An additional private residential plot will be added to a land parcel in Hong Kong’s Northern Metropolis to attract developers to invest in the economic hub near the border with mainland China, the city’s development chief has said.
Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho also said on Sunday that under a new set of laws tailored for the megaproject, construction hours might be extended to speed up work.
Linn said in a televised interview that an area spanning more than 10 hectares (25 acres) in the Hung Shui Kiu new development area would be adjusted to increase the number of private residential plots.
Authorities proposed the change after the bureau received more than 20 expressions of interest in their new “large-scale land disposal approach,” where three large land parcels were selected and granted to successful bidders for collective development.
“At first, this area only had two residential plots, but now we are adding one more, as residential plots could be built and sold faster, providing a higher return for developers,” Linn said.
“The area was originally intended for fire and ambulance facilities, but we can allocate land for these elsewhere.”
Linn also disclosed that the government would take on the construction of major infrastructure to ease the burden on developers.
“We had plans for a fairly long highway, which was supposed to be built by the developers,” she said. “But we received feedback that they wished the government could take on the construction instead as it would add greatly to their costs.”
While Linn believed the government was capable of handling the construction, she emphasised that authorities would evaluate whether the developers’ requests were reasonable.
Her remarks followed the first meeting of a government working group announced in the policy address to expedite the planning and development of the megaproject on Friday.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu revealed in his blueprint that the megaproject would have its own set of laws designed to speed up development, with statutory procedures simplified and some funding approvals allowed to bypass the legislature.
Lee also announced that a non-statutory company would be set up to manage a 23-hectare plot of land at Hung Shui Kiu, which includes an eight-hectare site earmarked for multi-storey buildings for modern industry.
Linn said the government would prepare and level the plot of land, allowing the company to focus on building and operating the structure, thereby reducing the capital investment.
Following Friday’s meeting, Linn said the working group would examine whether there was room to expand the permitted uses of land in the Northern Metropolis, with legislation expected to be passed and implemented next year.
However, she assured that the new subsidiary law would not reduce the public consultation process for town planning nor significantly affect environmental impact assessment procedures.
“It’s about making minor adjustments to some existing parameters and using simpler application procedures,” she said.
For example, a slight increase in capacity or height would not overload traffic or harm the environment, since there was plenty of time before the Northern Metropolis infrastructure reached maximum capacity, she said.
“There might be some areas where construction work is not allowed around the clock due to noise concerns, hence requiring a permit,” she said. “However, if we’re building in a new development area and want to speed up the process, the approval process could be simplified as there are no residents around.”
Nonetheless, it would be difficult to assess how much this would speed up the development process, she added.
