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)

424CL - North Lantau phase IIB development in Tung Chung, engineering works

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 424CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $509 million in money-of-the-day prices for site formation and the construction of roads and drains for phase IIB development in Tung Chung.

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

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PROBLEM

We lack formed land, roads and drains for the phase IIB development in Tung Chung.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development (DTD), with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade 424CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $509 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for site formation and the construction of roads and drains for the phase IIB development in Tung Chung.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The scope of work we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises -

1. formation of about 26.8 hectares of land for schools, open space, private residential development, government offices, institution and community facilities and roads;
2. provision of about two kilometres of roads with associated footpaths, cycle tracks and landscaping works;
3. construction of two pedestrian/cycle bridges;
4. construction of two open channels;
5. construction of a sewage pumping station; and
6. implementation of associated drainage and sewerage works.

JUSTIFICATION

4. We plan to develop Tung Chung into a new town in six phases with an ultimate population of about 265 000. The implementation of phase I and phase IIA are now in full swing. In the phase IIB development, the Director of Housing aims to construct a public rental housing estate and a home ownership scheme estate in areas 30 and 31 to accommodate a population of about 33 000. Population intake will be in phases starting from late 2000. Areas 22 and 25 are for private residential development for a population of about 5 600 and the related works will commence in 2001. In order to cater for the planned developments, we have to provide formed land for the essential engineering infrastructure, open space, government offices, institution and community facilities in Tung Chung phase IIB development.

5. The roadworks proposed in paragraph 3 (b) above will provide the necessary road access to areas 22, 25, 30, and 31. The drainage and sewerage works proposed in paragraphs 3(d) to 3(f) above will provide the required flood protection and sewerage connection to the future developments in the new town. The open channels are a major part of the stormwater drainage system. We plan to construct a sewage pumping station because a gravity flow system cannot be used due to topographical constraints.

6. We propose to carry out the construction works for two pedestrian/cycle bridges, one near areas 22 and 25 and one near area 30, together with the works for site formation, road, drainage and sewerage. This is to avoid future interfacing and environmental problems such as road closure, traffic congestion, construction noise, dust, etc.

7. To tie in with the development programmes for areas 22, 25, 30 and 31, we need to start the proposed works in November 1996 for completion in mid 2000.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $509 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 2001. We will tender the proposed works under a lump sum contract because we have firm quantities for the majority of the works. We will provide for adjustment due to inflation in the contract because the construction period will last longer than 21 months.

11. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $7.9 million, of which $2.4 million (in respect of the sewerage works) will be charged to the Sewerage 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 on the project in February 1995. Members had no objection to the proposed works. We gazetted the works under the Foreshore and Sea-bed (Reclamations) Ordinance on
7 July 1995 and the Roads (Works, Use and Compensation) Ordinance on 22 December 1995. We received no objections.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

13. The consultants completed an environmental assessment for the North Lantau Development Study in May 1992. Part of the environmental assessment covered the development in Tung Chung.

14. In respect of the phase IIB development in Tung Chung, the environmental assessment identified that traffic noise impact on the nearby planned public housing, private residential development and schools would be a concern. To keep noise levels within the standards stipulated in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, we will use low noise road surfacing and build a noise barrier along some sections of the new roads at an estimated cost of $11 million. We will include this cost as part of the overall cost of the project.

15. We will install deodorizing equipment in the sewage pumping station to prevent odours entering the surrounding environment during the operation of the station.

16. The environmental assessment also concluded that construction noise and dust impact could affect both existing and new sensitive receivers and that mitigation measures would be necessary. We will incorporate noise mitigation and dust suppression measures as recommended by the consultants in
the contract documents to limit the impacts within established standards and guidelines. These mitigation measures include the use of silenced plant, noise screening and insulation, water spraying, traffic speed control on unpaved roads and minimisation of the need for earth stockpiles and surcharges, etc.

LAND ACQUISITION

17. We will resume about 20 hectares of agricultural land and about 715 square metres of building land for the proposed works. The proposed land acquisition and clearance will affect 17 families. Seven of the affected families are indigenous villagers. The Director of Lands will provide village resite houses in the Pa Mei North village resite area for the affected indigenous families in line with the New Territories village removal policy . The Director of Housing will offer the remaining ten families accommodation in line with existing housing policies. We will charge the costs of land acquisition and clearance estimated at $951 million to Head 701 - Land Acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

18. We included 424CL in Category B in July 1994 for provision of 29 hectares of formed and serviced land in Tung Chung. In January 1995, the Finance Committee approved the upgrading of part of 424CL to Category A as 450CL "North Lantau phase IIB development in Tung Chung, advance works" for the formation of a village resite area at Pa Mei North. We started the works in June 1995 for overall completion in November 1996.

19. In March 1996, the Finance Committee further upgraded another part of 424CL to Category A as 463CL "North Lantau phase IIB development in Tung Chung, village resite houses" for the construction of 47 village resite houses, a village office and ancillary works in Pa Mei North village resite area in Tung Chung. We plan to start construction of the village resite houses in June 1996 for completion in August 1997.

20. The works we now propose to upgrade to Category A constitute the final part of 424CL. We have engaged consultants to undertake the investigations and design for the works and hence charged the cost of $8.1 million to the block allocation Subhead 7008CX "Consultants' fees and charges and major in-house investigations for new towns and urban area development projects"

. The consultants have completed the detailed design and contract drawings. We plan to start the proposed works in November 1996 for completion in mid 2000.

(DD1002)

Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)7

424CL - North Lantau phase IIB development in Tung Chung, engineering works

Breakdown of estimates for consultants' fees for construction stage

*MPS = Master Pay Scale

Notes

1) A multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants' overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants' offices. (At 1.4.95, MPS point 40 = $51,440 p.m. and MPS point 16 = $17,270 p.m.)

2) The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Territory Development. The consultancy works for this project is included as part of the overall consultancy agreement for North Lantau Development.

(DD1002)

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