There are serious land problems in Hong Kong. In addition to the old school building of St. Peter's Secondary School in the Southern District, which has been abandoned for ten years and has not been recovered, there are still a large number of vacant school buildings that have been "baked in the sun" for many years. To ease the housing dilemma of subdivided tenants, but so far only six old school buildings have been allocated for related purposes.
"Hong Kong 01" took stock of the list of vacant schools announced by the Planning Department last year. Some old school buildings located in urban areas have been closed or relocated for 10 years and have not been recovered, so they have not been included in the planning list. Among the 189 abandoned school sites on the list, nearly Half of it has not yet been planned, and some of the old school buildings adjacent to residential buildings or downtown have been abandoned for nearly half a century and are still in a state of emptiness.
The association of community organizations that had converted the old government dormitory into transitional housing criticized the government for not taking the lead in rebuilding vacant school buildings despite the severe shortage of housing and social welfare facilities, and it is difficult for social welfare organizations to keep track of the list of vacant school buildings .
The Society continued to point out that many school buildings are in dilapidated condition. Repairs will take time and will require a lot of money. The short-term lease of two or three years is only enough to maintain the school buildings. We urge the government to provide professional maintenance knowledge and allow civil organizations to convert old school buildings into transitional housing. or community facilities to alleviate the current land shortage.
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The former Yangzheng School is located in Kau Wah Path, Kwai Chung. It is only one kilometer away from the MTR Mei Foo Station, only a 16-minute walk, with an area of more than 20,000 square feet. There are a lot of village houses and squatters, but the school has been abandoned since it was abandoned in 1992.
According to the information on the geographic information map, the long-term use of the Yangzheng School site is a "comprehensive development area". Before the long-term use is confirmed, social welfare organizations can apply for short-term use. It is estimated that the lease period can be up to five years or more. So far no one has rented it, leaving the land "baked in the sun".
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The Maeda Heart Public School in Tai Wai has also been abandoned for 40 years. Although the site is located on a mountainside and has to be reached on foot, the campus covers an area of more than 64,000 square feet and is also close to Lung Hang Village, HOS Cloud Die Garden and Jingtian. Garden, there are many primary and secondary schools, and the MTR Tai Wai Station is only about one kilometer away, so the traffic is convenient.
According to the information of the Creative Hong Kong Film Service Office, Tin Sum Public School has two bungalows. The school buildings are dilapidated. One of the bungalows has a cracked roof and trees grow around the school buildings. It is believed that it will take a lot of effort to repair and reuse them.
However, the old school building located in the open space can only be rented for a short term of about three years, after deducting the time for the renovation of the campus, the renting group may only have one or two years left to use the venue.
Tai Wai Public School, located in the busy city of Tai Wai, has been basking in the sun for 25 years.
(online picture)
The Tai Wai Public School in the bustling city of Tai Wai in the same district has also been exposed to the sun for 25 years. The examples of these three closed schools being exposed to the sun are just the tip of the iceberg. In May last year, the Department announced the vacant school sites through the central allocation mechanism, and a total of 192 old school buildings were included in the list. However, the list did not cover all abandoned school buildings, including Aberdeen St. Peter's Secondary School, which has moved out for 10 years (see also the draft). , the old school building of St. Joseph's English Secondary School in Kwun Tong, and the old site of Hua Yan Primary School in Panyu, which moved to the school in 2019.
The vacant school buildings have been occupied and illegal items have been stored from time to time in the past. There have been voices criticizing the authorities for their ineffective supervision, allowing people to "enter by themselves", and causing nearby residents to worry about posing a safety hazard.
Excluding the 6 sites (3%) that are not suitable for use due to land use restrictions and other reasons, among the remaining 189 abandoned school sites, 91 sites will be used for long-term use, or for short-term use pending the realization of permanent use, and There are three categories of short-term leases, that is, when the list was released last year, there was still no complete planning, accounting for 48% of the total, but some school buildings have been abandoned for 40 years or even longer.
One year later, among the 91 sites involved, 32 sites have not yet been planned, accounting for about 35% of the total. Among the 60 sites that can be applied for community, institutional or non-profit-making purposes in the form of short-term leases, there are still There are 38 sites "basking in the sun", accounting for 41% of the short-term rental school buildings. Although 22 sites have received short-term rental applications, it is still unknown when they will be approved.
Although the government has vigorously promoted transitional housing in recent years, and has increased the number of target units to 20,000 units, hoping to solve the urgent needs of sub-divided housing households who have been waiting for a long time and have not been able to "upstairs", but the above-mentioned land that was not planned last year, Only four redevelopments have been allocated to the transitional housing scheme, including Sheng Kung Hui Stanley Primary School, Shing Ping School in Ta Kwu Ling, Shuen Wan Yu Tung Xuan School in Tai Po and Yuen Long Wing On School, providing a total of 840 units.
Many grassroots housing concern groups have been criticizing the government for failing to make good use of idle land, including abandoned old school buildings, and only a few old school buildings have been allocated to be converted into transitional housing.
Shi Lishan.
(file picture)
Shi Lishan, director of the Association of Community Organizations who have converted Victoria Road dormitory into transitional housing, said that whether the school building can be converted into transitional housing depends on the government "because of the renovation of the old school building, in addition to repairs, it also needs to be divided into different compartments." Toilets and kitchens, etc., involve the laying of water pipes. However, the current NGOs operating transitional housing lack professionals related to building and planning, and it is difficult to renovate the existing school buildings by themselves.
She also pointed out that the current social welfare facilities are insufficient, and social welfare institutions lack space to hold activities, such as childcare and cram schools for primary and secondary school students. Even if the vacant school buildings are not suitable for conversion into transitional housing, they can be converted into social welfare facilities, but the authorities A detailed list of vacant school buildings or land was not provided, and social welfare organizations were unable to obtain relevant information. In addition, the rental period of vacant school buildings is generally only two or three years. After deducting the repair time, there is only about one year left, which discourages local organizations.
▼On June 13, the opening ceremony of the transitional housing project "Hi Residence" on Victoria Road was held▼
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In response to the enquiry, the Development Bureau, Planning Department and Lands Department pointed out that when the Education Bureau confirms that individual vacant school premises are occupied for school purposes, the Planning Department will review it according to the mechanism and propose suitable long-term land uses for the relevant sites. A series of planning factors, including the planning intention of the site, nearby land uses, infrastructure and environment, etc., will also be consulted with relevant policy bureaux and departments.
The planning land proposed by the Planning Department for sites with vacant school buildings is generally "government, institution and community", residential, commercial, etc. After the statutory purpose is established, the relevant departments or private land owners can develop projects that meet the relevant purposes. facilities in the area, but there is no response to why there are more than 100 vacant school sites that have been "baked in the sun" for many years.
The Development Bureau also emphasized that it has launched a scheme in 2019 to subsidize NGOs to carry out one-off and necessary basic rehabilitation works for vacant government sites and school premises suitable for community, group or other non-profit-making purposes.
Consultants may also be engaged by NGOs to determine the technical feasibility or details of the proposed works, and the related costs may also be subsidized.
Vacant official land basking in the sun received 48 short-term rental applications, only 16 were approved and approved for more than 6 and a half years
