SDC Paper No. 12/2019 (for information) Southern District Council Report from the Area Committees Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the major items discussed during the Area Committees meetings. Items Discussed I. East Area Committee (EAC) Matters discussed at meeting held in February 2019 (a) Noise Nuisance Caused by Busking near Stanley Plaza A Member said that since early 2019, person sang and played musical instrument with an amplifier at the roundabout of Stanley Plaza or in the public area around Murray House in the afternoon of every Saturday, Sunday and public holiday, causing noise nuisance to the residents of Lung Tak Court and Ma Hang Estate. The representative of Environmental Protection Department replied at the meeting that according to section 5 of the Noise Control Ordinance (Cap. 400), if law enforcement officers of the Police arrived at the scene and, after observation, reasonably considered that the noise produced by the relevant persons caused annoyance to any person, the officer might issue an advice or take prosecution action. The representative of Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) said at the meeting that the person concerned always reduced the noise level after being advised by the police officers on the scene, and that his behaviour had not contravened other laws of Hong Kong. It was thus relatively difficult to take prosecution action against him. The representative of HKPF supplemented that 1 if any street performance breached any statutory provisions, having regard to the specific circumstances of each case, the department concerned might give advice or verbal warning to the persons concerned, and might institute prosecution in accordance with the relevant Ordinance. (b) Matters relating to Big Wave Bay Beach A Member said that there was a sand and mud cleft on the side of the small hill at Big Wave Bay Beach. Moreover, the onslaught of Super Typhoon Mangkhut left a large amount of sand and mud accumulating in the catchwater in Tai Long Wan Village. Members were worried that in the event of another typhoon, the waves would wash up directly into Tai Long Wan Village through the cleft, and hence leading to flooding. Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) replied that the aforesaid hill collapsed due to Super Typhoon Mangkhut and resulted in a cleft and dent. LCSD was inviting tenders for the reconstruction of the aforesaid hill, where one modular housing block would be built with replanting in the vicinity to prevent the sand and mud from being washed away and eroded consequently. The works was expected to commence in March 2019. During the restoration works, LCSD’s staff would monitor the works area from time to time for prevention of the sand and mud from running into the catchwater. (c) Proposed Improvement Works for the Catchwater in Tai Long Wan Village A Member proposed at the last meeting that improvement works should be carried out to the catchwater in Tai Long Wan Village. The Highways Department (HyD) replied that the repairs and maintenance of catchwater in Tai Long Wan Village was not undertaken by the department, but HyD would instruct its contractors to step up inspection to Big Wave Bay Road as well as clearing the relevant roadside drainage system. Meanwhile, HyD would also study the feasibility of improving the roadside drainage system. Besides, the Drainage Services Department (DSD) replied that a technical study on stormwater drainage in Tai Long Wan Village was completed in 2006 and implementation of the recommended measures under study also completed in 2012. Hence, DSD currently had no plan to conduct a further technical study on stormwater drainage for Tai Long Wan Village. 2 (d) Lost Trip Problem of New World First Bus (NWFB) Route No. 14 and Request for Increased Frequency of Green Minibus (GMB) Route No. 52 Referring to the lost trip problem of NWFB Route No. 14 raised by some Members at the last meeting, the Transport Department (TD) replied that according to the operation record of NWFB Route No. 14 for December 2018, NWFB Route No. 14 would be affected by the en-route traffic conditions from time to time, thus causing delays in the bus service. TD had urged NWFB to pay additional attention to the services of the route concerned, and where necessary, exercise flexibility in bus deployment or conduct a review on the scheduled journey time for the route concerned with a view to minimising delayed trips. Regarding an increase in the frequency of GMB Route No. 52, TD replied that officers were deployed to conduct a site visit to San Wai Village of Wong Chuk Hang during the peak hours on 15 January 2019. It was found that there was greater demand for the route bound for Stanley during the peak hours in the afternoon. In this connection, TD would request the operator to further increase the frequency during the relevant time period and introduce more 