout plan (exempted); and (c) FI received on 11.12.2019 with responses to departmental (Annex G) comment and further clarification on the background information (exempted). 2.2 Compared with the rejected s.16 application, there is no change to the development parameters except the change in location of some caravans (Drawing No. R-2) and revision of the drainage proposal which would require additional excavation of land within the Site (Drawing No. R-3). For Members’ reference, the proposed development parameters are shown in the following table: Use Number Floor Area Height 154m2 Caravan 10 2.5m (15.4m2 each) Garden Centre and Kiosk 1 215m2 4m (green house) Movable pergola 2 144m2 4m B1 Movable Storage 1 18.36m2 3m B2 Movable Storage 3 44.65m2 3m Portable Toilet 1 8.4m2 2.6m Sand Pool 1 - Depth: 1.5m Lookout Platform 1 - 3m Sign 1 - 1.8m Electric Box 1 - 2.5m Total 22 584.41m2 - - 3 - 3. Justifications from the Applicant The justifications put forth by the applicant in support of the review application are detailed in Annexes E, F and G. They are summarised as follows: (a) the Site was previously used as a vehicle workshop for more than ten years. It is not located within wetland area nor in its close proximity. It is located 80m away from the Pui O Stream (i.e. the Pui O Ecologically Important Stream (EIS)) and 600m away from the Pui O Beach. The surrounding areas and uses include Pui O Lo Wan Tsuen and Ham Tin Tsuen, vehicle repair workshops, carparks, storage, farmland, veterinary clinic, private club, bus terminus and the Pui O Public School; (b) the proposed holiday camp use will benefit the society by organising various activities e.g. fun fair, flea market, Halloween party, wedding/birthday party, meetings of local society/community groups, workshops, farming and family education; (c) in response to the comments from the Sustainable Lantau Office of Civil Engineering and Development Department (SLO, CEDD), the proposed holiday camp development will improve the environment and landscape quality and achieve sustainable development by providing leisure and recreational activities; (d) in response to the comments from the Urban Design & Landscape Unit of the Planning Department (UD&L, PlanD), the Site is located in a rural area and surrounded by vegetation, farmland and villages. The proposed holiday camp will improve the landscape character. The caravan will be relocated away from the existing tree and concrete slabs will be provided under the movable containers to avoid adverse impact on soil (Drawing No. R-2); and (e) to address the comments from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), UD&L, PlanD and the Drainage Services Department (DSD), a revised drainage proposal (Drawing R-3) is submitted to indicate the location of surface channel and sand trap for discharge of the surface runoff to an existing nullah to the west of the Site and the proposal will be implemented by professional engineer. Very little surface runoff will be drained through the drainage facilities as it will be percolated to the soil where more than 80% of the Site is covered by grass. A detailed surface water drainage plan will be submitted to DSD for approval prior to construction. There is no other source of pollutant by the proposed holiday camp development. DSD and the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) have no objection to the proposed development. EPD also advises that no environmental complaint at the Site was received in the past three years. Most of the public comments objecting the application are not submitted by local residents and the objectors are not familiar with the area. 4. The Section 16 Application The Site and the Surrounding Area (Plans R-1 to R-5a and R-5b) 4.1 The situation of the Site and the surrounding area at the time of the consideration - 4 - of the s.16 application by the RNTPC was described in paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 of Annex A. There has been no material change of the situation since then. 4.2 The Site has the following characteristics: (a) it is accessible from South Lantau Road and a bus stop is located near the entrance of the Site (Plans R-2 and R-4a); (b) the northern part of the Site is currently paved and occupied by a garden centre, a grassland and six caravans (Plans R-4a and R-4b); (c) the western part of the Site is occupied by a grassland with tables and chairs under the pergolas (Plan R-4c); (d) the southern part of the Site is currently occupied by temporary open storage of containers and scrap metal and some trees (Plan R-4c); and (e) as shown in the aerial photos (Plans R-5a to R-5b), the Site was mainly covered by vegetation in 1995. Vegetation clearance was found in the southern part of the Site in 1996 and some structures were erected in 1998. In 2010, further vegetation clearance in the western part of the Site and some temporary structures and open storage were found at the Site. Since 2011, more temporary structures and open storage have been found on the Site. 4.3 The surrounding areas have the following characteristics: (a) predominantly rural in character with fallow or active farmland / marshes to the immediate east, south and west of the Site where buffaloes can be found (Plan R-4d); (b) there are some private lands encircled by the Site which are used as track and occupied by containers/scrap metal and a house (Plans R-4d); (c) car parks and open storages are found to the north and further southwest of the Site abutting South Lantau Road; (d) Pui O Lo Wai Tsuen and Ham Tin San Tsuen are located to the northwest (across South Lantau Road) and southeast of the Site respectively; and (e) Pui O EIS and Pui O gazetted beach are located about 50m to the east and 600m to the south of the Site respectively (Plans R-2 and R-3). Planning Intention 4.4 There has been no change of the planning intention of the “CPA” zone, which is mentioned in paragraph 7 of Annex A. 4.5 The “CPA” zone is intended to conserve, protect and retain the natural coastlines and the sensitive coastal natural environment, including attractive geological features, physical landform or area of high landscape, scenic or ecological value, - 5 - with a minimum of built development.