Minutes of the 11th Meeting of the Tuen Mun District Council

Date: 4 July 2017 (Tuesday) Time: 9:30 a.m. Venue: Tuen Mun District Council (TMDC) Conference Room Present: Time of Arrival Time of Departure Mr LEUNG Kin-man, BBS, MH, JP (Chairman) 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr LEE Hung-sham, Lothar, BBS, MH (Vice-chairman) 9:30 a.m. 2:46 p.m. Mr SO Shiu-shing 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr KWU Hon-keung 9:47 a.m. 1:28 p.m. Mr TO Sheck-yuen, MH 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Ms KONG Fung-yi 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr NG Koon-hung 9:43 a.m. 11:35 a.m. Mr CHAN Yau-hoi, BBS, MH, JP 9:31 a.m. 3:57 p.m. Ms WONG Lai-sheung, Catherine 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr AU Chi-yuen 9:32 a.m. End of meeting Ms HO Hang-mui 9:34 a.m. End of meeting Mr LAM Chung-hoi 9:31 a.m. End of meeting Mr TSUI Fan, MH 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Ms CHING Chi-hung 9:30 a.m. 1:28 p.m. Ms LUNG Shui-hing, MH 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr CHAN Man-wah, MH 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr CHAN Manwell, Leo 9:35 a.m. End of meeting Mr CHEUNG Hang-fai 9:30 a.m. End of meeting The Hon HO Kwan-yiu, JP 9:30 a.m. 12:38 p.m. Ms CHU Shun-nga, Beatrice 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr TSANG Hin-hong 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Ms SO Ka-man 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr KAM Man-fung 9:30 a.m. 3:30 p.m. Mr MO Shing-fung 10:07 a.m. End of meeting Mr YIP Man-pan 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr YEUNG Chi-hang 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr YAN Siu-nam 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr TAM Chun-yin 9:30 a.m. End of meeting Mr LAU Chun-fai, Lawrence (Secretary)

Senior Executive Officer (District Council), Tuen Mun District Office, Home Affairs Department

Absent with Apologies: Mr CHU Yiu-wah The Hon LAU Ip-keung, Kenneth, BBS, MH, JP By Invitation: Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung Director of Buildings, Buildings Department Ms Mandy WONG Administration Assistant/Director of Buildings,

Buildings Department Mr Michael CHOI Senior Building Surveyor/E5, Buildings Department Mr Ivan CHUNG Principal Assistant Secretary (Planning and Lands)5,

Development Bureau Mr WONG Lap-ki Assistant Secretary (Planning)6, Development Bureau Mr David NG Senior Town Planner/Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area,

Planning Department Ms Wilda LEE Senior Engineer/5 (New Territories West),

Civil Engineering and Development Department Mr YAM Sai-ling Principal Land Executive/RD & SP, Lands Department Mr NG Mi-kau Chief Land Executive/RD & SP, Lands Department Mr WU Pak-lam Senior Manager/Clearance, Lands Department Mr CHOR Kog-wing Manager/Clearance(3), Lands Department Mr CHIU Kwan-suen Senior Community Relationship Manager, Link Asset

Management Limited Ms WONG Wai-fong Community Relationship Manager, Link Asset

Management Limited In Attendance: Ms FUNG Ngar-wai, Aubrey District Officer (Tuen Mun), Home Affairs Department Ms CHAN Hoi-ting, Gillian Assistant District Officer (Tuen Mun)1 (Acting),

Home Affairs Department Ms KOO Kit-yee, Angie Senior Liaison Officer (1), Tuen Mun District Office,

Home Affairs Department Mr CHAU Ka-nin, Eric Senior Liaison Officer (2), Tuen Mun District Office,

Home Affairs Department Mr LAU Tse-fung Chief Engineer, New Territories West 3 (New Territories West)

(Acting), Civil Engineering and Development Department Mr CHENG Kwok-yan, Brian Chief School Development Officer (Tuen Mun),

Education Bureau Mr LEE Kam-ho, Edwin District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Tuen Mun)

Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Ms Ella TSANG Housing Manager/Tuen Mun 3, Housing Department Mr David Christian FREMAUX District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting),

Hong Kong Police Force Ms CHOI Sau-kuen Police Community Relations Officer (Tuen Mun District),

Hong Kong Police Force Mr LAI Kai-tai, John District Lands Officer (Tuen Mun), Lands Department Mr MOK Hing-cheung Administrative Assistant, Lands (District Lands Office,

Tuen Mun), Lands Department Mr WONG Shu-yan, Francis Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories North),

Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr WONG Ying-ming District Leisure Manager (Tuen Mun),

Leisure and Cultural Services Department Mr LAM Chi-man, David District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West,

Planning Department Mr TAN Tick-yee District Social Welfare Officer (Tuen Mun),

Social Welfare Department Mr HUE Ka-yiu, Daniel Chief Transport Officer, New Territories North West,

Transport Department Ms YU Tsz-yan, Blanche (Assistant Secretary)

Executive Officer I (District Council)1, Tuen Mun District Office, Home Affairs Department

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Action I. Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed all present to the 11th meeting of the Tuen Mun District Council (“TMDC”). On behalf of the TMDC, he also welcomed Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung, Director of Buildings, and the representatives of government departments to the meeting. Moreover, on behalf of the TMDC, he congratulated Mr Lothar LEE, who was the TMDC Vice-chairman, and Mr Kenneth LAU for being awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star, and also Mr TSANG Hin-hong for being awarded the Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service.

2. The Chairman continued to say that any Member who was aware of a personal interest in a discussion item should declare the interest before the discussion. He would, in accordance with Order 39(11) of the TMDC Standing Orders (“Standing Order”), decide whether the Member who had declared an interest might speak or vote on the matter, might remain in the meeting as an observer, or should withdraw from the meeting. All cases of declaration of interests would be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

II. Absence from Meeting 3. The Secretary said the Secretariat had received Mr Kenneth LAU’s notification about his absence due to other commitments.

III. Meeting between Director of Buildings and Tuen Mun District

Councillors

4. The Chairman welcomed again Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung, Director of Buildings, and also Ms Mandy WONG, Administration Assistant/Director of Buildings, and Mr Michael CHOI, Senior Building Surveyor, of the Buildings Department (“BD”), who attended the meeting to introduce the department’s work and hear Members’ views on matters of concern to the district.

5. Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung gave a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the BD’s work in Tuen Mun.

6. After that, a number of Members put forward their comments or enquiries on the BD’s work in the district.

7. A Member said the BD had a wide range of responsibilities but was short of manpower. She noted that even if the department issued notices to owners for problems with building safety or abandoned signboards, the owners concerned might

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Action not cooperate, so the department needed to spend time on procedural follow-up. In view of this, she had been hoping for years that the department could hire more staff in order for its work to be effective. She further noted that while the problem of water seepage in buildings was a headache for many owners, the equipment used by the department was not on a par with that used in the private market, and she had not seen any improvement made by the department in this regard. In addition, she believed that the department had issued notices to many households since June 2012 when the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (“MBIS”) and the Mandatory Window Inspection Scheme (“MWIS”) were put into operation. She would like to know in how many cases the departments had instituted prosecutions and how effective they were. 8. A Member attributed the slow progress in tackling unauthorised building works (e.g. unauthorised signboards, unauthorised canopies and structures on external walls of shops) to the department’s manpower shortage. Opining that the relevant legislation failed to move with the times, he added that when handling cases in this regard at the Working Group on Markets and Illegal Hawking Activities, he found that the relevant departments had failed to take corresponding actions under the current legislation in their joint operations. He therefore hoped the department could review the relevant legislation. In his view, moreover, the department was using obsolete equipment to tackle water seepage in buildings, and its work efficiency was lower than that of private consulting companies; as a result, the sources of water seepage were often unidentifiable and the owners concerned used this as an excuse for not taking follow-up actions.

9. A Member noted that after receiving a complaint, the Joint Office for Investigation of Water Seepage Complaints (“JO”) established by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”) and the BD would visit the residential unit concerned promptly for a water seepage test, but when the sources were not identifiable, they often took no further actions instead of using advanced equipment for the water seepage test. She added that as elder owners were unable to tackle the problem of water seepage by themselves, she expected the JO to offer assistance, but it was a pity that the department failed to solve the problem for them. She hoped the department could explore in depth concrete solutions. Furthermore, due to the government’s poor control over building maintenance, the public had to pay high fees for building maintenance. She hoped the department could explore ways to solve this problem as well.

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Action 10. A Member said a dilapidated balcony in Hung Hom had recently collapsed due to lack of maintenance but, fortunately, no casualties had been caused. Many buildings were aged 30 or above in Tuen Mun, and as some of them had no owners’ corporations (“OC”), the owners had no clue as to how to arrange maintenance works. She hoped the department could step up inspection and remind owners to do maintenance regularly to prevent problems. She further noted that in case a member of the public lodged with the JO a complaint about seepage from an external drainage pipe, the JO would merely issue an advisory letter to the owner of the unit concerned as long as the problem had no impact on building structure, because it fell outside the JO’s purview. If the seepage parts were within a public area, the OC of the building might take follow-up actions; but if the seepage parts were within a particular unit and its owner did not cooperate, the issuance of an advisory letter could hardly solve the problem and the affected owner would be plagued by the seepage as a result. While having no impact on building structure, the above problem would affect hygiene, so she reckoned that the department should revise the relevant policies to compel such owners to undertake building maintenance as ordered.

11. A Member said he had been requesting the department to properly address the problem of water seepage in buildings, but he had never seen any effective solutions to the problem over the many years. In view of this, he hoped the department would cooperate with other the related departments, hire more staff, bring advanced equipment into use and simplify the relevant procedures in a bid to solve the above problem. Besides, he noted that there had been news about the collapses of loosened advertisement signboards. In his view, instead of just leaving it to owners to make declarations, the department should not form patrol teams to make records proactively, prosecute the owners of dilapidated advertisement signboards, and remind owners about the criminal liability they would incur if the above incidents caused any casualties. Besides, he expressed concerns about the risk of collapse of tenement buildings in disrepair. He hoped the department could focus on handling tenement buildings in urban areas (e.g. To Kwa Wan and Sai Wan) first before tackling other problems.

12. A Member said the scope of the work managed by the department was so wide that many of its tasks were not well handled, adding that the problem lay in the lack of manpower and resources. She also said the department should seriously address the potential threat posed by the signboards that were not yet removed but remained hanging on the external walls of many vacant shops in the district. On

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Action the structural safety of buildings, some residents had complained to the BD about illegal structures such as supporting frames for split type air-conditioners, yet the department had responded that while these supporting frames were illegal structures, the BD would not request the owners concerned to remove them as long as they posed no imminent threat. The hot air generated during the operation of split type air-conditioners could affect residents living in upper flats, putting them off opening windows; therefore, the department should indeed request the owners to remove such air-conditioners. Moreover, the department had already brought advanced equipment into use to tackle water seepage, but such equipment was used only in long outstanding cases. And if the department could not identify the sources of water seepage, it would usually just write to the residents concerned asking them to arrange inspection on their own. The department should use the advanced equipment it purchased to deal with such cases instead of asking the residents to arrange inspection by themselves. She would like to know whether it was because of high costs that the department seldom used the equipment. She further remarked that even infrared cameras did not qualify as advanced equipment. She hoped the department could have a look at the advanced equipment used by water seepage investigation companies in the market for reference. 13. A Member remarked that it was difficult for the BD to manage tens of thousands of buildings in Hong Kong with its existing staffing establishment. He felt that the MBIS, though well-intentioned, backfired. Under the current scheme, the department offered advice or financial support to owners, and then owners handled maintenance-related matters by themselves. In fact, some consortia first made offers with low charges, seeking to become the maintenance consultants of buildings, and then they took opportunities to acquire the buildings and launched tendering exercises for maintenance works in the capacity of owners or oven OCs, so as to earn maintenance fees of tens of millions of dollars. The highly sophisticated modus operandi could lead to disputes between residents, between the Government and residents and between regulatory authorities, and the public had to seek assistance from the Independent Commission Against Corruption (“ICAC”) eventually. In view of this, he suggested the Government apply the approach it used to manage government properties to the MBIS, whereby designated contractors would be appointed for building maintenance works through standardised tendering and pricing processes.

