PWSC(97-98)127
For discussion
on 17 February 1998


ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS
SUBCOMMITTEE OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 707 - NEW TOWNS AND URBAN AREA DEVELOPMENT
Hong Kong Island and Islands Development
Civil Engineering - Land development
436CL - Green Island development, stage I - reclamation and reprovisioning of waterfront facilities

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee -

  1. the upgrading of part of 436CL, entitled "Green Island development - engineering and planning review and site investigation", to Category A at an estimated cost of $45 million in money-of-the-day prices; and

  2. the retention of the remainder of 436CL in Category B.

PROBLEM

We need to investigate the feasibility of reprogramming the Green Island Development (GID) which will provide land for residential sites and the construction of strategic road links, including Route 7, the MTRC's West Hong Kong Island Line (WHKIL) and the Green Island Link.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Territory Development (DTD), with the support of the Secretary for Planning, Environment and Lands, proposes to upgrade part of 436CL to Category A at an estimated cost of $45 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for site investigation and engagement of consultants to carry out an engineering and planning review for the GID and a dredging assessment for the displacement of existing marine fairways and buoys.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The full scope of 436CL comprises -

  1. an engineering and planning review related to the whole GID 1;

  2. the GID stage I works including -

    1. detailed design;

    2. reclamation of about 29 hectares of land;

    3. reprovisioning of facilities affected by the GID reclamation, including a public cargo working area, facilities of the China Merchants Godown Wharf and Transportation Company Ltd., marine fairways and government mooring buoys;

    4. associated roadworks, drains, waterworks and landscaping works; and

  3. site investigation and laboratory testing.

4. The scope of that part of the project we now propose to upgrade to Category A comprises -

  1. an engineering and planning review related to the whole GID;

  2. a dredging assessment to study the impact of the marine mud dredging works required for the displacement of marine fairways and buoys (part of the works described in paragraph 3(b)(iii) above); and

  3. site investigation and laboratory testing associated with the displacement of fairways and buoys.

JUSTIFICATION

5. We completed a detailed feasibility study for the Green Island reclamation under 262CL in July 1994. The study recommended that GID should accommodate a population of about 103 000 upon completion. In mid 1996, the Territorial Development Strategy Review (TDSR) reaffirmed GID as one of the strategic growth areas to help meet the territorial housing demand in the medium and long term. The TDSR also recommended increasing the population capacity of GID from 103 000 to 135 800 with the first population intake targeted in 2008.

6. The first part of the GID was the Belcher Bay Reclamation. This was completed in early 1997 to provide land to accommodate a link road to the Western Harbour Crossing. When the second part of the GID, the Green Island Public Dump (GIPD) project2 , was gazetted under the Foreshore and Seabed (Reclamations) Ordinance in October 1995, 19 objections were received. A number of these objections were against the GIPD as an isolated project while others were against the GID as a whole. The objectors were mostly concerned with the impact of GID and/or GIPD on ecology and marine safety and the possible disruption to current waterfront users. In response to these objections, we have put the whole GID on hold since early 1996. In May 1997 we commissioned an in-depth study on the ecological, water quality and marine traffic impact of the GID. The study is scheduled for completion in August 1998. Preliminary results of this study as well as our response to concerns expressed are at Enclosure 1.

7. To achieve the original target of having a first population intake by 2008, to help meet the medium and long term territorial housing demand identified by the TDSR and to meet the need for transport infrastructure improvement on the western and northern parts of Hong Kong Island, we need to review the original schedule of the GID and re-phase the various implementation stages to ascertain whether it is possible to speed up the reclamation and the provision of necessary infrastructure facilities for housing development. We propose to carry out an engineering and planning review to investigate the feasibility of a re-defined implementation programme for the GID, to work out the interim infrastructure and work packaging necessary to allow for population intake upon completion of each stage, to review the land use and to assess the environmental, traffic and drainage impacts associated with the development proposed in the TDSR.

8. Also, we will need to provide a new marine fairway to the north of the Green Island reclamation and relocate 12 existing buoys to different areas of Kellett Bank nearer to the Northern Fairway. Forming the new fairway and accommodating the displaced buoys would involve dredging the seabed and disposing of marine mud. Before we decide to go ahead with the reclamation, we need to carry out a dredging assessment with associated site investigation and laboratory testing to assess the impact of the dredging works and work out the most appropriate method of dredging and disposing of the mud.

