Compensation for newly acquired land was approved for consultation. Wong Wai-lun pointed out that he had consulted the proposal of the political party to develop a multi-storey brownfield building

The Development Bureau announced last Tuesday (3rd) that it will improve the compensation arrangements for land owners and business operators under clearance projects, including merging the "Preferential Zoning Compensation System" from four levels to two levels; The ex-gratia allowance for outdoor business operators has been significantly reduced to two years, and the cap on the area of ​​open spaces for which the allowance can be calculated has been removed.

The Legislative Council Committee on Development held a meeting this morning (10th) to discuss the compensation arrangements for new land resumption. Some members criticized the government for never consulting, while others worried that the resumption would stifle the survival of some brownfield operators.

The Secretary for Development, Mr Wong Wai-lun, said that the consultation has a great negative impact on the government's land resumption. He has not consulted the public on this issue before, and admitted that there is no guarantee that all brownfield operators can "go upstairs". The new policy could be rolled out by the end of this year.

▼2021 "Policy Address" Development of New Territories North▼

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The Legislative Council Development Committee held a meeting in the morning to discuss the revised arrangements for land resumption compensation. NDP MP Chen Jiapei criticized the government for never consulting the public on the new arrangements.

The Secretary for Development, Wong Wai-lun, responded that the authorities did not consult the public when adjusting the amount of compensation for land resumption in the past. He also pointed out that after the government proposes a new amount of compensation, "you will have an estimate of the outcome": "We are most worried about it. Another time when the price came out, it had a great impact on all markets and on the work of returning to the government to reclaim land.” He also pointed out that this revision also made reference to the suggestions of different political parties, describing “this is a kind of consultation.”

The Secretary for Development, Mr Wong Wai-lun, said that a study was being conducted on multi-storey brownfield operation buildings, and it was hoped that a new policy would be introduced by the end of this year.

(File photo / Photo by Yu Junliang)

Under the new arrangement, the "Preferential Zoning Compensation System" will be merged from four tiers into two tiers. According to the Permanent Secretary for Development, Ning Han Hao, the revised second tier compensation amount is much higher than the previous rural improvement works compensation amount by two tiers. successful, reflecting the reasonableness of the new determination method.

Mr. Tian Beichen, a member of the Real Politics Roundtable, is concerned that the government has not provided brownfield operators with a land exchange and "upstairs" mechanism, which makes the operators concerned unsustainable, thereby hitting Hong Kong's economy and industrial chain.

Wong Wai Lun admitted that there is no guarantee that the operator will be able to change the land and continue to operate. "If you switch to a suitable place to operate, he will have to do it himself."

Existing and revised arrangements for the Preferential Zoning Compensation System.

(Screenshot of Development Bureau document)

Huang also revealed that he is conducting research and market research on multi-storey brownfield operation buildings, and expects to introduce new policies by the end of this year, but stressed that due to the cost relationship, it is difficult to build high-rise buildings, and some brownfield operations will not benefit , especially for jobs involving heavy machinery.

Compensation for land resumption changed from four levels to two levels. Operators advocate a flat amount. Groups worry about the land resumption industry chain. The government changes to the compensation system for land resumption. The level is expected to increase by 6.3 billion yuan according to the development purpose. The Development Bureau revises the compensation for land resumption and demolition projects.