14. A Member reckoned that water seepage was a big headache for grassroots residents, but the JO had never been effective in tackling the problem since its

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Action establishment. He understood that despite their diligent efforts, the department’s staff could hardly handle the cases concerned due to constraints imposed by the deeds of mutual covenant of the buildings or legal issues; for example, with no access to the residential units, they could not get a picture of the cases. Taking his office as an example, he said the department had worked hard to deal with its water seepage problem, but eventually the matter could only be pursued through civil litigation. He added that some owners who had rented out their units even ignored the problem. Believing that the JO could hardly solve the problem without amendment to the legislation, he hoped the department could do better in terms of legislative amendment and overall collaboration. 15. A Member noted that although the department had processed 530 000 cases of illegal structures over the previous 16 years, there were quite a lot of outstanding cases, which included 18 034 reporting forms received under the Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works in Village Houses, and the department had to process them one by one despite the sky-high quantity. In his view, as the department had been so successful in handling minor works projects, it could further take the opportunity by using rooftop space of village houses in New Territories to carry out the renewable energy plan mentioned in the Policy Address. This could not only ease the workload of the department but solve the problem of illegal structures and thus reduce grievances in society. If residents of village houses also intended to build solar energy facilities on rooftops, the department might offer specific solutions in the legal and policy aspects, and explain to these residents how to carry out such works in accordance with the standards for minor works projects.

16. A Member said the BD and the FEHD had always been criticised for the investigation process or enforcement time in respect of water seepage. Yet, he commended the department for bringing infrared cameras into use to tackle water seepage. However, this equipment could merely serve the purpose of supporting evidence, so he hoped the department could bring also other equipment into use to expedite the investigation process. He understood that the JO formed by the department chiefly served to coordinate and bring together the efforts of various relevant departments for investigation of water seepage cases, and to provide a direct channel for the public to enquire about the progress of investigation. Despite this, those who asked about the investigation progress were still unable to contact the suitable departments because the investigation process involved multiple departments. He therefore hoped the JO could really coordinate all work instead of handling cases in a piecemeal manner. In addition, he enquired how the

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Action department helped the public to deal with building dilapidation caused by water seepage. 17. A Member reckoned that the BD handled a wide variety of work and many problems (e.g. water seepage and dilapidated signboards) remained unresolved. He suggested the department focus on eradicating the problem that had the most impact on people’s life. In his view, hardly could the problems be solved by minor fixes without changes in legislation or the way of handling. Besides, he expressed concerns about building safety (e.g. fire prevention) problems caused by subdivision of flats.

18. A Member said the BD should consider hiring more staff because, with a staff of just over a thousand, it had to handle all building-related problems in Hong Kong. She further said that when an illegal structure was found, the department would issue an advisory letter to the resident concerned, and if the resident failed to take actions, the department would schedule the removal of the illegal structure having regard to its threat. She asked the department how to decide whether an illegal structure posed a threat. Besides, she doubted that scheduling removal of illegal structures could have any deterrent effect on the residents and asked whether the department had instituted prosecutions with daily penalties before.

19. In regard to the MBIS, a Member hoped the department could explore new solutions with a view to helping owners to arrange building inspection and maintenance while combating bid-rigging. Moreover, he said that while the department held regular briefing sessions on mandatory inspection or window inspection, it had not accepted invitations to talks held by individual housing estates. He hoped the department could step up support in this regard. As for the problem of water seepage, he remarked that owners suffered immense nuisance because the JO in Tuen Mun had a staff of just below 30 and it took a very long time to go through the related administrative procedures. In view of this, he hoped that while bringing new equipment into use, the department could also take the approach of legislative amendment so that it could have greater power to help owners to solve the problem of water seepage. He also hoped the department could devote more resources to administration and simplify procedures, so as to expedite the process of handling water seepage-related matters.

20. Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

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Action (i) As building safety and water seepage were issues relating to people’s

life, the department would perform the above work with empathy and diligence;

(ii) Thanks were due to Members for their concerns about the department’s staffing situation. The department would review its staffing arrangements from time to time and hire more staff in accordance with the existing mechanism to meet its needs. It would also explore ways to simplify procedures in a bid to make more effective use of its existing resources to perform duties;

(iii) The department had been taking territory-wide enforcement action on illegal structures since 2001, but due to the huge number of the buildings involved, it had to handle them one by one in order of the urgency of cases. If an illegal structure posed an imminent threat or was under construction, the department would remove it immediately to avoid a further increase in the number of illegal structures. Then, it would focus on tackling specific types of illegal structures through large-scale removal operations. In its enforcement action, the department would not only issue removal orders to the owners concerned, but prosecute the owners who failed to comply with the removal orders in accordance with the current legislation. These owners would be subject to a maximum penalty of HK$200,000 and one year’s imprisonment, and to a further maximum fine of $20,000 for each day during which the failure to comply with the removal orders continued. Though after all it was the court which made a judgement in each case, the department would inform the magistrates about cases of repeated offences, in the hope that the magistrates would consider all relevant factors in sentencing;

(iv) Moreover, the department would carry out large-scale removal operations to remove all signboards with known hazards. During streets patrols, the department’s staff would check if any signboards remained hanging on vacant shops and issue Dangerous Structure Removal Notices to the owners concerned. If the owners of the shops or the signboards made no response, the department would remove the signboards concerned and recover the costs from the owners of the shops or the signboards;

(v) The department would tackle illegal structures at shop fronts in accordance with its enforcement policies and issue removal orders to the owners of shops with illegal structures posing an imminent threat.

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Action It would also conduct joint operations with different departments to tackle illegal structures at shop fronts together with the problems they caused;

(vi) With regard to enforcement action on unauthorised building works in village houses in New Territories and a Member’s proposal on the renewable energy plan, the erection of solar energy panels was among the types of works under the Minor Works Control System. Moreover, the department had to take into account the relevant provisions in Buildings Ordinance (Application to the New Territories) (Cap 121) when taking enforcement action on unauthorised building works in New Territories;

(vii) Problems with subdivided flats were one of the major issues on the department’s agenda. The department would take actions against irregularities caused by flat subdivision works in residential buildings. For instance, the owners concerned would be requested to re-install the removed fire doors or rectify the renovation works that prejudiced fire safety. The risk arising from subdivision of flats in industrial buildings was higher because industrial processes were carried out or various types of dangerous goods were kept there, so the department would conduct large-scale operations to eradicate all subdivided flats used for domestic use in industrial buildings;

(viii) Building dilapidation was also within the department’s purview, and the BD-launched MBIS had achieved some results. The department understood that after receiving building inspection notices issued by the BD, owners might need time to understand the matters requiring follow-up actions and to arrange various works, so it would provide continuous support to assist the owners in complying with the instructions. The number of cases of compliance with building inspection notices had climbed from 4 200 in 2015 to 8 200 in 2016. The department would also step up support for the owners concerned to enable more owners to comply with the instructions specified in building inspection notices;

(ix) The Government was also concerned that bid-rigging with astronomical fees might occur in building maintenance, and the relevant enforcement authorities would explore ways to prevent this problem. Quotations/advertisement leaflets (including information about the general fees for window inspection and repair) provided by qualified persons/contractors were currently available on the BD’s

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Action website for reference by the public. The ICAC and the Police would actively enquire into such cases and take enforcement action, and furthermore, the ICAC would draw up guidelines for OCs’ reference, in a bid to prevent overcharging of maintenance fees or bid-rigging with astronomical fees. The Home Affairs Department had rolled out the “AP Easy” Building Maintenance Advisory Service Scheme to provide advisory services for owners, the newly-established Competition Commission would conduct research on bid-rigging, and the Urban Renewal Authority had launched the “Smart Tender” - Building Rehabilitation Facilitating Services and an electronic tendering platform to support owners in handling matters relating to tendering for maintenance;

(x) After receiving a complaint about a building in disrepair, the department would first get a picture of the building’s condition in order to decide whether to issue a repair order. It would also pay attention to buildings’ condition in its large-scale operations and issue repair orders to owners where necessary;

(xi) The department promised to provide owners with assistance in publicity for building inspection and maintenance. For example, it would assign staff to attend the related briefing sessions, talks and so forth to provide more support for owners at the early stage, so that its prosecution-related workload at the later stage could reduce;

(xii) Water seepage was not a problem peculiar to specific buildings, as shown by the fact that the department had received about 37 000 complaints in 2016. Playing a coordinating role, the JO would continue to offer assistance to the relevant residents. The department faced various limitations when doing the water seepage test. For example, the frontline staff of the department might fail to enter a residential unit for the test because, among other reasons, the resident concerned denied entry. In view of this, the department would apply to the court for a warrant of entry to such premises where necessary. If the resident concerned still refused to allow the department’s staff to enter the premises as instructed, the department’s staff would break the door open for entry. Besides, it took quite a long time to do the conventional water seepage test. Anyway, the department would as far as possible expedite the process, and it had also commissioned a consultant to conduct a study to explore the latest technologies for identifying sources of water

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Action seepage in buildings;

(xiii) It was understandable that in Members’ eyes, the test equipment used by water seepage investigation companies in the market was more advanced. Yet, the seepage source reports prepared by these companies could only be used for civil proceedings, where magistrates made judgements based on the probabilities of the related matters - i.e. the most probable sources of water seepage, having regard to the evidence produced by both sides. Nevertheless, the department’s action on water seepage problems was criminal prosecution. As the evidential threshold for the department was higher (i.e. concrete evidence without reasonable doubts should be produced), stringent testing standards should be used to identify water seepage sources;

(xiv) There had been frequent staff deployment because some contract staff had left office, but such deployment would reduce as these contract posts had gradually been converted to civil service posts; and

(xv) The public might not be able to contact the sections in-charge immediately to keep updated about the progress of water seepage cases. In view of this, the information system of the JO would be updated, enabling the sections to help the public to know the latest progress of their cases immediately upon receipt of public enquiries.

21. A Member considered that Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung’s response was very positive, yet there was no specific explanation on the directions and targets of the department’s work (e.g. the number of cases of illegal structures in respect of which the BD planned to institute prosecutions, the planned number of subdivided flats in industrial buildings to be removed in the current year, the timeframe for removal of signboards, and the quantity of advanced equipment to be allocated to each district for tackling water seepage). In his view, these targets should be set beforehand to facilitate the calculation of the number of additional staff needed. He therefore hoped Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung could provide the above information.

22. A Member remarked that the department’s efforts in tackling bid-rigging, though diligent, had little effectiveness. In view of this, he reckoned that a joint office should be set up to coordinate building maintenance-related matters with a view to preventing bid-rigging.

23. A Member had learnt that there had been occasions where the department

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Action had failed to find out the causes of water seepage and thus advised residents to arrange inspection by themselves. The Member asked under what circumstances the department would use advanced equipment to tackle water seepage problems. 24. A Member asked the department again how effective the MBIS and the MWIS were since their implementation in June 2012 and how it handled cases involving persons who received the BD’s notices but failed to take follow-up actions as instructed by the BD.

25. While understanding that staff deployment might be arranged from time to time, a Member believed that each staff member of the department would make records of cases, so the department should seriously follow up on each case.

26. Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries in the second round of discussion as follows:

(i) After the JO’s information system was upgraded, the department’s staff could still retrieve the latest information about cases from the system even in case of staff deployment;

(ii) When applying for funding each year, the BD would submit a controlling officers’ report in which the targets for the department’s work in the year ahead (e.g. the estimated numbers of mandatory building inspection notices, removal orders, repair orders and so forth to be issued by the BD) were specified. The department expected to process 36 000 complaints about illegal structures, issue 12 000 removal orders, process 14 000 complaints about building dilapidation, and issue 950 repair orders/investigation orders and 8 000 mandatory building inspection notices in the coming year;

(iii) On the effectiveness of the MBIS, the numbers of mandatory building inspection notices complied with stood at 4 247 in 2015 and 8 281 in 2016, showing that owners gradually understood how to arrange building inspection works. It was hoped that the number would keep rising. Furthermore, the department’s staff were encouraged to do perform more outreach duties to help familiarise owners with the points to note and the related procedures upon receipt of window and building inspection notices. As for monitoring work, the BD would conduct a questionnaire survey on the MWIS, which would help the department to know service providers’ performance and the public’s opinions on the scheme; and

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Action (iv) As for the proposal to set up a joint office to coordinate matters

relating to building maintenance, there were already many departments handling these matters, yet the Government would review the coordination among the departments.

27. A Member thanked Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung for providing such relevant figures as the targets for the department’s work in the coming year, as these were exactly the data that Members needed. He hoped such data could be obtained from the department’s staff when needed in the future.

28. A Member made a reference to a water seepage case, where the affected resident found that the upper flat had been divided into five units, each of which had its own facilities such as toilet. The Member would like to know whether the JO would inform the BD about any such cases found, whether the department would institute prosecutions for such cases, and how it would help the affected residents.

29. A Member noted that under the law, the department was given the power to institute prosecutions with daily penalties. The Member would like to know the number of BD-instituted prosecutions for illegal structures.

30. A Member hoped Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung would gave responses to the two enquiries she had made, which were about seepage from external drainage pipes and when the department would use advanced equipment to tackle water seepage. She would also like him to provide the number of cases in Tuen Mun with plans to use such equipment.

31. Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries in the third round of discussion as follows:

(i) The department would usually employ conventional testing methods to handle water seepage cases. For complicated and long followed-up cases, the department would try to approach them by a wider variety of methods including using such advanced equipment as infrared cameras and microwave tomography scanning devices. The above equipment had been used in nine cases in Tuen Mun. It was expected that after the BD-commissioned consultant completed the study, new technological methods could be used on a large scale to identify the sources of water seepage in buildings;

(ii) The department would issue penalty notices to persons failing to

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Action comply with window inspection notices, and penalty notices could usually bring about compliance with window inspection notices. The department would prosecute those who remained non-compliant with building inspection notices;

(iii) Subdivision of flats not only was accompanied by structural problems, but could often lead to severe water seepage and, hence, serious hygiene problems or environmental nuisance. The BD would take enforcement action if serious water seepage occurred in a subdivided unit. Currently there was an arrangement in place between the department and the JO, by which the JO would report to the BD about any unsolvable problems found during the investigations of water seepage with identified sources, so that both sides would handle the cases in parallel;

(iv) On the problem of water seepage from external drainage pipes, the department would issue advisory letters to the owners concerned or issue drainage repair orders to them according to the Buildings Ordinance;

(v) Each year there were up to 3 000 cases of prosecutions instituted by the BD in respect of illegal structures; and

(vi) The department would carry out large-scale operations on building dilapidation and illegal structures each year. It would examine the condition of target buildings and issue repair orders to owners having regard to circumstances. Upon receipt of a public complaint or enquiry, the department would send its staff to the scene to understand the magnitude of the problem and take follow-up actions. In 2014, there had been 540 cases in respect of which the department had issued repair orders/investigation orders and 849 cases in respect of which the buildings had been repaired. In 2015, there had been 589 cases in respect of which repair orders/investigation orders had been issued and 947 cases in respect of which the buildings had been repaired. In 2016, there had been 969 cases in respect of which repair orders/investigation orders had been issued and 1 017 cases in respect of which the buildings had been repaired.

32. The Chairman thanked Dr CHEUNG Tin-cheung for attending the meeting and invited him to consider the views of the TMDC.

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Action IV. Confirmation of Minutes of the 10th Meeting held on 2 May 2017 33. The Chairman said that on 30 June 2017, the Secretariat had sent the draft of the above minutes to all participants of the meeting. As no proposed amendments had been received thereafter and no amendments were proposed by Members at the current meeting, the above minutes were confirmed.

V. Discussion Items 34. Before the discussion of the items listed in the agenda for the current meeting, the Chairman explained the arrangements made for several papers not included in the agenda. He said a total of 11 papers had been submitted by Members for discussion at the current meeting, among which six had been included in the agenda, and the arrangements for the remaining five papers were as follows:

(i) Request for Expeditious Study into Feasibility of Constructing Tuen Mun to Kowloon Railway

(ii) Request for Prompt Confirmation of Construction of Heavy Rail for Connection to Urban Areas

The content of the above two papers was about the planning for a railway from Tuen Mun to urban areas. As the TMDC had earlier passed the issue to the Working Group on Development and Planning of Tuen Mun District for follow-up, the two papers would also be passed to the working group as supplementary materials, so that the working group could discuss them when it dealt with the issue concerned (i.e. Request for Construction of Tuen Mun-HSK-Tsuen Wan Railway).

(iii) Objection to Proposals for Rationalisation of Light Rail (“LR”) Routes

This paper fell within the purview of the Traffic and Transport Committee (“TTC”) and should thus be passed to the TTC for follow-up.

(iv) Enquiries about Implementation Status in respect of Sports Ground in Tuen Mun Area 16

This paper fell within the purview of the District Facilities Management Committee (“DFMC”) and should thus be passed to the DFMC for follow-up.

(v) Proposals for Development of Bus Routes from Tuen Mun to Tung Chung and Airport via Chek Lap Kok Tunnel

The content of this paper was the same as that of an issue recently discussed by the TTC, namely “Expeditious Planning of

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Action Development of the Road, Traffic and Transportation Network between Tuen Mun and Tung Chung, the Airport, Macao and Zhuhai via Chek Lap Kok Link”. The TTC had come up with a clear decision on the issue at its meeting on 12 May 2017, and according to the Standing Orders, any matter discussed in the previous six months should not be put up for discussion again if the TMDC had already made a clear decision on it, and the proposals put forward in the new submission were not much different from those in the previous paper. For these reasons, this paper could be submitted to the TTC or the TMDC for discussion again only after six months from 12 May 2017.

(A) Draft Hung Shui Kiu (“HSK”) and Ha Tsuen Outline Zoning Plan

(“OZP”) and Proposed Amendments to Relevant OZPs (B) Implementation Arrangements for HSK New Development Area

(“NDA”) Project (TMDC Papers No. 21/2017 to 23/2017)

35. The Chairman said that Discussion Items (A) and (B), namely “Draft HSK and Ha Tsuen OZP and Proposed Amendments to Relevant OZPs” and “Implementation Arrangements for HSK NDA Project”, were interrelate, so he suggested the two be discussed together. Members agreed with this arrangement.

36. The Chairman then welcomed Mr Ivan CHUNG, Principal Assistant Secretary (Planning and Lands)5, and Mr WONG Lap-ki, Assistant Secretary (Planning)6, of the Development Bureau (“DEVB”); Mr David LAM, District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West, and Mr David NG, Senior Town Planner/HSK NDA, of the Planning Department (“PlanD”); Ms Wilda LEE, Senior Engineer/5 (New Territories West) of the Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”); Mr YAM Sai-ling, Principal Land Executive/RD & SP, Mr NG Mi-kau, Chief Land Executive/RD & SP, Mr WU Pak-lam, Senior Manager/Clearance, and Mr CHOR Kog-wing, Manager/Clearance(3), of the Lands Department (“LandsD”) to the meeting.

37. Mr David NG of the PlanD gave a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the new draft HSK and Ha Tsuen OZP.

38. Mr WONG Lap-ki of the DEVB gave a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the implementation arrangements for the HSK NDA project.

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Action 39. Mr TO Sheck-yuen declared his interest as a descendant of To Ka Yi Tso and obtained the Chairman’s permission to make comments on this issue. He said the draft OZP would soon be confirmed after a number of amendments, so he was particularly concerned about how the development of the project would affect the villagers of Yick Yuen Tsuen. He said the Government had raised again the issue of the environmental city project, which had been shelved many years before, it had consulted the Tuen Mun Rural Committee on 30 December 2010, 23 August 2013 and 22 June 2015. When the Government announced the HSK NDA project in the previous year, he had repeatedly requested that government departments should pay attention to the development of Yick Yuen Tsuen and must not break it up. The Hong Kong Housing Society (“HKHS”) would launch a project to rehouse the villagers in 2024. But, having seen more than 50 years of development, Yick Yuen Tsuen was a self-contained village and its villagers felt part of it. He hoped the Government could expand the planned resite area to accommodate the temporary houses in Yick Yuen Tsuen. Also, he hoped the bureau could relay his views to the new Chief Executive and make proper arrangements for Yick Yuen Tsuen by building houses in the village for local rehousing of villagers.

40. A Member very much looked forward to the implementation of the HSK NDA project, but he hoped that while propelling the development of HSK, government departments would also take this opportunity to review transport networks in Tuen Mun, Yuen Long and HSK, and to sustain the development of land (especially residential land). He hoped that besides being sold to support business operation, land could be designated for “starter homes for local first-time buyers”, whereas high land and property prices as those in Kai Tak should be avoided. Moreover, he hoped the Government could properly rehouse indigenous residents with due regard to their right and interests, and also act in accordance with the law and avoid the same mistakes made in the case of Kwu Tung.

41. A Member hoped the relevant departments would refer to the case of Chuk Yuen Tsuen in resolving the issue of rehousing indigenous residents. He opined that the brief introductions given by the department sounded perfect, but what mattered most was whether the goals were achievable. On road planning, he believed that the effectiveness of the overall planning could be demonstrated only if Castle Peak Road was extended to Yuen Long Main Road. For transport, he believed that the key lay in the development of LR, and that land resources could be put into effective use if an elevated LR system was built, because a lot of land was currently occupied by LR in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long. And given that the area

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Action would accommodate hundreds of thousands of residents, it would be difficult to cope with traffic in the future if surface roads remained so narrow. Therefore, he hoped the bureau could optimise the transport plan for the new town. 42. A Member said that HSK, located between Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai, was expected to have a population of 210 000 in the future, with an estimated new population of 160 000 added to the existing population living there. She noted that some sites were zoned for “Government, Institution and Community” (“GIC”) use in the current project, and it was expected in the project that residents could move into the area starting from 2024. Although Tuen Mun had undergone years of development, many community facilities in the district were still below the population standards in terms of quantity. She hoped HSK would not face the same problem in the future. Moreover, if community facilities were not enough in HSK, residents in the area would go to Tuen Mun and Tin Shui Wai. Therefore, she would like to ask about the facilities to be included on these “GIC” sites and the timeframes for the completion of these facilities.

43. A Member noted that after learning about the Government’s development of HSK, some developers had on and on acquired land in the vicinity of HSK and made tenancy agreements with residents living there, under which the residents were allowed to live in their original homes until land resumption by the Government, and the developers would make no compensation by then. According to the bureau’s papers, the Government would make various compensation arrangements for the affected residents, but the above tenants would receive no compensation at all, or they might not be eligible for the ex-gratia allowances granted by the Government. Therefore, she hoped the Government could make proper arrangements for these tenants so that they would not be left homeless.

44. A Member said he had been a resident affected by a clearance years before, so he was glad to hear that the Government would seek the HKHS’ assistance in rehousing villagers. Generally speaking, he was concerned more about the rehousing of Yick Yuen Tsuen villagers. He pointed out that part of the land of the village fell within Sun Fung Wai and Chung Uk Tsuen, and the number of households living there had dropped from 300 or so before the clearance to only about 10 at present. The homes of indigenous residents could be rebuilt according to the latest arrangements in the project, but he was not sure if the bureau would rebuild the village houses which, as mentioned above, had been developed over four or five decades. He hoped the bureau would consider rebuilding these village

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Action houses. Moreover, he considered that the arrangements for commercial buildings were appropriate, as they would enable small developers to develop there while tenants and the public could offer support with their rent payments and purchasing power respectively. Therefore, he expressed support for the current project. Besides, he had made an enquiry about the geographic location of HSK the year before. As HSK covered regions in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long, he would like to know whether HSK would be administered as an independent district. In his view, the relevant departments should consider whether it was necessary to re-determine which administrative district the places concerned should belong to. 45. A Member said that as time progressed, the original project for a smokeless city had evolved into the current HSK NDA project, but she worried about traffic problems. She pointed out that back then, the idea of Tin Shui Wai development had been equally ideal, but it turned out that the development was not as effective as expected due to inadequate road connection. It took half an hour for a bus to run between the north and south ends of Tin Shui Wai. She worried that HSK would face the same problem if it was developed in the same way. She therefore considered it necessary to place great importance on road development and support it with sound transport facilities. Besides, she was concerned about the compensation for villagers, saying that the savings of some elderly people exceeded the limit for the asset test because they might need to keep savings to support themselves. She asked how the Government would rehouse and help them.

46. A Member expressed no objection to the HSK NDA project but wanted to make the following enquiries. On hardware facilities for transport, as the population of Tuen Mun together with that of HSK NDA kept rising, he would like to know whether such transport facilities as roads or railways could support the development and how the Government would improve the current traffic condition in Tuen Mun. On software, as LR and West Rail (“WR”) had already reached their capacity, he was concerned about how the Government could ensure the traffic of Tuen Mun was unaffected amid the population increase. Moreover, as quite a number of new properties would be supplied in the NDA, he would like to know how these development opportunities could help Hong Kong people to buy their homes. He further said some affected residents had told him that they were unable to be rehoused in-situ in their villages. He therefore asked the Government if there were any established policies that could help these affected residents (e.g. expanding some sites to facilitate local rehousing in villages or relaxing the criteria of the asset test to help them solve their housing difficulties). He hoped the Government would

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Action put standardised criteria in place to help these villagers. 47. A Member held the view that while the HSK development project was feasible, issues concerning the existing residents should be addressed first. In support of local rehousing in villages, he considered it appropriate to provide some properties for purchase or rent by the affected residents. Besides, he expressed concerns about the power supply system in the area. He hoped they could be built in tunnels to save space and reduce impacts on human health. He also hoped the existing power supply system in Tuen Mun could be replaced by one built in tunnels in the future. In addition, he requested that refuse be transported underground to refuse compression points and an elevated LR system be developed in Lam Tei and HSK.

