ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEEOF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707 - NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT

Hong Kong Island and Islands Development

(Civil Engineering - Land development)

433CL - Yung Shue Wan development, engineering works

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

(a) the upgrading of part of 433CL, entitled "Yung Shue Wan development, engineering works, phase I", to Category A at an estimated cost of $47.5 million in money-of-the-day prices; and

(b) the retention of the remainder of 433CL in Category B.

PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION

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PROBLEM

There is a lack of land at Yung Shue Wan for the provision of essential infrastructure to meet the development needs in the area.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development, with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade part of 433CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $47.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for reclaiming and servicing about 1.1 hectares of land at the south of Yung Shue Wan.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The full scope of 433CL comprises engineering works to provide 2.3 hectares of formed and serviced land in Yung Shue Wan for -

1. commercial/residential development;
2. government uses including a police post, a library, a market and a refuse collection point;
3. institutions and community facilities; and
4. other essential facilities including a refuse transfer station, a construction waste transfer station, a sewage treatment plant, rural workshops, a dangerous goods store, a building materials depot, loading/unloading areas and parking areas for village vehicles.

4. The phase I works we now propose to upgrade to Category A will provide formed and serviced land in the southern part of Yung Shue Wan for provision of the facilities mentioned in paragraph 3 (d) above. The works comprise -

1. construction of 300 metres of vertical seawall and 170 metres of rubble mound seawall;
2. reclamation of about 1.1 hectares of land for provision of facilities;
3. construction of an emergency vehicular access;
4. construction of associated drainage and sewerage works; and
5. implementation of landscape works including planting beds and trees.

JUSTIFICATION

5. The population of Yung Shue Wan has increased rapidly in the past few years from about 2 000 in 1989 to 4 000 by the end of 1995. In 1989, the Director of Planning prepared a layout plan for Yung Shue Wan. The plan included reclamation of 2.3 hectares of land to accommodate the anticipated population growth and to provide improved infrastructure to cope with the demand from an increasing population. The Development Progress Committee approved the plan on 21 April 1993. Upon full implementation of the plan, Yung Shue Wan will be able to accommodate a total population of about 6 800 people. We will implement the works in the plan under 433CL in two phases to tie in with the development needs of Yung Shue Wan.

6. The phase I works will provide formed and serviced land for the essential facilities listed in paragraph 3(d) above. Among these facilities are a refuse transfer station and a sewage treatment plant which will help to improve the existing undesirable sanitary and environmental conditions in Yung Shue Wan. Others like rural workshops, a dangerous goods store and a building materials depot in the southern tip of Yung Shue Wan will provide a better location for activities which are incompatible with the village settlement. Upon completion of all these facilities, there will be a safer and more pleasant environment in the village centre for both residents and visitors.

7. In order to tie in with the commissioning of the refuse transfer station in late 1998 and the sewage treatment plant in late 2000, we need to commence phase I works in September 1996.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $47.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 9 below), made up as follows -

9. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

10. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecasts of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1996 to 1999. We will tender the works under a fixed-price re-measurement contract because the project involves extensive dredging and foundation works for the seawall. The precise extent of these works is likely to be subject to variation during construction depending on the actual site conditions encountered. As the contract period is less than 21 months, the contract will not provide for adjustments to the tender price due to inflation.

11. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $300,000 of which $50,000 (in respect of the sewerage works) will be a charge to the Sewage Services Trading Fund. In accordance with a resolution passed by the Legislative Council on 26 July 1995 on appropriation of assets to the Trading Fund, the sewerage works under the project will, upon completion, become assets in the Fund valued at cost.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

12. We consulted the Islands District Board and the Lamma Area Committee on the proposed phase I works on 25 April 1994 and 25 May 1994 respectively. Both supported the proposal. In addition, we held two public briefings with local residents on 18 June 1994 and 25 June 1994 to further explain the purpose of the proposed works. Most residents supported the proposed reclamation which will provide the essential infrastructure necessary to improve the sanitary and environmental conditions of the area. They also sought early implementation of the project. On the other hand, a number of local residents raised some general concerns on the project's probable impact on the rural character of Yung Shue Wan.

13. We gazetted the phase I works under the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) Ordinance and the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance on 19 August 1994 and 26 August 1994 respectively. Altogether, we received 145 objections under the two Ordinances. The majority of the objections were in the form of a standard letter with minor variations. The main points of the objections and our response were as follows -

14. We held a public briefing with the objectors on 21 January 1995 to address their concerns. 144 objectors refused to withdraw their objections. Subsequently, the Governor in Council overruled these objections in the public interest and authorised the proposed works without modifications or conditions on 16 January 1996.

15. Some of the objections were related to proposed developments under phase II of the project. As phase II is still at an initial stage of planning and we will not commence any works until the year 2000, we will further consult the residents at some point in future and take into account their views where appropriate in the planning and design of the phase II works.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

16. The Director of Environmental Protection (DEP) completed an Environmental Review of the phase I works in December 1993 and concluded that no Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was necessary.

17. To minimise long term environmental impacts, we will construct rubble mound seawalls for the reclamation of the sewage treatment plant site to facilitate the recolonization of marine fauna and use low height retaining walls with replanting to reduce the impact on existing vegetated slopes. The planting along the proposed seawall serves as a screen to reduce the visual impact of the reclamation. We will include amenity planting alongside the emergency vehicular access and re-establish native woodland at the toe of the slope to ensure that the proposed development will blend in well with the surroundings.

18. To address short term impacts, we will control dust, noise, site run-off, water quality and dredging activities during construction by incorporating appropriate mitigation measures in the works contract. In addition, we will require the contractor to barge all construction and filling materials direct to the construction site by sea to avoid any noise nuisance due to land transport, as recommended by DEP.

19. We consulted the Advisory Council on the Environment on 10 July 1995 and the Council considered that the proposed phase I works were environmentally acceptable.

LAND ACQUISITION

20. The proposed works require the clearance of 0.6 hectares of Government land. The clearance will affect ten households involving 44 people. The Director of Housing will offer these families accommodation in public housing in line with existing housing policies. We will charge the cost of clearance, estimated at $1 million, to Head 701 - Land Acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

21. We included 433CL in Category B in July 1994. The Director of Civil Engineering has completed the detailed design and contract drawings for phase I works under the project using in-house staff . The works are scheduled to start in September 1996 for overall completion in March 1998. We will arrange early hand-over of the refuse transfer station site to DEP in late 1997.

22. We will implement the remaining works of 433CL in phase II, commencing in 2000 for completion by 2002. These are estimated to cost $29 million at December 1995 prices.

(LL82)

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