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Written by: Commentary Editing Room
2020-08-05 07:00
Last update date: 2020-08-05 07:00Farmland in the New Territories has been used seriously in violation of regulations. Some media recently reported that a plant in Ping Che was involved in the illegal reconstruction of a chemical storage plant. Even though the lease license was revoked by the Lands Department last year, it still operates so far. Brownfield itself is a precious land resource, and its related uses often involve pollution and damage to the environment. The government must not only seriously explore how to re-develop brownfields, but also stop illegal modification of agricultural land to prevent the rampant spread of brownfields.
According to media reports, some residents discovered that a chemical factory was opened on Ping Che Road two years ago. After understanding, they believed that the factory was involved in the production and storage of "vehicle urea." Sometimes there was a pungent smell like Armonia, and they were worried. Affecting the health and environment of nearby residents, they sought government assistance. As a result, the North District Lands Office confirmed that the plant violated the license and revoked the relevant license early last year and requested that all structures be demolished as soon as possible. However, the factory involved continues to operate so far.
In theory, if you want to build structures on agricultural land, you must apply for a license from the government in advance. According to the records of the Lands Department, three "Approval Letters for Agricultural Structures" and "License for Residential Use Amendment Leases" were approved for the lot involved in the early years, allowing the owner to build 11 structures for agricultural and residential purposes, but after inspection by prescription , It was found that they were all used for industrial purposes, and their area, purpose, and occupant's identity did not violate the terms of the approval letter and license. Therefore, warnings were issued several times as early as 2018, and the approval letter was formally revoked early next year. License, the relevant structure immediately becomes an illegal building.
Inadequate land law enforcement
Irregularities in chemical plants continue, and the Lands Department’s ineffective enforcement is undoubtedly the main reason. Generally speaking, the Department’s method of dealing with illegal agricultural land is mostly "warning first, then nailing the lease." That is, if the owner ignores the warning letter and does not remove the illegal structure, the department will send the warning letter to the Land Registry for nailing. Contract. However, the reason why brownfield operations wantonly and illegally use agricultural land is that it is cheap and lucrative. If the government does not take more decisive measures to prohibit related operations, the owner will not be afraid of the contract. Even if the owner intends to buy or sell the land, if the buyers are all brownfield operators, it does not matter whether the relevant land is nailed or not. What's more, after two years, the department is still only at the stage of sending a letter requesting correction, and naturally condoned the factory's behavior.
In fact, in response to the illegal use of agricultural land, the Lands Department has implemented a new policy in 2014. If the violation of agricultural land has not been corrected after the "deed", the Department invokes the Government Land Rights (Re-entry and Vesting Remedy) Ordinance "Article 7 ("Land Resumption Provision") to recover the private agricultural land. However, the Office of The Ombudsman has criticized the department for its laxity in the past, and cited the case that after years of enforcement actions, the department has not cited relevant regulations to re-acquire illegal farmland. It can be seen that if the department has the right to use it, the relevant regulations are still difficult. Deter the illegal behavior of the owner. However, the department has been able to vigorously "clear the field" in a land resumption project like Hengzhou, but has been reluctant to use its sword on farmland that has been certified as illegal. This is really hard for the public to convince.
Since the "2030+" announced in 2016, the government has proposed the development of brownfields, and the subsequent land supply task force has also included brownfields as a priority development option. (Profile picture / Photo by Liang Pengwei)
The illegal use of agricultural land in the New Territories is serious. The above incidents are just the tip of the iceberg. In fact, there are various cases of illegally changing to agricultural land (such as illegally collapsing mud heads, building houses, etc.), and many of them are highly polluting operations. . At its root, insufficient government supervision is the main reason. Indeed, in response to the serious situation, the Lands Department set up a special operations task force last year to locate 100 black spots where large areas of government land were illegally occupied, and carried out land control operations in stages to deal with cases of land hegemony or serious breach of contract. Teaching was active before. However, illegal use of agricultural land is rampant. This case just reflects the legacy of the Department’s actions and failure to fully control the violations. It can be seen that a more comprehensive brownfield policy is necessary to eradicate the bad situation.
The spread of brownfields must be strictly prohibited
The reason why brownfields are concerned by society is not only because of their huge development potential, but also because the related land is inseparable from environmental pollution. Therefore, when considering brownfield development strategies, it is also important to stop the spread of brownfields. However, although the government has carried out research and statistics on brownfields in recent years, it has not conducted freezing statistics on the overall brownfields. Therefore, it is absolutely a pity that there is no strict prohibition on the growth of brownfields. In the long run, the government must "draw a line" for the growth of brownfields and prohibit the abuse of agricultural land resources or even its use for polluting purposes. As for the enforcement of illegal land, the government must not only make more decisive use of the land re-entry provisions, but also consider substantially increasing the fines for owners who ignore warnings to increase the deterrent effect of enforcement.
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