48. A Member said that according to the current project, 170 000 people would be added to the population of HSK NDA, which would put a heavy traffic burden on the entire New Territories West. Hence, he considered that whether local employment could be achieved was of vital importance. He noted that no concrete plans for job creation had been provided in the two introductions given by the department to the TMDC. He pointed out that there would be 21 000 jobs in non-labour intensive special industries that involved high-end technology and logistics businesses. He doubted whether the supply of manpower could match the number of jobs. He hoped the relevant departments could create stable job opportunities (e.g. increasing the proportion of government posts) to prevent the traffic overload caused by the new population’s need to commute to other districts.

49. A Member suggested the department expand the planned resite area to accommodate the temporary houses in Yick Yuen Tsuen. Besides, he supported the building of elevated LR railways and an underground power supply system.

50. Mr Ivan CHUNG of the DEVB gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

(i) HSK NDA was very important for the housing supply in the medium and long run, so it was the Government’s hope that its proposals could satisfy needs in the area. Besides, the Government would not only make general rehousing arrangements for eligible residents pursuant to the current policies but provide special arrangements for them, with a view to offering subsidised sale flats to eligible residents through the less strict income test of the HKHS or even by exempting

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Action them from income and asset tests. The above arrangements were specifically designed for the HSK NDA project in order that eligible residents could choose to continue living in the area;

(ii) A village located within the closed area, Chuk Yuen Tsuen was comprised of indigenous villages and non-indigenous villages that co-existed for historical reasons. In view of this, the Government had provided recognised villages in the previous proposal for Chuk Yuen Tsuen so that villagers could choose to live there. Members’ views on rehousing villagers would be relayed to the bureau;

(iii) The Government had general policies in place on village removal arrangements, under which some recognised villages would be compensated in the light of issues concerning houses and land, and the Lands Department (“LandsD”) would handle compensation matters according to these policies;

(iv) The public had been consulted for three times about the plans for the sites earmarked in the draft outline, and different departments had been consulted about their needs for “GIC” sites;

(v) Members’ concerns about the transport demand created by the 61 000 new units in the NDA were understandable, so the Government would add a HSK station to the existing WR Line to meet residents’ demand. For external road transport, the Government was planning to build a strategic highway. For internal transport, a sound transport network and an environmentally-friendly transport service, which would run through the NDA and connect to the proposed developments nearby, would be provided in the area;

(vi) Among the 61 000 new units in the area, one-half would be public housing units while the rest would be units for private housing development. The bureau would put in place proper measures to carry out development in this regard; and

(vii) It was hoped that the 150 000 jobs would be offered in the NDA to provide local employment opportunities for residents in HSK and its neighbourhood. The current figures and job types were preliminary estimates. The bureau noted the views on provision of labour-intensive jobs, and it would explore suitable solutions for follow-up.

51. District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

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Action (i) When designing roads, the department would not only consider

providing cosy and convenient environments for pedestrians, but propose building shopping streets to make roads more energetic and attractive, and hence to boost local economies;

(ii) Shown in the draft outline was a general framework for land use zones. The department would proceed to conduct in-depth urban design studies on some major locations, and it would refer to the relevant views offered by Members;

(iii) GIC support facilities, such as secondary schools, primary schools, hospitals, clinics, community halls, sports grounds, sports centres and libraries, would be provided in the NDA;

(iv) For the timetable for the NDA’s development, the Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”) would work out a detailed timetable for the land formation and infrastructure works to be carried out in phases, whereas the related departments would assist the leading policy bureau in providing the relevant community facilities in due course;

(v) Aside from special industries, business facilities were also given much attention in the development of the area, with more than a half of jobs in the area expected to be retail and business related. As the overall NDA development was a long-term one, the relevant departments would review the plans for economic activities in the area as and when necessary;

(vi) The department had no plan to build new pylons in the NDA, and in response to the TMDC’s request in this regard, the Environment Bureau (“ENB”) had explained earlier that the construction of an underground high voltage transmission system might have impacts on the existing users, so the bureau had proposed retaining the existing high voltage transmission system;

(vii) As LR was an existing transport facility, any proposals to amend it should be subject to consideration by the Transport and Housing Bureau (“THB”); and

(viii) Members were reminded that they might submit representations and comments to the Town Planning Board (“TPB”) by 26 July, while the department would also relay the views gathered at the current meeting to the TPB.

52. Ms Wilda LEE of the CEDD gave a consolidated response to Members’

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Action comments and enquiries as follows:

(i) One primary road, eight district distributor roads and a large number of local roads would be built in the NDA to form a convenient east-west and north-south transport network. The primary road would connect with Kong Sham Western Highway to provide convenient external transport for residents in Tin Shui Wai and the NDA;

(ii) Four public transport interchanges would be provided in the NDA, three of which were new proposed interchanges; and

(iii) The green transit corridor would not only link up major development locations in the NDA including the commercial, residential, logistics, enterprise and technology quarters, but connect with the proposed HSK Station and the existing WR Tin Shui Wai Station. Ample space had been reserved along the corridor to build cycle tracks and pavements. Moreover, different heights would be used at the junctions of the corridor and other roads for separation. Moreover, the interfaces between the environmentally-friendly transport service and LR stations would be explored in the Feasibility Study on Environmentally Friendly Transport Services in HSK NDA and Adjacent Areas being conducted by the department. The department would consult the public and the TMDC about the study results in the future.

53. With regard to the proposal for the green transit corridor, a Member remarked that the Government might use the development of an environmental city as a camouflage in favour of property developers, and properties in the area would become very expensive as a result. He hoped the department could include LR development in the overall development of the project, because LR was also an environmentally-friendly means of transport.

54. A Member held the view that the department did not have sufficient data to support its transport plans, and that it should provide information to explain how the WR system could ease the burden to be imposed by 210 000 residents and 150 000 workers on the future transport system. In addition, the Member would like to know why the NDA did not adjoin the coast in Lau Fau Shan, which was not ideal from a planning perspective.

55. District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West responded that the

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Action operation model of the environmentally-friendly transport service was not yet confirmed at the moment, and the development of a service operating on rails would not be ruled out as a possibility. He added that the service would link up the whole NDA, including public and private housing areas. Besides, the north-western part of the NDA near the edge of Lau Fau Shan was mainly a rural area at the moment. Any large-scale civil engineering works in that area might have impacts on the coastal ecology there and in Deep Bay, so the department did not link the NDA with the coast in Lau Fau Shan. 56. The Chairman thanked the representatives of the bureau and the departments for their responses. He invited them to consider Members’ views.

(C) Opposing New Scheme of Control Agreements between Government and

Two Power Companies (TMDC Paper No. 24/2017) (Written Response of ENB)

57. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to the ENB inviting it to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received a written response from the bureau and distributed it to all Members for perusal before the meeting.

58. Given that the Government had just entered into new Scheme of Control Agreements with the two power companies, the first proposer of the paper said the discussion of the issue at the current meeting could not make any changes to the result, but he still hoped it could serve to voice the opinions of residents. He continued to say that the previous agreements were originally due to run until 2018, but the Government had rushed to sign the new agreements with the two power companies before the change of government, making it impossible for the next administration to enter into more reasonable agreements with the two companies. Under the new agreements, the permitted rate of return of the two power companies would be adjusted to 8% from the 7% set by the Government in 2014 and 2015. If calculated on the basis of the profits of CLP Power Hong Kong Limited in 2016, 1% of return would amount to $1 billion. He wondered why the Government had entered into the new agreements with the two power companies at an earlier time and raised the rate of return by 1%. He pointed out that the agreements would last for 15 years, spanning three terms of government and thus impeding the next two governments’ efforts to pursue more reasonable return on electricity charges for the public in the future. Therefore, he hoped the term of the next agreement could be

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Action shorter. Moreover, as the Consumer Council and the Energy Advisory Committee had remarked that the two power companies were earning huge risk-free profits, he hoped the Government would not set such a high permitted rate of return for future agreements. He further pointed out that the Government had set relatively high permitted rates of return five decades before because water and power supply had been unstable amid the rapid development of society at that time. He was dissatisfied that although today’s Hong Kong was a well-developed city with advanced technologies, the Government had yet to open up the electricity market to bring in competition, but instead signed such long-term agreements with public utility organisations. 59. A Member said the new agreements signed between the Government and the two power companies would have long-term impacts on the general public of Hong Kong, who would not benefit much from the trivial favours the companies offered but instead be facing heavier burdens amid the ever-rising electricity charges. She felt that the TMDC was given little respect, as the relevant authority had sent no representatives to attend the current meeting although what the TMDC raised was a livelihood-related issue. In addition, she hoped members of the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) would also pay more attention to this territory-wide issue.

(D) Request PlanD to Explain Progress of Rezoning of Land and Population

Growth Projection in Tuen Mun District and Expeditiously Formulate Proper Planning for Tuen Mun (TMDC Paper No. 25/2017) (Written Response of PlanD)

60. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to the PlanD inviting it to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received a written response from the department and distributed it to all Members for perusal before the meeting.

61. The first proposer of the paper said the current discussion served to keep the TMDC updated about the supply of community facilities in Tuen Mun. She said the population of Tuen Mun had already reached more than 400 000 in the 1990s, thanks to its rapid development between the 1970s and 1990s. But according to the information provided by the PlanD, some community facilities were not adequate as yet, and the planning requirements were still not met even though the department counted some of the facilities among the items planned to be provided. She worried there would still be no timetable for the provision of these planned facilities

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Action when HSK was developed in the future. She therefore hoped that as the department which drew up the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (“HKPSG”), the PlanD could facilitate the provision of the items so that Tuen Mun residents could enjoy these community facilities, which should have been provided for them several decades before, as soon as possible. For “district open space” and “local open space” sites, Tuen Mun Park and Butterfly Beach Park were the relatively large-scale venues in the district at the moment. To her understanding, common recreational facilities should be provided in these open spaces. In view of this, she would like the department to provide a list of facilities in these “district open space” and “local open space” sites. Moreover, she had checked the OZP for Tuen Mun, in which “open spaces” were highlighted in green, and to her understanding, some of them were in fact pavements only. Therefore, she would like to know what facilities would be provided in these “open spaces” covering areas of several tens of hectares. In addition, as the existing community facilities in the district were disproportionate to its population, she hoped the Government would not apply for further rezoning of land in Tuen Mun before facilities were adequately provided. For the facilities planned to be provided, she noted that there were still some items with shortfalls. She hoped the department could explore how to provide more of these items and hence, to reduce impacts on the community. [Post-meeting note: The Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West District Planning Office provided information about “district open space” sites for the Member concerned on 18 July.]

62. A Member said it was stated in the Policy Address that the uses of some land would be changed in order to solve the housing problem, but the Government should carry out full consultation on such land rezoning. He would like to ask the Government about the progress of its work in handling a piece of land on Hang Fu Street in Tuen Mun Area 16. According to a latest information paper of the LegCo, the land would be rezoned from a “GIC” site to a public housing site. He hoped the department could provide information in this regard at the meeting. He said a private organisation was developing a site located at the junction of Hoi Wing Road and Hoi Wong Road in Area 16, and he had joined the residents living there to petition the PlanD and the TPB against the rezoning of the site, but the Government still developed housing there. From that experience, the Government should know clearly the opposing views of the residents. On this occasion, the idea of rezoning the land nearby raised in the Policy Address was also met with strong opposition from residents. Therefore, he wanted to take this opportunity to express his

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Action opposing views, hoping that the Government would pay heed to them. 63. A Member said the paper was submitted to get a grasp of the current situation in Tuen Mun. While the Government had used to adopt a 60/40 split between public and private housing in residential development, private housing accounted for a higher proportion in the present case, though the public had little chance of purchasing private housing. She hoped the Government could review the plan; otherwise it would be difficult for the public to buy private housing.

