HK Standard
Tung Chung `park’ on way
Candy Chan
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
A new theme park has been included in the development plans of Tung
Chung to meet the needs of residents.
Details of the plan will be discussed by the Legislative Council panel
on development. A paper shows 285 hectares of land will be created in
the new town.
This includes about 110 hectares on the waterfront where the theme
park, which will comprise half of the area, will be built.
The other 175 hectares will come from western Tung Chung, and part of
the Tung Chung Bay will be reclaimed.
The current population of Tung Chung is 70,000 and this is expected to
go up to 220,000 once the development of the township has been
completed.
However, the development plan has yet to be confirmed and is subject
to the views and feedback from the community during the first stage of
public consultation, which is under way now and will last until August
12.
The Tung Chung development has been identified under the land use
master plan across the territory, in which 150 hectares of housing
sites will be created in the short term while 2,400 hectares will be
made available in the long term.
Meanwhile, a Development Bureau spokesman said all 150 hectares of
land for residential development will come from the Northeastern New
Territories and will accommodate more than 150,000 people.
The NT development area will provide 53,800 new residential units, of
which 57 percent will be for private housing and the rest for public
rental.
The maximum building height will not exce
ed 35 stories to ensure optimum design and a viable air circulation in the area.
Kwu Tung North, situated between Sheung Shui and Lok Ma Chau, will be
the biggest area and have the largest population. Fan Ling North will
be turned into a riverside township, while Ping Che/Ta Kwu Ling will
be the smallest area.
The spokesman said compulsory land acquisition and compensation will
cost an estimated HK$40 billion.
Similarly, the government plans to develop another site at Anderson
Road Quarry near Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O.
This is expected to provide 7,000 private housing units and 1,700 new
Home Ownership Scheme units to accommodate a total population of
23,000 people.
The bureau expects construction work to begin as soon as 2017, and
residents are expected to move in 10 years later.