(Translation)

Submission from the Residents Concern Group on the
Redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau

The Legislative Council is urged to pay attention
to the redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau

18 December 1996

To : Hon LEE Wing-tat

Chairman of the Legislative Council Panel on Housing

Dear Sir,

On 9 December this year, the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS) suddenly informed the residents concerned of its intention to demolish Kwun Lung Lau in Western District and Tanner Hill Estate in North Point for redevelopment. The project will be implemented in phases, the first of which will begin in 1999 with the affected residents resettled starting 1997. About 500 flats in Kwun Lung Lau (block G and part of block E) and another 500 odd in Tanner Hill Estate will be affected.

The findings of the survey conducted by the Residents Concern Group reveal that most residents of Kwun Lung Lau wish to be resettled in rental flats on Hong Kong Island . However, owing to the hasty arrangement, as well as the fact that the two estates concerned will be redeveloped at the same time while only less than 100 vacant HS rental flats are available on Hong Kong Island, it is believed that the HS will, with its present arrangement, inevitably go against the wish of residents on resettlement . Kwun Lung Lau was built in 1967 and most residents have been living and grew up on Hong Kong Island . With the problem of aging population, a lot of elderly residents will find it difficult to adapt to a new environment if they were resettled in places far away from where they used to live.

The Concern Group very much hope that members of the Legislative Council will understand the plights of the residents and call a meeting of the Panel on Housing immediately, urging the HS to freeze the redevelopment programme until sufficient rental flats (both of the HS and the Housing Authority)on Hong Kong Island are made available to resettle the affected residents. It is also hoped that the residents will be consulted on matters relating to their resettlement and compensation. It is much appreciated that the redevelopment programmes of the two estates will be implemented separately so as to ease the pressure on resettlement .

Residents Concern Group on the
Redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau

Contact Persons:

LAM Dau-tai (address: Flat 090, 5/F Block E, Kwun Lung Lau, Western District; tel no: 7650 3927) ; and

YU Cheuk-kit (address: Flat 038, 10/F Block C, Kwun Lung Lau, Western District; tel no: 7112 8751 A/C 3660)

Enclosures - a letter from the Concern Group to the HS; and the findings of the survey conducted by the Concern Group

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An Open Letter to the Hong Kong Housing Society From The Residents Concern Group On The Redevelopment Of Kwun Lung Lau

Democratic Party Hong Kong West Office
Office of Mr HUANG Chen-ya, Mr YUEN Bun-keung, Mr CHAN Kwok-leung, Mr HUNG Wing-tat, Mr LEE Kam-hang, Mr WONG Man-bui, Mr KAM Nai-wai
and Ms Cheng Lai-king

15 December 1996

Dear Sir

The residents of Kwun Lung Lau were astonished to learn on 9 December this year of the redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau by the Hong Kong Housing Society (HS) and its plan to hurriedly move out the residents of Block G and part of Block E who will be affected by phase I of the redevelopment programme. The residents are perplexed at the news and feel that their prospects are bleak.

Query over the structural safety of the building

Since the landslide in 1994, the HS has carried out a series of repair and maintenance projects to stabilize the retaining walls in Kwun Lung Lau, spending hundred millions of dollars on constructing caisson walls in front of and behind blocks C and D, installing soil nails on the slopes situated in front of blocks E and G, and rebuilding and strengthening the major staircases. The projects have just been completed in the beginning of this year but now the HS is planning to have the buildings demolished. If it was the HS’s plan to redevelop the buildings, they should have done so right after the landslide. By doing so, the residents would not be made to endure all the disturbances caused by the maintenance projects and worry about the safety of the retaining walls during rainy seasons. The HS should clarify whether the decision is a result of its improper planning or the unsafe structure of the buildings.

Meagre removal compensation

The compensation provided by the HS to residents affected by the redevelopment is too meagre. The residents will only be exempted from paying rental six months before removal. The compensation will not exceed HK$10,000 because the maximum monthly rental of Kwun Lung Lau at present is just around HK$1,500. The compensation is not enough even for covering the removal fees, loss incurred from the renovation of their present flats and other sundries. Although residents will be granted an additional allowance of HK$35,000 should they purchase HS flats under the "Flat-For-Sale-Scheme", the amount is inadequate to pay for even the solicitor fees and the expenses for renovation.

Less than 100 rental flats are available on Hong Kong Island

Most of the residents of Kwun Lung Lau would like to be resettled locally, or at least in rental flats on Hong Kong Island. However, among the 18 rental housing estates recommended by the HS, only 6 (including the remaining part of Kwun Lung Lau which will be demolished during phase II of the redevelopment programme) are located on Hong Kong Island. The number of vacant units on Hong Kong Island does not exceed 100 while more than 520 households will be affected by phase I of the redevelopment programme of Kwun Lung Lau. Therefore, most of the affected residents will have to be resettled in Kowloon or even the New Territories. On the other hand, Ming Wah Dai Ha and Yue Kwong Chuen which were built in 1962 are much older than Kwun Lung Lau and we wonder if redevelopment will also be suddenly implemented in those estates. The rental of Healthy Village after redevelopment is as high as HK$5,780 (for flats with an area of 39.3 square metres), which is five times the rental of Kwun Lung Lau. Those who are fortunate enough to be resettled in other flats on Hong Kong Island will also be compelled to suffer.