64. District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

(i) There was a shortfall in hospital beds in Tuen Mun, but the supply of hospital beds was calculated on a regional basis, so the Food and Health Bureau (“FHB”) and the Hospital Authority would examine the supply of hospital beds in the entire New Territories West Cluster. Moreover, a new hospital would be built in HSK NDA, and it was expected that the hospital could ease the demand for medical services in Tuen Mun. The department would relay Members’ views to the FHB for consideration;

(ii) If there was a negative gap between the quantity of supply of a facility and that of the demand calculated by the population standard, the department would take a look at the actual situation. A relatively small gap, such as the -0.26 for sports grounds, did not necessarily entail additional reservation. For a relatively large gap like the -0.9 for general outpatient clinic/health centre, the department would discuss with the relevant department whether there was a need to reserve land for provision of the facility ;

(iii) Under the current practice, the department would review the supply of community facilities in each district from time to time to ensure departments would provide community facilities in accordance with the HKPSG;

(iv) After land was reserved by the LandsD, the relevant policy bureaux/departments would determine the timetables for the implementation of their respective projects in HSK NDA having regard to the status of development in the district and the urgency and priority for resources allocation. The department would relay the views in this regard to the relevant policy bureaux/departments for consideration;

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Action (v) For the rezoning of the land on Hang Fu Street in Tuen Mun Area 16,

the land would be used for public housing development. As for the established procedure for land rezoning, the department would first consult the district council concerned about the proposal for land rezoning, and then submit the proposed amendments to the Rural and New Town Planning Committee (“RNTPC”) of the TPB for consideration. If the RNTPC agreed with the proposed amendments, the TPB would exhibit them for public consultation according to the Town Planning Ordinance. The department would keep in close contact with the TMDC for the above land rezoning; and

(vi) Regarding the opinion that the proportion of private housing was too high, the department had consulted the TMDC about five pieces of land to be used for public housing development in January 2015, and it would provide the related information for the TMDC in due course.

65. A Member said the new hospital to be built in HSK would be completed only after 20 years, but Tuen Mun was facing a shortage of medical facilities. She remarked that instead of expecting the HSK hospital could ease Tuen Mun’s demand, the Government should deal with the existing problem in the district. In her view, the duty of the PlanD went not only to reserve land but to put the requirements set out in the HKPSG into practice. The department was obligated to find out the reasons if the standards, though laid down two decades before, were still not met. Moreover, she reckoned that these facilities should be provided in Tuen Mun East first as the Government had developed a lot of land in Tuen Mun East in recent years.

66. A Member hoped the PlanD could provide more information about the rezoning of the land on Hang Fu Street in Tuen Mun Area 16. Besides, he noted that the Government’s plans for land rezoning would entail environmental assessments and traffic assessments, but no information in this regard had been provided for public reference before in the rezoning of Area 16. Therefore, he would like to know whether the Government was required to conduct these assessments in respect of every piece of land for rezoning, and whether it would provide such information for public reference if these assessments were to be conducted in respect of all the land for rezoning as per the Policy Address.

67. A Member pointed out that the sizes of beaches were very large after low

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Action tides and Tuen Mun had a higher proportion of beaches than other districts, so he would like to know whether a beach was a “district open space” site. According to Annex 2 of the department’s written response, the number of library facilities calculated by the population standard for Tuen Mun was 2.9; whereas there were currently three libraries Tuen Mun. He would like to know whether small-scale libraries were counted in the standard. 68. District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

(i) A beach was a “district open space” site and examples of “local open space” sites included parks or ball courts in large-scale public housing developments;

(ii) The major park facilities in Tuen Mun included Tsing Tin Playground, Tuen Mun Park, Yeung Siu Hang Garden, Wu Shan Recreation Playground and so forth. Detailed information in this regard could be provided for individual Members after the meeting;

(iii) The opinion about the shortage of hospital beds would be relayed to the FHB;

(iv) The opinion that more community facilities should be provided in Tuen Mun East was noted and would be relayed to the relevant departments when new development projects were studied;

(v) It was expected that policy bureaux/departments would work out suitable development timetables for the projects in the light of their respective circumstances;

(vi) Statutory environmental assessments might not be necessary in changes of land use. Yet, the CEDD was carrying out technical assessments, inclusive of traffic assessments and initial environmental reviews, on the projects that involved the rezoning of five sites in Tuen Mun Central for public housing development; and

(vii) The Member who had made an enquiry about libraries would be contacted after the meeting for further information.

69. The Chairman thanked District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West for his responses and would like him to provide the individual Members with the information they asked for.

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Action (E) Request PlanD to Review Arrangements for Releasing Relevant

Documents in Town Planning Consultation Procedures to Facilitate Submission of Public Opinions (TMDC Paper No. 26/2017) (Written Response of TPB)

70. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to the PlanD inviting it to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received a written response from the TPB and distributed it to all Members for perusal before the meeting.

71. The first proposer of the paper said the requests in the paper were very simple, but the TPB claimed that it could hardly computerise applicants’ documents and technical reports due to their large quantities. She opined that the application documents she had received over the years were not very large in amount, nor did they contain highly complicated images. Thus, she did not understand why these documents could not be computerised. Moreover, the TPB claimed that these application documents were not only kept at the Planning Enquiry Counters in North Point and Sha Tin, but distributed to the relevant district offices. Yet, she stressed that these documents were not always available at district offices, so she had to go to the Planning Enquiry Counter in North Point to read them. In her view, such arrangements could not help Members or the public to monitor if there were any loopholes in town planning procedures. She reckoned that while the public consultation period for these applications lasted for 21 days, it took several days for the documents to reach Members, so Members often had only 10 days or fewer to consult the residents concerned, and the effectiveness of consultation was thus impaired. She therefore hoped the TPB could simplify the procedures and would like District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West to help make her voice heard.

72. A Member said she did not know where the technical challenges lay, as all information was computerised nowadays. She said the proposal for full-scale computerisation of all these application documents was made only to facilitate public inspection, given that residents had to work on weekdays and the Planning Enquiry Counters in North Point Sha Tin were closed on holidays. She hoped the relevant departments could pass on the request.

73. A Member said Members might be able to receive some of the documents, but members of the public had to visit the above enquiry counters in person for

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Action inspection of the whole set of documents, so there was room for improvement in this arrangement. She said a member of the public had suffered economic losses as the agricultural land he owned had been rezoned as an open space without his knowledge. Therefore, she reckoned that advanced methods should be used for consultation. Besides, she said that members of the public were required to provide personal particulars such as their names, telephone numbers, addresses and email addresses when making submissions, but she noticed that the submissions made by those who failed to provide these particulars were also accepted, among which were some representations with the same content. Therefore, she reckoned that the relevant departments should review this arrangement. 74. District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West said he would help relay the above views to the secretariat of the TPB. He added that for easy inspection by the public, the department would extract the gist of applications from the application documents for uploading to the Internet and post notices at the application sites. In fact, some consultation documents contained mountains of assessment reports and were thus difficult to upload to the Internet. The documents were not only kept at the above enquiry counters, but distributed to the relevant district offices for easy inspection by Members.

75. The Chairman thanked District Planning Officer/Tuen Mun and Yuen Long West for providing the information and would like him to relay Members’ views to the TPB.

[The meeting was adjourned for a lunch break at 1:28 p.m., and was resumed at 2:01 p.m. for discussion of the remaining agenda items.]

(F) Enquiry on Progress of Works of Tuen Mun South Extension of West

Rail (TMDC Paper No. 27/2017) (Written Response of Highways Department)

76. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to the Highways Department (“HyD”) inviting it to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received a written response from the department and distributed it to all Members for perusal before the meeting. The HyD stated that in accordance with the indicative implementation window recommended in the Railway Development Strategy 2014 (“RDS-2014”), the THB had invited MTR Corporation Limited (“MTRCL”) to

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Action submit an implementation proposal for Tuen Mun South (“TMS”) Extension, and MTRCL had submitted a proposal for TMS Extension in late December 2016. The THB, the HyD and the relevant government departments were examining the content of the proposal for TMS Extension. Also, MTRCL had been requested to provide further information and put flesh on the proposal to ensure that it was feasible and able to bring maximum benefits to the community. As the above work was still in progress, the HyD was not able to attend the TMDC meeting at the moment. 77. The first proposer of the paper said the development of TMS Extension had been discussed for a long time, but the TMDC was unable to answer residents’ queries as it had been given no further information despite repeated requests. She noted that the HyD had indicated in its written response that a public consultation on TMS Extension would be launched in the 2017-18 legislative session, but it was already mid-2017 and the Government would probably fail to consult the public as scheduled. The development of TMS Extension would have implications on the community environment, traffic and residents along the line towards the pier or on the both sides of Tuen Mun River. Moreover, as many as 2 000 residents had jointly signed up years before to request the provision of a WR station in Area 18. For these reasons, she hoped the Government could consult the TMDC as soon as possible even though only preliminary information was available.

78. A Member was glad to know that the TMS Extension proposal recommended in the RDS-2014 would be carried out. He said that while the project had been discussed for years, the relevant departments had never sent representatives to TMDC meetings to explain their plans. As the development of the rail line would cover extensive areas and have implications on the arrangements for traffic support in the district, he hoped the Government would provide the related information as soon as possible so that the TMDC could discuss the detailed arrangements in the project, such as railway facilities and siting. He hoped the Chairman and District Officer (Tuen Mun) (“DO(TM)”) could render assistance in this regard.

79. A Member understood that the relevant departments were dealing with MTRCL’s preliminary proposal for TMS Extension, but he opined that as MTRCL had already come up with preliminary ideas, the Government should provide information for the TMDC to facilitate discussion among the public, instead of delaying the consultation with the TMDC until a plan was put forward. He therefore suggested the TMDC further follow up on this issue and request the

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Action relevant departments to provide preliminary information for the TMDC. 80. A Member agreed that the Government or MTRCL should provide the TMDC with information about TMS Extension as soon as possible. He noted that according to the RDS-2014, TMS Extension would start to be built in 2019 and would be completed in 2022. In view of the current delay in the project, he hoped the Chairman could urge the Government to provide the TMDC with the related information and the latest development timetable for the project.

81. A Member said that on one hand, the HyD stated in its written response that MTRCL had been requested to provide further information to ensure its proposal was feasible and able to bring maximum benefits to society, but on the other hand, the relevant departments had sent no representatives to the TMDC meeting. The Member said this showed the Government opined that the TMDC’s views could not bring maximum benefits to society. He remarked that when the Government worked out a plan and consulted the TMDC in the future, it would be unacceptable if the Government asked the TMDC to approve the plan as quick as possible on the grounds of limited time. In his view, government departments should take the initiative to provide information for the TMDC. He hoped the Chairman could relay the above views to the HyD.

82. A Member held the view that the Government should not delay the consultation on the plan for such a large-scale project until one or two years before the commencement of works. While TMS Extension would have only one station in the Tuen Mun Ferry Pier area, its alignment plan would have impacts on 200 000 residents along the rail line, so the Government should launch a consultation as soon as possible to understand their views. Besides, he said he had submitted a paper for discussion on a plan to construct a railway from Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan MTR Station via HSK. He opined that the Government should take this opportunity to consider a plan for a railway from Tuen Mun to Tsuen Wan via Castle Peak Road. The Government had considered developing the area of Butterfly Bay years before when it planned Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Given that the railway network was extending to the Tuen Mun Ferry Pier area, the Government might take this opportunity to make an overall plan afresh. In addition, he hoped that if the relevant departments or MTRCL had consulted the PlanD and the District Lands Office/Tuen Mun (“DLO/TM”) about TMS Extension, the attending representatives from the PlanD and the DLO/TM could share the information.

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Action 83. A Member said that as the development of TMS Extension was of vital importance to transport arrangements in Tuen Mun, government departments should consult the TMDC on the rail line, but the relevant departments had sent no representatives to attend the meeting. She therefore hoped the Chairman and DO(TM) could lead the TMDC in driving progress in this regard.

84. A Member said it had been more than two years since the release of the RDS-2014, but the TMDC was uninformed about the Government’s plan in this regard and the relevant departments had sent no representatives to TMDC meetings. Therefore, he opined that the TMDC should actively follow up on this issue by writing to the Chief Executive expressing its views and urging the relevant departments to send representatives to attend TMDC meetings. He suggested this issue be taken forward for further discussion or an ad hoc working group be formed to follow it up.

85. A Member said that the proposal for the development of TMS Extension had been much welcomed by the residents back then when the Government put it up for consultation with the residents of the areas concerned; but disappointingly, the TMDC had not received any related information as yet, so she could hardly answer questions from the residents. She remarked that while the HyD responded that it would strive to consult the public on TMS Extension in the 2017-18 legislative session, there was very little time left. She believed that the Government might have ended up doing nothing if the TMDC had not taken the initiative to raise this issue for discussion. Besides, she held the view that the Government should put forward various plans as soon as possible for public discussion instead of proposing one plan for consideration by the public at the last stage. Therefore, she hoped the Chairman would help push the Government to explain the latest status to the public.

86. A Member suggested a working group be formed under the TMDC to follow up on this issue, otherwise the TMDC could discuss it again only after six months.

87. A Member opined that there was no information for discussion by a working group as yet. He said that as MTRCL had submitted a proposal for TMS Extension to the Government in late December 2016, the authority concerned should put the proposal up for consultation with the TMDC. Therefore, he suggested writing to the THB requesting it to launch a local consultation.

