Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor will release a new "policy address" next month. It is understood that in response to the central government’s urging to solve the housing problem, Carrie Lam will take a series of major moves in land search, including the release of some wetlands in the North Loop of the New Territories, and Entering the Kwu Tung North Development Area, which is starting to build houses, has greatly increased the area of the entire new development area. The authorities also intend to lower the threshold for resale of ancestral land in the New Territories and greatly increase the potential of developing agricultural land in the New Territories through a "public-private partnership" model with developers; And will use green areas to build houses.
In addition, the policy address will implement the Lung Kwu Tan reclamation plan. At the same time, consideration will be given to relocating the Kwai Chung Pier to the newly reclaimed land in Tuen Mun. The vacated Kwai Tsing District urban area along the sea will be built in the future.
Untie the ancestral hall to promote public-private cooperation
The ancestral hall is commonly known as "A Kung Tei," and it is mainly ancestral halls, temples, and agricultural land in indigenous villages in the New Territories. It is managed by the clan’s manager. It was estimated that the area involved was about 2,400 hectares.
According to the current practice, the authorities will only approve the manager's decision to resell the land with the consent of all the male clan stakeholders. This has become a "tightening curse" that Zutangdi cannot resell and build houses.
It is reported that the "Policy Address" will propose to amend the "New Territories Ordinance" to lower the threshold for sales, and "twist loose" the long-standing controversy.
As for the level of the threshold for sale, it is estimated that the current "Forced Auction Ordinance" will be referred to, that is, as long as 80% or more of the clan members agree.
"Prying loose" ancestral land restrictions can exert a leverage effect on the development of the overall New Territories agricultural land.
Many of the agricultural land in the New Territories currently owned by major developers are separated by ancestral halls, which affects development potential. There will be opportunities to overcome this obstacle in the future.
The government will also strengthen the "Land Sharing Plan" and further provide incentives for developers to invest in the development of roads, sewage systems, hydropower and other large-scale public infrastructure facilities for relevant agricultural land, and "induce" relevant developers to participate. The lot will be completed in the future. A large proportion of the flats must be handed over to the government for public housing. It is estimated that this can be a "shortcut" to speed up the production of public housing.
To start the development of wetlands in the loop or to raise controversy
The Policy Address will also "surge" on wetlands that are considered taboo, including the proposal to release part of the wetlands around the North Loop of the New Territories, as well as the adjacent wetland buffer zone. The area of the park is considered to be incorporated into the Kwu Tung North Development Zone.
The authorities also intend to increase the developable plot ratio in the wetlands, which will increase the number of houses built in the entire Kwu Tung North project.
However, most of the wetlands around the Loop are part of the Deep Bay wetlands, which have always been regarded as important habitats for migratory birds, and it is expected that conservationists will strongly oppose it.
Greenbelt occupies 14.5% of the total land area in Hong Kong
Greenbelt is also one of the government's goals.
It is estimated that the area of green belts in Hong Kong is about 16,000 hectares, accounting for 14.5% of the total land area in Hong Kong. In order to increase the short- and medium-term supply, the government has accelerated the rezoning of green belts to build houses in recent years.
According to sources, this year’s Policy Address will further propose the development of a number of green areas on the fringe of the urban area for the construction of private and public housing.
Chen Hengpin: If Lung Kwu Tan is reclaimed, we should consider moving to Kwai Chung Pier
In addition, the government will implement the Longgutan reclamation plan.
The government plans to reclaim about 220 to 250 hectares at Lung Kwu Tan in Tuen Mun for industrial use, and re-plan the Tuen Mun West area, including the river trade terminal and coastal areas, for residential use.
It is reported that the government intends to study the relocation of the Kwai Chung Container Terminal to the aforementioned new reclamation area, and use the nearly 300 hectares of urban coastal land to build houses.
However, the rural affiliation has been opposed to the large-scale reclamation of Longgutan, and it is unknown whether it can be resolved.
According to the information, the Kwai Chung Container Terminal occupies an area of 280 hectares. If all of it is used for housing construction, the scale of development will be approximately equivalent to 16 Mei Foo New Villages.
Member of the New Territories West Legislative Council, Chen Heng-pin, said in an interview that if Lung Kwu Tan is to be reclaimed, the authorities should reconsider the use, including studying the transfer of the Kwai Chung Pier.
Chen believes that the area of Kwai Chung Ferry Pier has complete transportation facilities, and the land is flat and suitable for housing construction.
He also agreed that the ancestral hall was "relaxed" and accelerated the development of the "public-private partnership" housing construction model with developers. "If the same amount of public housing is built by the Housing Authority, it will not be completed within 15 years."
Sha Banshan's Notes | Lam Cheng Yanzeng, Deputy Director?
News: The government's high-level meeting discussed and spread the central government's dissatisfaction with real estate developers?
Lam Cheng: In recent years, they are "more willing" to cooperate with the government. Carrie Lam has announced that the New Territories North Infrastructure will cooperate with the Qianhai Port model or consider "cooperative inspection" to expand the area of Qianhai.