19-seat public light buses (PLB) so as to enhance the overall carrying capacity of the route concerned, as well as shortening the passengers’ waiting time. Besides, a Member suggested TD discuss with the relevant GMB operators about arrangement of two vacant PLBs to pick up passengers from San Wai Village of Wong Chuk Hang to Stanley during the peak hours in the afternoon every day, in order to ease the long queue of waiting passengers. (e) Hygiene Conditions of Yip Fat Street Public Toilet and Vehicle Washing Problem A Member said that Yip Fat Street Public Toilet was in poor hygiene conditions and many drivers were often found washing their cars there. The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) replied that the department had deployed staff to conduct inspection to the aforesaid public toilet and instructed its cleansing contractors to pay special attention to the sanitary condition of the public toilet concerned. Moreover, FEHD had deployed more staff to step up inspections to the aforesaid location. If anyone was found fouling public places when washing a car, a fixed penalty ticket would be issued to the person concerned. The representative of FEHD supplemented that the department had attempted to install additional devices onto the taps of the aforesaid public toilet so as to make it harder for people to obtain water through connection of a hose to 3 the tap for washing cars. However, the newly-added components of the taps were frequently vandalised by someone with tools to continue washing their cars. In view of the aforesaid act of vandalism, a Member suggested installing a closed-circuit television or displaying warning notices in a bid to achieve a deterrent effect. The representative of HKPF said that vandalism of public facilities was a criminal offence. FEHD’s staff or the public could report any vandalism of public toilet facilities to the Police for assistance. (f) Request NWFB to Improve the Frequency of Bus Route No. 9 A Member suggested at the last meeting that NWFB should provide an additional special departure of Route No. 9 from Shau Kei Wan Terminus via Big Wave Bay at 5:42 p.m. every day. Subsequently, under the arrangement of the Secretariat, the representatives of TD had a meeting with the EAC Members and the representatives of Tai Long Wan Village on the afternoon of 23 January 2019 to learn about the views of the residents of Tai Long Wan Village. TD arranged its staff for a site inspection on the frequency of NWFB Route No. 9 in late January and early February 2019. TD was analysing the findings of the relevant statistics as well as following up with the relevant service operator. (g) Inadequate Motorcycle Parking Spaces at Stanley Regarding the issue of inadequate motorcycle parking spaces at Stanley, TD replied that since the proposed locations were close to pedestrian crossing and had been provided with bus stops, in order to avoid the impacts of the entry and exit of motorcycles on the safety of pedestrians and passengers waiting for buses, the locations previously proposed by EAC for motorcycle parking spaces were not accepted. EAC suggested that if Members could identify any other suitable locations in Stanley in future, proposal could be forwarded to TD again. (h) Squatter Occupants Voluntary Registration Scheme Referring to a Member’s request at the last meeting that a briefing session be arranged by Lands Department (LandsD) for the Squatter Occupants Voluntary Registration Scheme, LandsD replied that a briefing session tentatively scheduled for mid-March 2019 would be held for the villagers in San Wai Village and Kau Wai Village of Wong Chuk Hang to brief villagers on the Scheme. 4 (i) Traffic Problems of Nam Long Shan Road and Improvement Proposals A Member said that there was a hummock on the carriageway off the car park of South Wave Court, Nam Long Shan Road obstructing the sightline of pedestrians and drivers of the uphill lane, coupled with the lack of pedestrian crossing facilities on the road section concerned, it was extremely dangerous for pedestrians to cross the road. A Member suggested that the hummock in question be partly removed with an addition of pedestrian crossing, or the fence on the road opposite the car park of South Wave Court should be removed with provision of a pedestrian crossing facility on the middle section of the road. In addition, Members said that the bend and trees near Marycove School, 32 Nam Long Shan Road had blocked the view of the pedestrian crossing outside its entrance. Both pedestrians and drivers could not have a clear sight of the road traffic conditions and would be prone to accidents. Hence, Members suggested removing the refuse collection point (RCP) at the TWGHs Jockey Club Sunshine Complex for the Elderly and demolishing the fence on the other side of the road, as well as providing a pedestrian crossing facility on the middle section of the road.