88. A Member considered that it is the THB’s responsibility to explain

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Action railway-related matters to the TMDC. And given that preliminary findings of studies were already available, he agreed that this issue be taken over for further discussion and a letter be written to the THB to express the TMDC’s views. 89. A Member agreed that this issue be taken over for further discussion and a letter be written to the THB. The Member said that after the THB made a response, the TMDC could decide at the next meeting whether to form a working group to follow up on this issue.

90. The Chairman concluded by saying that the TMDC would write to the THB expressing its views and requesting the bureau to provide related information for the TMDC’s discussion at the next meeting. Besides, he would like the relevant department representatives to provide related information for the TMDC’s reference at the next meeting.

[Post-meeting note: The letter was issued on 21 July, and the THB gave a written response on 15 August, indicating that the bureau was unable to send representatives to attend TMDC meetings at the moment because the assessments on the works were still in progress. After that, the Tuen Mun District Office (“TMDO”) contacted the bureau and learned that the bureau would strive to consult the public about TMS Extension in the 2017-18 legislative session, and by then, it would take the initiative to contact the TMDC and send representatives to attend the relevant meetings to hear Members’ opinions. In view of this, the Chairman decided not to further discuss this issue at the TMDC meeting on 5 September 2017. Besides, he invited the TMDO and the TMDC Secretariat to follow up on this issue with the bureau in due course.]

(G) Request for Maintaining Arrangements for Providing Parking Space for

Schools in Housing Estates (TMDC Paper No. 28/2017) (Written Response of Link Asset Management Limited)

91. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to Link Asset Management Limited (“Link”) inviting it to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received a written response from Link and distributed it to all Members for perusal before the meeting.

92. The Chairman welcomed Mr CHIU Kwan-suen, Senior Community

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Action Relationship Manager, and Ms WONG Wai-fong, Community Relationship Manager, of Link to the meeting. 93. The first proposer of the paper said the letter she distributed at the meeting had been jointly signed by the principals of three schools, stating that representatives from the Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council, the Subsidized Primary School Council, the Education Bureau (“EDB”), the Housing Department (“HD”) and the Link (the predecessor of Link) had held a joint meeting over parking spaces for schools in housing estates in 2006. According to the minutes of the meeting, a representative of the HD said it had been agreed with the Link that after taking over car parks in housing estates, the Link would follow the HD’s previous practices in handling car park-related matters except under exceptional circumstances, whereby school vehicles might park in school areas as long as they did not occupy parking spaces in housing estates and public parking spaces. At that time, a representative of the Link had said four and eight free parking spaces would remain available to the primary and secondary schools respectively, and adjustments would be made to the arrangements for individual car parks in the light of actual circumstances. According to a post-meeting note of the minutes of the meeting, the HD would provide no more than four and eight free parking spaces (including the planned parking spaces in school car parks) for the primary and secondary schools respectively depending on the numbers of classes of the schools. She further said she had discussed the above matter with Link, the HD and the EDB on 16 May this year. According to what Link had said, each day there had been more than 10 vehicles parked in the playing grounds of the schools, so deductions should be made in respect of these parking spaces and Link had written to these three schools notifying them that their parking spaces would be recovered. She said this arrangement deviated from the agreement at the meeting in 2006 and it was unreasonable to take into account the non-planned parking spaces in the schools.

94. A Member noted that there was a strong demand for parking spaces among these schools, as evidenced by the fact that some vehicles had to be parked in the sports grounds of the schools. As these schools were merely requesting the parking spaces allocated to them under the original agreement, the Member hoped Link could respect the agreement reached on that day.

95. A Member said that some teachers of the schools in On Ting Estate had told her about the above situation, and that the HD, the related departments and these schools had discussed these arrangements before. Yet, she suspected that the

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Action promise made on that day had been broken, and protested that Link had ceased to allocate parking spaces to the schools for business reasons. Besides, she opined that it was the HD’s responsibility to mediate in this issue to ensure the demand of these schools was addressed. 96. A Member said it was important to respect the spirit of the agreement. He expected that Link would not deny the promise on the grounds that the agreement had been made by the Link. In his view, the incident happening to the schools in On Ting Estate might also happen to schools in other housing estates in the future. He considered that Link’s arrangement was unfair to the schools.

97. A Member noted that according to a letter issued by Link on 16 July 2012, Link had said it would stick to the HD’s systems. She said these school parking spaces were merely vacant spaces next to their ball courts rather than planned parking spaces, so Link did not have sufficient grounds to recover the parking spaces from the schools on the grounds that there were already enough parking spaces in the schools, nor was this fair to the schools as Link had broken the agreement reached among various parties. She questioned whether Link could unilaterally terminate the agreement. She expected that as a listed company, Link would bear social responsibility.

98. Mr CHIU Kwan-suen of Link said there had been no changes in the company’s principles on the provision of the parking spaces, i.e. providing four and eight free parking spaces for the primary and secondary schools respectively.

99. Ms WONG Wai-fong of Link said the company was still adhering to the arrangements made by the HD, i.e. the arrangements agreed by participants at the joint meeting held in 2006. The agreement made at that time on the provision of the parking spaces was originally intended to solve the parking difficulties faced by the schools whose parking spaces had been taken away, such as the unavailability of space for parking in the schools. The company’s current measure of providing four and eight parking spaces respectively for the primary and secondary schools was no different from the previous practice, and there was no so-called termination of the agreement. She said that if parking spaces were available in a school, the company would accordingly reduce the school’s parking spaces in the company’s car park. She added that the estate entry and exit passes issued to the schools by the company merely served to facilitate school vehicles’ entry to and exit from the housing estates, and they were not to be used for parking in school areas throughout the day.

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Action 100. A Member noted that Link would not provide parking spaces for a secondary school if more than eight vehicles were parked there. Yet, she stressed that these school parking spaces were not planned parking spaces.

101. A Member argued that Link was playing with words and running counter to the practice under the agreement by using the numbers of cars parked in the schools, rather than the numbers of planned parking spaces there, to calculate the numbers of parking spaces to be provided for the schools.

102. Ms WONG Wai-fong of Link had reservations about the argument that the spirit of the agreement was violated. She stressed that the company would still be providing four and eight parking spaces for the primary and secondary schools respectively. Moreover, what with safety, insurance and the space for students’ use, she did not recommend teachers of the schools to park vehicles at non-planned parking spaces, because parking in spaces not originally intended for that purpose would give rise to the above concerns and other problems. If necessary, these vehicles might be parked subject to quotas or in the company’s concessionary monthly daytime rental parking spaces.

103. A Member considered that not only was it unfair for Link to factor the numbers of vehicles parked in the schools into the calculation of the numbers of parking spaces to be provided for the schools, but it might even be alleged to intervene school operation. He pointed out that Members used the entry and exit passes provided by Link to enter its car park and, likewise, the teachers of these schools would only use the car park at daytime but not overnight. He worried that by the same token, Link might not provide parking spaces for Members anymore in the future.

104. A Member said each school would make its own arrangements for taking out insurance, and basically Link was not held responsible for any accident in the schools, so it was unacceptable that Link made the above arrangement on safety grounds.

105. A Member reiterated that Link’s arrangement was unfair and hoped the HD would give a response.

106. A Member believed that Link’s arrangement was based on commercial

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Action considerations. As all vehicles entering the car park or the schools had to pass the gates of Link, she opined that removing these gates might be a solution. She also opined that Link should not intervene in the administrative arrangements of the schools. 107. Ms WONG Wai-fong of Link added that the above arrangement was not made for economic reasons. If a school did not use the free parking spaces provided by the company or under exceptional circumstances (e.g. open days and special events of schools), the company would provide assistance (e.g. temporary and daytime magnetic cards for parking) as far as possible for the school’s vehicles to enter or exit the housing estate where the school was located, provided that the school had lodged an application in advance.

108. Ms Ella TSANG, Housing Manager/Tuen Mun 3 of the HD, said that the as-constructed plans of these three schools showed that they had not specified any planned parking spaces in their campuses. Moreover, the HD had followed the arrangement established many years before, whereby fixed numbers of parking spaces had been provided for the schools under the HD. It was the department’s hope that Link would follow the previous practice of the HD.

109. Mr CHIU Kwan-suen of Link said the views would be relayed to the car park section of the company for study.

110. The Chairman would like Link’s representatives to consider following the previous practice in providing parking spaces for the schools and to discuss the related arrangements with them.

(H) Request for Curbing Problems of Illegal Parking of and Occupation of

Public Bicycle Parking Spaces by Shared Bicycles (TMDC Paper No. 29/2017) (Written Responses of FEHD, LandsD and Transport Department)

111. The Chairman said that with regard to the above paper, the Secretariat had written to the Transport Department (“TD”), the LandsD and the FEHD inviting them to send relevant representatives to attend a TMDC meeting. Later, the Secretariat had received written responses from the above three departments and distributed them to all Members for perusal before the meeting.

112. The first proposer of the paper said this issue had been discussed by various

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Action committees of the TMDC, and the major problems involved included occupation of public resources (public bicycle parking spaces being occupied by shared bicycles), obstruction in public places and dangers to pedestrians. He enquired what enforcement actions the relevant departments would take on the problems associated with bicycle sharing. If the relevant department took the same enforcement approach as that against general illegal parking of bicycles, it could remove bicycles only after issuing notices to the bicycle owners to ask them if they would take the bicycles away; if they treated the bicycles as refuse for disposal, it was unclear as to whom the penalty tickets should be issued to. He noted that the above situation happened in other districts too, so it was necessary for the authority concerned to clearly specify how to classify the problem. As for the mechanism for complaints, some members of the public had told Members that they had no clues as to how to deal with such illegal parking of bicycles and what institutions or government departments they should ask for follow-up. He remarked that while InvestHK had introduced this bicycle business operation model, the administrative problems it caused were not yet solved. He asked whether there was any complaint hotline available to the public. 113. A Member considered this an example of a policy not keeping pace with the times, saying that such problems did not exist in the Mainland, or the government there had clear guidelines in place to tackle them by, for example, designating specific parking areas for shared bicycles. The problem of illegal parking arose from the bicycle sharing model in operation in Hong Kong because the operator merely rented out bicycles, leaving bicycle hirers to handle parking matters on their own. In his view, the Government should either negotiate with the operator to leave it to handle the problem or take administrative measures to fix the problem.

114. A Member held the view that though rhetorically dubbed bicycle sharing, the operation model of GoBee.Bike was actually not so much resource sharing as an alternative model of bicycle hire, which was a kind of business operation. While the Government had introduced bicycle sharing to Hong Kong, there was no coordination between departments in promoting bicycle sharing. These shared bicycles were parked in the existing public bicycle parking spaces, but there were only 5 700 public bicycle parking spaces in Hong Kong. As GoBee.Bike would introduce 20 000 bicycles to Hong Kong in the future, the existing users of bicycle parking spaces would find it difficult to secure parking. She further pointed out that the operator used government resources to support their business operation, so the Government should consider charging it rent. Currently the Government had

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Action neither supporting facilities nor policies in place to regulate bicycle sharing, and illegal parking might pose dangers to the public, so the Government should promptly devise a set of policies to regulate the operation of bicycle sharing. 115. A Member considered that the operation model of GoBee.Bike was just an online bicycle rental service that had nothing to do with the sharing economy. He said the Mainland government had launched a consultation on the operation of the online bicycle rental service, adding that InvestHK should have learnt from Uber’s experience and foreseen the difficulties in administration or enforcement when it introduced GoBee.Bike to Hong Kong. When introducing new initiatives to Hong Kong in the future, InvestHK should inform the relevant departments about that as early as possible to facilitate their corresponding actions. Besides, illegal parking posed the biggest problem for the development of the online bicycle rental service in Hong Kong. Reference could be drawn from the approach taken in the Mainland, where bicycle hirers knew clearly where to park their bikes, and in case of illegal parking, the operators might blacklist the bicycle hirers concerned or make deductions from the deposits they paid. The Government should approach the above problem by legislation.

116. A Member reckoned that as the subject department, InvestHK should be held accountable for failing to pragmatically consider the fact that the introduction of this operation model would have impacts on districts. As space was ample in other cities, their government departments did not face big challenges in dealing with this operation model. Yet, Tuen Mun was already facing a shortage of bicycle parking spaces; moreover, with the introduction of such bicycles, not only would public space be occupied and the public be affected, but parking of such bicycles in private housing estates would pose difficulties in estate management. In her view, the discussion of this issue had never yielded any solution and the Government should follow it up without delay.

