Policy Address
Rationalising and Streamlining Approval Process and Strengthening Co-ordination
105. In addition to making all-out efforts to identify and produce land, we must also expedite the land development process, as a lack of policy co-ordination and a complicated and lengthy approval process will directly slow down the turning of “primitive land” into “spade-ready sites” and the completion of residential developments. Over the last two years or so, the Steering Group on Streamlining Development Control (Steering Group), which comprises the DEVB and the Planning Department, Lands Department (LandsD) and Buildings Department under its purview, has been focusing on the consolidation and rationalisation of the standards and definitions adopted by the three departments in scrutinising private development projects, and helping to avoid multiple vetting. Having consulted the industry, the Steering Group has introduced seven streamlined measures concerning building height restrictions, landscape requirements and site coverage of greenery, etc. Other measures such as gross floor area calculation will also be rolled out in the next few months.
106. Land development does not only involve the approval process of these three departments, and development projects which require speeding up are not limited to those in the private sector. In fact, with the majority of Government-led development projects being public housing projects, there is a greater need to compress the development schedule, lest it will be difficult to shorten the waiting time for PRH. As such, I have authorised the Secretary for Development to expand the composition and remit of the Steering Group to include vetting departments other than those under the DEVB, with a view to reviewing more comprehensively the development approval processes for both Government and private projects, and rationalising the development-related requirements imposed by different bureaux, such as reviewing whether the technical assessment requirements are clear and suitable. I will personally steer the internal co-ordination to increase land supply to ensure that all the bureaux and departments concerned will take increasing and expediting housing supply as the foremost and priority objective and make their best endeavours to overcome all difficulties to achieve the objective in an innovative, bold and accountable manner.
