EdUHK’s Submission to the Town Planning Board Concerning the Rezoning of the Tung Tsz Green Belt Zone
EdUHK’s Submission to the Town Planning Board Concerning the Rezoning of the Tung Tsz Green Belt Zone
The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) made a submission to the Town Planning Board (the Board) on 8 December 2017, setting out its stance on the Tai Po Tung Tsz Planning Application Y/TP/26 (Planning Application), which seeks to rezone the Green Belt into Comprehensive Development Areas 2 and 3, comprising 22 residential towers, 13 houses, 4 club houses and 1 commercial facility.
In its submission, EdUHK called on the Board to carefully consider the pros and cons of the Planning Application, which represents a precedent for private land owners and/or private developers to spoil green belts before applying for rezoning in the future. A spokesperson for EdUHK said, “This will have far-reaching implications for subsequent planning developments and may constitute a fundamental change in our city’s town-planning policy.”
The spokesperson added that EdUHK and its predecessor have raised grave concerns over the past decade with the Lands Department about the improper usage of the Tung Tsz Green Belt adjacent to the University campus.
“We have witnessed the deteriorating condition of the Green Belt as a result of continuous and expanding unauthorised development works, including earth filling, site formation, road construction, the erection of hoardings and structures, and the installation of containers, as well as the movement of construction vehicles, posing safety, environmental and drainage problems for the surrounding areas,” he said.
In response to the University’s repeated complaints, the Lands Department started lease-enforcement action in 2016 against the individual private lots that “have constituted a lease breach”, with the issuance of warning letters to the private lot owners and “imposing an encumbrance” for those lots that could not stop the breach.
“We regret that the damaged site has now become the subject of the Application under consideration by the Board. We urge the Lands Department to continue with its lease enforcement action and resume the land, where applicable, in the public interest.
“The Planning Application is a predominately private development project, with over 70% of the proposed development designated for private housing and less than 30% reserved for proposed subsidised housing and a shopping complex,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the views and suggestions of the University community in respect of the impact on traffic, and the local ecology and environment have also been sent to the Board for consideration.
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