117. A Member said he had already raised the issue two months before and requested the relevant departments to fix it, but the problem of illegal parking had become even more serious. He said he had no objection to bicycle rental services that could bring benefits to the public, but the service in question caused street obstruction and was unregulated. He criticised the relevant departments for not consulting the TMDC and members of the local community though knowing the problem had already occurred in other districts. He further said that while there was only one operator at the moment, more companies would engage in this kind of

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Action business in the future. He expected the situation to worsen and hoped the relevant departments would make responses to the above situation. 118. Mr Daniel HUE of the TD said an operator had launched an automated bicycle rental service in mid-April this year and the nature of this business, though dubbed “bicycle sharing” was basically no different from that of a conventional bicycle rental service. Before the operator’s introduction of this business model, the Government had met with the operator to explain the parking-related regulations and ask it to give due consideration to the relevant arrangements before starting the business. Later, the Government had received views on this from members of various districts in New Territories. The relevant department had met with the operator again in early June this year to reiterate that the operation of its bicycle rental service had to be law-compliant and request the operator to display a hotline on each bicycle to enable itself to handle the public’s complaints about illegal parking promptly. In this connection, the department would check if the operator delivered its promises. Moreover, as the operator rented its bicycles to customers through a membership system, the Government would request it to approach the illegal parking problem caused by its members from a system perspective. Besides, the department had so far received a total of some 30 complaints about the automated bicycle rental service, most of which involved the locations where such bicycles were parked. He pointed out that under the current system, all bicycles, whether for online hire or personal use by the public, could be parked in public bicycle parking spaces. All the relevant departments would take their respective actions on illegally-parked bicycles. The TMDO had carried out operations to remove illegally-parked bicycles at different locations, and the TD would also conduct bicycle removal operations in the covered public transport interchanges under its management.

119. District Lands Officer/Tuen Mun said that the DLO/TM was always concerned about the problem of illegal parking of bicycles, and in the joint operations coordinated by the TMDO, it had not only worked with the relevant departments to remove illegally-parked bicycles but taken land control action against such bikes. Pursuant to the Land (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, the DLO/TM would post notices on illegally-parked bicycles, and remove them if the occupiers failed to take them away within a specific period of time. Besides, the LandsD had stressed the relevant legislation when InvestHK, together with the relevant departments, met with the “bicycle sharing” operator.

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Action 120. Mr Edwin LEE, District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (Tuen Mun) of the FEHD, said that if the department found any dilapidated/abandoned bicycle during its inspections, it would try to seek the owner out to confirm whether the bicycle was abandoned/valueless; alternatively, it might invoke the Waste Disposal Ordinance (Cap 354) to post a notice on the bicycle, and if the bicycle possessor did not give the department a response stating that it was not an abandoned bicycle, the department might treat it as street waste and remove it.

121. With regard to the inter-departmental joint operations coordinated by the TMDO, Ms Gillian CHAN, Assistant District Officer (Tuen Mun)1 (Acting), said the TMDO focused on three areas of work under the Tuen Mun District-led Actions Scheme for 2017 to 2018 endorsed by the TMDC on 3 January 2017, and one of the areas was “tackling illegal parking of bicycles”. The TMDO would join the DLO/TM, the FEHD, the Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”) and the TD to conduct two to three regular operations every two months to remove illegally-parked bicycles. Upon receipt of a complaint in this regard or a case referred from other departments, the TMDO would deploy its staff to the location for investigation and inspection. If the illegally-parked bicycles were large in number or caused serious obstruction in the neighbourhood, the TMDO would put the location on the list for action after seeking advice from all the relevant departments, and deal with it later in a joint operation. The TMDO would also remind all the relevant departments that they might handle cases using their resources and the power conferred on them under the law.

122. A Member opined that the Government was unconcerned about community problems, having failed to examine whether it was suitable to introduce this operation model to each district. She noticed that these bicycles were illegally parked in different places. Moreover, she said that parking spaces for bicycles were already inadequate in the district, and with assistance from Members, limited but hard-earned space (e.g. the space beneath the bridge on Wong Chu Road) had been identified several years before to provide more bicycle parking spaces. In her view, the existing bicycle parking spaces were already not enough to meet the demand of residents in the district, so she wondered how these commercially-operated bicycles could be accommodated. Furthermore, she did not want to see the townscape of Tuen Mun being affected after the introduction of these bicycles. She also wondered why the commercially-operated bicycles could be dubbed shared bicycles and the Government tolerated these commercially-operated bicycles being parked in public places, depriving the public of their right to use

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Action public space. She could understand the relevant departments having to make extra efforts to deal with these bicycles, and she would like to know the enforcement figures in this regard. 123. A Member held the view that the Government’s role was to execute the established regulations in an impartial manner, but he doubted if the Government had made adequate preparations before the introduction of this operation model. He pointed out that the concept of bicycle sharing was a global trend, with a lot of commercial organisations operating their businesses in the forms of sharing, crowdfunding or fundraising to make profits but leaving governments to fix the problems they created. The problems would not be significant if the governments were far-sighted enough to have an early awareness and put proper regulatory policies in place. Therefore, he hoped the relevant departments such as the FEHD and the LandsD would take the issue seriously and resolve it without delay. Besides, he considered that as it was difficult to ascertain which party should be responsible for the safety issues arising from the use of these bicycles, the responsibility would eventually fall upon government departments. Therefore, he hoped various departments could plan follow-up actions as soon as possible before devising a regulatory system.

124. A Member said he had informed the TMDO about the above problem and the TMDO’s staff had responded quickly by removing the illegally-parked bicycles, but it had not removed the trolleys near the bikes. He also noted that the public was put off using bicycle parking areas, which were overgrown with weeds and poorly managed, and the situation had become worse since the emergence of GoBee.Bike. The management of bicycle parking areas had to be cost-effective as they were provided using public money, so the Government should take the related issues into account as well. He further pointed out that having the complaint hotline managed by GoBee.Bike was an act of outsourcing responsibility, whereby GoBee.Bike might handle the public’s complaints in a perfunctory way as it had no statutory power and responsibility to do so. With regard to the joint operations arranged by the TMDO, he thanked the TMDO for offering assistance in tackling illegally-parked bicycles. Yet, he pointed out that the problem could hardly be solved immediately, because a preset timetable had to be followed in conducting joint operations. Besides, he was concerned about how the removed bicycles would be kept. As he had learnt from the DLO/TM, these bicycles had once been kept on the land off Nerine Cove, but due to complaints from the public, they were kept in other places. He believed there was not enough space in the district to keep such a huge number of bicycles.

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Action 125. A Member opined that the introduction of bicycle sharing was well-intentioned to save people who needed a bicycle from having to buy one; however, the consequential problem of illegal parking was so serious as to cause nuisance to Tuen Mun residents. She noted that the management companies of private housing estates found it difficult to deal with these bicycles, and users of these shared bicycles might be exposed to risks because cycle tracks in Tuen Mun were not yet well-developed. She further said Members had worked hard for years to look for bicycle parking spaces for residents, but it turned out that parking spaces available to them became fewer as users of these shared bicycles were free to park their bicycles in public parking spaces. In view of this, she would like to know whether the FEHD would remove the bicycles if it received complaints of this kind, and how many such bicycles it had removed. In addition, she hoped the Government would regulate this operation model, as she believed there would be more operators engaging in it and the problem would become more serious in the future.

126. A Member noted that in his response, the TD’s representative had said there was currently no policy in place to regulate the use of bicycle parking spaces by commercial bikes. The operator had met with the Government for discussion before GoBee.Bike had introduced the bicycles to Hong Kong. That meant the Government had actually known there was no legislation in place to regulate the operator’s use of public bicycle parking spaces. Subsequently after problems had arisen one after another, the Government had met with GoBee.Bike, and after the meeting, it had merely responded to the problem of illegally-parked bicycles but not to the occupation of public parking spaces by shared bicycles. The above time sequence suggested that the Government was not ignorant about the problem. Hence, he opined that the Government actually had the intention to allow shared bicycles to occupy public parking spaces. In this connection, he enquired how the Government would tackle the problem of public bicycle parking spaces being occupied by commercial bikes, and whether the legislation would be amended in view of the above problem so that bicycle parking spaces could remain available to residents who had used to use bicycles.

127. A Member noticed that more and more business operation practices emerged in the name of sharing. Taking Uber, whose operation model was actually similar to the one being discussed, as an example, he said the company could engage in such operation after adding the word “sharing” to its name. If the Government believed

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Action that the market had demand for this operation model, it should either play a leading role by acquiring shared bicycles for use by the public, or put a license issuance system in place to regulate these operators, following the practice adopted for the regulation of telecommunication companies. He agreed that as the TD had met with the operator to discuss the relevant matters, it should have been aware of the problem of public bicycle parking spaces being occupied by commercial bikes. He added that the department had a misconception about its overall arrangements, believing this was an operation model that could satisfy the public. Moreover, bicycle sharing would give rise to, for example, street management concerns, which would entail police efforts against problems like bicycle theft, and the working group had to handle matters relating to bicycle removal. Therefore, the Government should enact legislation for regulation instead of leaving it to the operator to handle parking-related matters. 128. A Member said pavements had often been occupied by bicycles since GoBee.Bike’s presence in Tuen Mun, and it might take several weeks to remove these bicycles if government departments followed the guideline on bicycle removal (e.g. posting notices). He asked whether the relevant departments could speed up the progress of prosecution. He noted that some shared bicycles were parked in private housing estates, and actually, the management companies of these housing estates dared not confiscate these bicycles but merely moved them out of the housing estates, lest they would be alleged to commit bicycle theft. Moreover, the public bicycle parking areas occupied by shared bicycles were no longer available to people who had used to use them. In his view, it was unreasonable to allow a private company to run its business using public resources. He further noted that on 21 June this year, the relevant departments had conducted an inter-departmental joint operation to remove bikes at a bicycle parking area near Lam Tei Interchange, but some residents said the relevant departments had failed to follow the guideline by posting a notice to inform residents about the operation 14 days in advance. While understanding that the relevant departments could make flexible arrangements in posting the notice, he said a notice was posted in the above parking area stating that a notice should be posted to inform the public about an operation 14 days in advance. Although illegally-parked shared bicycles had been successfully removed in the above operation, residents’ bicycles had been taken away too. He therefore hoped the relevant departments would pay serious attention to this matter.

129. A Member had complained through different channels about private bicycle companies operating with public resources, and the TMDO had earlier responded to

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Action part of the complaint by action. In his view, this operation model would give rise to safety concerns as even people who did not know how to cycle could hire these bicycles. The situation was serious in that these bikes occupied various places, whether public or private, and if users of shared bicycles used these bikes to commit crimes, the subsequent users might get embroiled. Therefore, he reckoned that the Government should take a look at the above problem before devising suitable regulating policies. 130. A Member reckoned the departments’ responses showed that their mindset did not move with the times. He said a department representative had remarked that the operation of bicycle sharing was no different from that of ordinary bicycle rental shops, but in the latter case, bicycles were hired and returned at shops. He added that even if the bicycles of these shops occupied areas outside the shops, the size of the areas so occupied was limited; however, shared bicycles could be parked everywhere. Moreover, while a department representative said joint operations could be conducted to combat illegal parking, but in these operations, the relevant department had to post notices before taking removal action. He believed that other users would have already moved these bicycles elsewhere before the department’s removal action. In addition, he agreed that as proposed above, bicycle sharing should be operated by the Government.

131. A Member commented that what InvestHK had done had created problems to be fixed by other departments. Noting that these bicycles were already parked in public housing estates, she said that while the HD had put relevant guidelines in place, the management staff of public housing estates still had difficulty in dealing with these bicycles. She hoped the relevant departments would take a look at the above problem.

132. The Chairman concluded by saying that since the very beginning, the issue had been fraught with problems, which should be tackled by administrative means in the short term and legislation in the long term. In view of this, he would like the TMDO to continue to coordinate the efforts of various departments in combating illegal parking of bicycles and the TD to review the management policies in this regard.

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Action VI. Reports from Government (A) Reports by Tuen Mun Area Committees (B) The 4th Report of Tuen Mun District Management Committee 2017

(TMDC Papers No. 30/2017 and 31/2017)

133. Participants perused the above two reports. (C) Report by Tuen Mun Police District

(TMDC Paper No. 32/2017 and Paper No. 1 Distributed at Meeting)

134. Participants perused the content of the above report. 135. On behalf of the TMDC, the Chairman welcomed Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, who attended a TMDC meeting for the first time.

136. Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, said that at the current meeting, he stood in for Ms MAK Wai-man, Tammy, District Commander (Tuen Mun), who was on leave, and Ms CHOI Sau-kuen, Police Community Relations Officer (Tuen Mun District), would assist in providing translation services. Then, he elaborated on the report by Tuen Mun Police District as follows:

(i) The Police had received a total of 593 reported cases in the previous two months, a 1.5% rise on the same period the year before, and the detection rate had dropped from 44.7% to 41.3%. Crimes on the most significant rise included shop theft (+27%) and deception (+31%). The deception cases comprised internet fraud cases and telephone deception. The cases of missing motor vehicles mainly involved private cars. The number of these cases had risen to eight in the previous two months compared with zero in the same period the year before, and to 12 so far this year compared with six over the same period the year before;

(ii) Thanks to the declines in the numbers of criminal intimidation and blackmail cases, violent crime in the previous two months had dropped by 12.2% on the same period the year before, and the detection rate had climbed from 49.6% to 65.4%. Moreover, the number of violent crime had increased significantly in late May this year, when a man had been chased and hit by a car and assaulted, and two men had been attacked with choppers at Tsing Tin Playground on the next day. On that occasion, the Police had deployed over 200

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Action police officers to a two-week investigation which had culminated in the arrest 20 people and seizure of a raft of offensive weapons, successfully combating triad-related crimes in the district;

(iii) The crime rate for the first five months of the year had risen by 4.8% on the same period the year before. Crimes on the rise mainly included shop theft, deception and criminal damage. Overall speaking, the most common crimes had been shop theft, miscellaneous thefts and deception, which had made up some 55% of the total number of crimes. The number of violence cases had risen by 10.5%, making up 18% of the total number of crimes. The most common violence cases had been wounding and criminal intimidation, which had increased by 4.5% and 25% respectively. Besides, the number of indecent assault cases had arisen from 11 to 21 (+99%), among which 20 cases had been detected (i.e. a 95% detection rate) and the crime in nine cases had been committed by strangers; and

(iv) As reported by District Commander (Tuen Mun) at the District Fight Crime Committee (Tuen Mun District), the Police would step up enforcement against shop theft, deception and burglary. On shop theft, it would continue to work with shops to strengthen enforcement by prosecution and by administering cautions to juvenile or elderly offenders as appropriate. On deception cases, the Police was much concerned about the rise in the figure. The cases in this regard usually involved online shopping where victims could not receive goods after payment. In view of this, the Police would continue to work with the community to boost the anti-deception awareness. On burglary cases, 70% of them had happened in villages. The number of burglary cases in the previous two months had dropped by 26% on the same period the year before. Still, the Police would not only keep encouraging villagers to put effective home security in place but step up patrol. For instance, helicopters had been dispatched for patrol in late May to serve as a deterrent.

137. Then, Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, introduced the Tuen Mun District Formation Action Plan 2017 to Members. He said that some Members had attended the Police’s year-end crime review on 22 February this year while others had not, so he would like to take this opportunity to distribute the Tuen Mun District Formation Action Plan 2017 at the

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Action meeting. He explained that the Tuen Mun District Formation Action Plan 2017 was drawn up based on the seven operational priorities specified by Commissioner of Police and in the light of the actual circumstances in Tuen Mun. The plan focused on the following seven areas: (i) combating violent crimes, especially street gang activities and late night violence; (ii) combating triads, criminal syndicates and organised crimes; (iii) combating drugs through intelligence-led operations; (iv) combating quick-cash crimes by rallying support from the community; (v) strengthening cyber security and combating technology crimes through publicity and education; (vi) enhancing public safety (including road safety); and (vii) strengthening counter-terrorism efforts and gearing up to protect important infrastructure in Tuen Mun South West. 138. Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, went on to say that also covered in the Tuen Mun District Formation Action Plan 2017 were the following community engagement projects: (i) Project Unity, which served to combat burglary; (ii) Project Solomon, which targeted illegal debt collection activities; (iii) Project Smart, which was designed for young people; (iv) Project Diversity, which was designed for the non-ethnic Chinese community; and (v) Project Shield, which was a counter-terrorism initiative.

139. Concerned about the drug problem in Tuen Mun, a Member asked whether there was a rising trend in drug crimes, where the drugs came from and what the modus operandi in drug crimes was. Also concerned about violent crimes, she asked if there was a rising trend in domestic violence and how residents should deal with triad-related violent crimes.

140. With regard to the issue of gambling near the leisure park beneath the bridge on Wong Chu Road, a Member said efforts had been made earlier to explore with the Police and the TD different solutions to the problem, and to carry out education publicity with the Police Community Relations Office (“PCRO”). The above actions had yielded results with some gamblers prosecuted, but disappointedly, the penalties imposed by the court had been too lenient, impairing the deterrent effect of prosecution. As the above area was managed by the TD, he had requested the TD to fence it off to avoid assemblies of gamblers. He understood this might not be the best solution, but after a number of combat operations, he believed that fencing the area off would be a more effective way to prevent gambling than providing new bicycle parking spaces there. He further said the TD would need some time to make arrangements even if it agreed to fence the area off. He asked what combat

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Action actions the Police would take during the interim period. He hoped the Police would undertake to step up patrol and prosecution in a bid to combat gambling. 141. A Member said the youth had more spare time during the summer holiday, so he hoped the Police would pay more attention to assemblies of youngsters and work with youth service organisations to reduce the possibility of such assemblies turning into crimes. He further said some debt collection practices had caused nuisance to neighbours before. In his view, youngsters who were eager to earn money might engage in such debt collection activities. He therefore hoped the Police could strengthen its efforts to combat crimes in this regard. Furthermore, members of the local community had expressed to him the hope that the Police could step up efforts to combat gambling. Opining that the Police had been performing well in this area, he hoped the Police could keep it up.

142. Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, gave a consolidated response to Members’ comments and enquiries as follows:

(i) The Narcotics Bureau of the headquarters and a specialist team at the Tuen Mun District were responsible for the investigation of drug crimes, while the Patrol Sub-unit would also pay special attention to drug cases during their daily patrols. There had been 37 cases of drug crimes in Tuen Mun this year, up 15.6% on the same period the year before. The number of drug crimes was affected by many factors. For example, the results of the joint operations previously carried out by the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macau could feed through to the drug markets in different places, and the combat actions taken by the Mainland could affect the local supply of ketamine. Besides, the decline in the prosecution figure might be attributed to the hike of ketamine price over the previous month. In addition, ketamine and methamphetamine remained as the most common drugs, so the Police would continue to focus on crimes relating to these kinds of drugs;

(ii) For violent crimes, the Police had received a total of 101 reported cases from April to May this year (down 12.2% on the same period the year before) and a total of 243 reported cases from January to May this year (up 10.5% on the same period the year before). The detection rate was 66.9% in this regard. Among the cases of this type, indecent assault cases had the highest growth rate, but 20 of the

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Action 21 indecent assault cases had been detected. Domestic violence was yet another perennial problem. If not addressed as soon as possible, these problems would become more and more serious, so the Police would work with the Social Welfare Department and other relevant departments to curb domestic violence;

(iii) The Police paid much attention to the gambling, though this problem was not serious when compared with other crimes. The Police would join other departments to carry out combat operations at gambling blackspots, and the staff of the PCRO would hold community activities to educate the public against taking part in gambling. While the Police had no influence on court judgement, it urged Members and the public to report to the PCRO and the task force about any gambling activities they found, so that the Police could take immediate follow-up actions. Due to limited manpower, the Police would tackle the gambling problem in accordance with the urgency and priority of cases;

(iv) The Police had devoted a great deal of resources to tackling triad-related crimes, which were a territory-wide problem. Also, the anti-triad units at the headquarters and the Tuen Mun District dealt with the problem in parallel and take different actions to combat triad-related crimes. For instance, the Police had successfully arrested the persons involved in the triad-related affray case in May. Besides the anti-triad units, the Patrol Sub-unit would also take actions against crimes of this type; and

(v) The modus operandi by which youngsters engaged in debt collection activities was very common, so the Police had been organising talks in schools and working with other departments to educate the youth against being exploited by lawbreakers. Besides, debt collection activities took place across the territory, especially in the housing estates where low-income groups lived, so the Police would work closely with the management companies of housing estates and remind them not to allow strangers or suspected debt collectors to enter the estates.

143. The Chairman thanked Mr David FREMAUX, District Commander (Tuen Mun) (Acting) of the HKPF, for his responses and Ms CHOI Sau-kuen for her assistance in translation arrangements.

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Action (D) Signature Project Scheme in Tuen Mun District 144. DO(TM) reported to Members on the latest progress of the project “Revitalisation of Tuen Mun River and Surrounding Areas”, saying that all works of the project had been commenced and were expected to be complete in early 2019. The works for open space at Choi Yee Bridge were underway and the consulting company was vetting the working drawing submitted by the contractor. After the consulting company’s vetting, the contractor would start the foundation works, which were expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2019. For the beautification works for the riverside near Tuen Mun Swimming Pool and the area near the riverside park, the contractor was ordering and producing materials for the installation of artificial rock fencing along Tuen Mun River and re-paving of the ground. The works of this project were expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2018. The first-phase works for the installation of decorative lighting had been completed, and the HyD was preparing for the second-phase installation works to be carried out on Tuen Mun Heung Sze Wui Road, which were expected to be complete in the first quarter of 2018.

145. DO(TM) went on to report on the latest progress of the project “Promotion of Youth Development in Tuen Mun”. She said Yan Oi Tong was carrying out the renovation works for the TMDC Yan Oi Tong Youth Space, which were expected to be complete in the third quarter of 2017.

146. Members had no comments or enquiries on the above matter. The Chairman thanked DO(TM) for her report.

VII. Reports by TMDC Representatives 147. Members had nothing particular to report. VIII. Members’ Enquiries to Government Departments 148. As Members had no questions for the government departments, the representatives of all the government departments except the TMDO left the meeting.

IX. In-house Matters (A) Members Joining or Resigning from Committees and Working Groups

under TMDC

149. The Secretary reported that no Members had joined or resigned from committees or working groups under the TMDC over the previous two months.

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Action (B) Position of TMDC Funds as at 15 June 2017

(TMDC Paper No. A35/2017)

150. Participants perused the content of the above paper. (C) Applications for TMDC Funds

(TMDC Paper No. A36/2017)

151. Participants perused the content of the above paper. 152. The Chairman said that during the discussion on the applications for TMDC Funds, if any Members found that their posts or capacity were related to any partner organisations or other district organisations of activities in the applications but had not yet been stated in the Form for Declaration of Interests in Handling TMDC Funds or the Registration of District Council Member’s Interests, the Members were required to make declarations even if they did not intend to speak or vote on the matters concerned. Members should refrain from speaking on any matters in which they had interests; however, if they wished to speak or vote on the matters concerned, they should make a request beforehand. The Chairman would, in accordance with the Standing Order, decide whether the Members might speak or vote on the matters concerned, might remain in the meeting as observers, or should withdraw from the meeting.

153. The Chairman referred Members to Item 5 in the paper, which was the funding application in respect of “Hiring Dedicated Staff to Assist in Performing District Council Duties”. With more funding to the TMDC for the current financial year, the workload in vetting applications for TMDC Funds and making reimbursement had greatly increased. The workload of the TMDO had also increased because government departments had provided the TMDC with various dedicated funding in recent years and the TMDC had formed a number of non-standing working groups. After reviewing the manpower requirements and work arrangements, the TMDO suggested employing one Executive Assistant, one Project Coordinator and two Project Assistants to handle the work. After hiring the above staff, the estimated drawdown required would not exceed either the upper limit prescribed by the Home Affairs Department or the estimated funding endorsed by the TMDC at its meeting on 2 May this year in respect of the project concerned. Moreover, this application had been recommended by the Finance, Administration and Publicity Committee (“FAPC”).

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Action 154. The Chairman continued to say that the applications for TMDC Funds set out in Paper No. A36 had also been recommended by the FAPC. As the amounts of all the six applications set out in the paper exceeded $100,000, the applications had to be approved by the TMDC.

155. As Members had no comments, the Chairman announced that the applications for TMDC Funds set out in Paper No. A36 were approved.

(D) Reports by Committees

(TMDC Papers No. A37/2017 to A42/2017)

156. Participants perused the above six reports. 157. As Members had no comments on the six reports, the Chairman announced that the TMDC endorsed the contents of the above six reports.

(E) Reports by Working Groups

(TMDC Papers No. A43/2017 to A44/2017)

158. Participants perused the above three reports. 159. With regard to the report of the Working Group on the Study Tour to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Chairman said a framework for the itinerary of the study mission had been set in the report. To facilitate the work for the study mission, the working group had agreed that the study mission be rescheduled for 27 to 29 September or 9 to 11 November this year, and the exact dates were to be confirmed pending the reply of the receiving organisation. He asked Members to note the dates of the above study mission.

160. As Members had no comments on the above three reports, the Chairman announced that the TMDC endorsed the contents of the reports.

X. Any Other Business 161. There being no other business, the Chairman closed the meeting at 4:18 p.m. The next meeting would be held on 5 September 2017 (Tuesday).

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Action Tuen Mun District Council Secretariat Date: 7 August 2017 File Ref: HAD TMDC/13/25/DC/17