Policy Address

Long Term Land Supply

90.       I met a five-year-old who asked me, "Chief Executive, where shall I live when I grow up?  Will there be enough land in Hong Kong?"  The Government's term of office is five years, whereas that of the Legislative Council is four.  But increasing land supply takes a much longer time.  We must address the question raised by this child in a pragmatic manner.  Apart from making the right choices of land use, we must also undertake long-term land planning and development.

91.       In the medium and long terms, Kwu Tung North and Fanling North New Development Areas (NDAs) will be an important source of housing and land supply for Hong Kong, especially in terms of PRH and HOS flats.  The NDAs will deliver about 60 000 residential units, of which 60% will be PRH and HOS flats.  It is anticipated that the first batch of residential units will be completed in phases from 2023 onwards.  We have commenced the detailed design and ground investigation of the advance works for the Fanling North NDA.  We will carry out the advance works subsequently.

92.       The Stage Two Community Engagement under the Hung Shui Kiu NDA Planning and Engineering Study was completed in October 2013.  It involves about 60 000 residential units, of which more than half will be for public housing.  According to the study, the vicinity of the proposed West Rail Hung Shui Kiu Station and the existing Tin Shui Wai Station will be used for commercial development and about 60 hectares of land will be set aside for logistics and related developments.  The Stage Three Community Engagement will commence this year.

93.       With the completion of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok Link, Tung Chung will become an important transportation hub for the Pearl River Delta and Western Guangdong.  The Stage Three Public Engagement of the Tung Chung New Town Extension Study was also completed.  The new town extension will provide about 48 000 residential units, and a commercial hub will be established in Tung Chung East.

94.       The URA will continue to redevelop old and dilapidated private buildings through self-initiated redevelopment projects and the Demand-led Redevelopment Project Pilot Scheme.  Last year, the URA successfully tendered the San Shan Road/Pau Chung Street project and the Kwun Tong Town Centre project (Development Areas 2 and 3), and awarded tenders for two joint venture projects at Hai Tan Street at the end of the year.  These redevelopment projects tendered in 2014-15 will provide about 2 700 units.

95.       To better use agricultural land now mainly used for industrial purposes or temporary storage, or which is deserted, the Government will continue to review a total of about 257 hectares of such sites in North District and Yuen Long with a view to ascertaining the feasibility of and scale for residential development on these sites.  In this connection, Kwu Tung South, Yuen Long South and Fanling/Sheung Shui Area 30 have been identified for planning and engineering studies.  The studies of Kwu Tung South and Yuen Long South have commenced while the study of Fanling/Sheung Shui Area 30 is being conducted in two phases, with Phase One scheduled for completion next year.

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