Insufficient protection for elderly residents

Kwun Lung Lau was completed in the year 1967. The population of the estate is aging. Elderly people are slow in adapting to new environment and have difficulty in establishing new social networks. The HS failed to make an estimation to see if there is sufficient rental flats to rehouse these elderly people locally and as such, inadequate protection is provided to them. The HS is also mean and cold-hearted in giving an allowance of HK$20,000 - 35,000 to the tenants for a promise of not receiving any housing benefits from the Government (including renting and purchasing flats under Land Development Corporation, the HS and the Housing Authority) within two years .

The HS is going too far in pressing the residents for an early decision

In handling the procedures for resettlement and compensation, the HS’s estate management office has arranged to meet the residents in batches. The affected residents of phase I of the redevelopment programme have to either apply for purchasing flats for sale by 24 January 1997 or make a decision on applying for rental flats by 3 February 1997. The residents, being startled by the HS’s announcement of redeveloping Kwun Lung Lau and at a loss as to what to do, are at the same time pressed for a hasty decision though there is no practical choice open to them. The residents are indeed in a dilemma. Why have the HS gone so far?

Conclusion

To sum up, we are on the one hand confused by the hasty decision of the HS to redevelop Kwun Lung Lau, while on the other are very disappointed by its mean and unreasonable manner in handling resettlement and compensation arrangements .

We hereby reiterate our requests as follows:

1. urge for local resettlement;

2. to safeguard the benefits of elderly residents;

3. request for reasonable compensation (for removal and flat purchasing)

4. urge for the granting of an undertaking (for the privilege of moving back to Kwun Lung Lau after redevelopment)

If the above requests are not acceded to, none of the residents will move out of Kwun Lung Lau.

Residents Concern Group on the Redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau

Democratic Party Hong Kong West Office
Office of Mr HUANG Chen-ya,
Mr CHAN Kwok-leung,
Mr YUEN Bun-keung, Mr HUNG Wing-tat, Mr LEE Kam-Hang , Mr WONG Man-biu, Mr KAM Nai-wai and Ms CHENG Lai-king

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Opinion survey on the Redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau

Date of Conducting the Survey: 9 December 1996

Methodology: questionnaire was issued to each household who will fill it out by themselves. Analysis is made on each individual household who filled out and returned the questionnaire.

Number of questionnaires collected: 600 valid questionnaires were collected.

Findings :

1. About 80% of the respondents(79%) are preliminarily considering moving to other HS rental flats.

pie chart

2. For those who chose to move to other rental flats, the majority prefers(82.5%) flats in Central and Western Districts (the respondents may choose more than one option).

bar graph

3. More than 80% (84.8%) of the respondents agreed that the Housing Authority should provide public rental flats on Hong Kong Island to assist in the resettlement of the residents of Kwun Lung Lau.

4. Among those who chose to purchase flats for sale, the number of households opting for flats in the Healthy Village in North Point or other flats for sale on Hong Kong Island represents the highest percentage. The breakdown of the figures is listed below:

5. The majority of the respondents(82.3%)worried that they have to pay higher rental after moving to a new housing estate.

6. More than half (56.3%) of the respondents are of the view that the sudden announcement of the redevelopment of Kwun Lung Lau may be or definitely is a result of the failure to guarantee the structural safety of the buildings after the landslide .

7. Comparison between the replies offered by the general residents and those given by households affected by phase I of the redevelopment programme reveals that the findings are the same as mentioned above.

Conclusion

1. The findings of the survey reveal that most of the residents prefer local rehousing to other rental flats or at least to those on Hong Kong Island. However, less than 100 vacant HS rental flats on Hong Kong Island are available, which means that the needs of the affected residents could not be met.

2. In view of the situation mentioned in point (1) above, the residents hope that the Housing Authority would allocate its public rental housing on Hong Kong Island to resettle the affected residents of Kwun Lung Lau as this is the only feasible way to solve the problem.

3. Even if the residents are fortunate enough to be resettled in other HS rental flats on Hong Kong Island, they will have to shoulder the heavy burden of paying higher rental. In fact, the rental of the redeveloped flats in Healthy Village is five times higher than that of Kwun Lung Lau.

4. The residents were disturbed by the HS’s hasty decision to redevelop Kwun Lung Lau. Clarification should be made on the structural safety of Kwun Lung Lau.

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