9. We hope to be able to take a final decision on GID soon and therefore we need to commence the engineering and planning review and the site investigation works as soon as possible. We plan to start the review study and the site investigation works in May 1998. We will complete the site investigation and laboratory testing in December 1998 and complete the review study in May 1999. Subject to the findings and recommendations of the engineering and planning review, we will take a final decision on GID. Our current plans are to implement the GID in stages with reclamation works starting in mid 2002 for overall completion by 2009, with corresponding building works commencing in end 2004 for completion in stages by late 2012.

10. Due to insufficient in-house resources, DTD proposes to engage consultants to undertake the engineering and planning review and to supervise the site investigation and laboratory testing works.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

11. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $45 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 12 below), made up as follows -


$ million

(a)Site investigation and laboratory testing


22.0

(b)Consultants’ fees


12.5

(i) engineering and planning review

9.0


(ii) dredging assessment

2.5


(iii) supervision of site investigations

1.0


(c) Contingencies


3.5

Sub-total

38.0(at
December
1996
prices)

(d) Inflation allowance


7.0

Total

45.0(at
MOD
prices)

A breakdown by man months of the estimate for consultants’ fees is at Enclosure 2.

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

Year

$ million
(Dec. 1996)

Price
adjustment
factor

$ million
(MOD)




1998 - 1999

30.0

1.16358

34.9




1999 - 2000

8.0

1.26830

10.1





38.0


45.0

13. We have derived the MOD prices on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period between 1998 and 2000. We will award the proposed consultancy on a lump-sum basis with provision for inflation adjustments as the consultancy will exceed 12 months. We will tender the site investigation works and laboratory testing under a standard remeasurement contract because the quantities of works involved may vary depending on the actual ground conditions. The contract for the site investigations and laboratory testing will not provide for inflation adjustments as the contract period will not exceed 21 months.

14. The proposed consultancy and site investigation works have no recurrent financial implications.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

15. We consulted the Environment and Works Committee (EWC) of the Central and Western Provisional District Board (C&WPDB) on the proposed GID on 23 October 1997 and the Islands Provisional District Board (IPDB) on 27 October 1997. Members of C&WPDB requested the Government to implement the GID as soon as possible. Members of IPDB have no objections to the proposed GID. We will brief the C&WPDB and IPDB when findings of the engineering and planning review are available.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

16. The feasibility study for the Green Island reclamation completed in July 1994 investigated the environmental impacts of the reclamation works under the GID and concluded that, with suitable mitigation measures, there would be no unacceptable environmental impacts arising from the GID. Preliminary findings of the on-going study on ecological, water quality and marine traffic impacts mentioned in paragraph 6 above show that Green Island and its surrounding water supports a variety of marine and territorial flora and fauna. Most of these are common species with limited ecological value. Detailed investigation is in progress.

17. The proposed engineering and planning review, dredging assessment and site investigation works themselves will have no adverse environmental implications. As part of the review for the GID, the consultants will review and update the environmental impact assessment to identify and assess the potential environmental impacts arising from the GID, including the dredging for the reprovisioned fairway and buoys. The proposed study and dredging assessment will identify the environmental mitigation measures which will be required during the construction and operational phases of the GID and, during the dredging works. We will control noise, dust and site run-off during construction to within established standards through the implementation of mitigation measures in the relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

18. The proposed consultancy and site investigation works do not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

19. We upgraded 436CL to Category B in April 1995. We plan to start the proposed consultancy and site investigation works in May 1998 for completion in May 1999.


Planning, Environment and Lands Bureau
February 1998

1.The entire GID involves reclamation of about 186 hectares of land to the north of Kennedy Town to provide land for residential development and for construction of new facilities to improve the environmental and traffic conditions in Western District. The reclamation will also accommodate a section of Route 7, the Green Island Link and the MTRC's WHKIL. Route 7 will be a vital link from Causeway Bay via Kennedy Town to Aberdeen and, when completed, will relieve traffic congestion in Pok Fu Lam and Western District. The WHKIL, which is under planning, will extend the existing MTRC's Hong Kong Island Line from Sheung Wan to the GID area via Kennedy Town. The Green Island Link will be a strategic road link between Hong Kong Island and North Lantau and, when completed, will bring traffic relief to both the Lantau Link and the existing harbour crossings.

2. The GIPD was to be located in the western part of the GID area covering about 37 hectares. The intention was to provide a dumping outlet for public fill for about 7 years with a total capacity of about 7 million cubic metres.

Enclosure 1 to PWSC(97-98)127

436CL - Green Island development, stage I - reclamation
and reprovisioning of waterfront facilities

The Administration's response to the concerns of objectors

A. Ecology

    The preliminary findings of the study on the ecological, water quality and marine traffic impact of the GID show that Green Island and its surrounding waters support a variety of marine and terrestrial flora and fauna. These are mostly of common species with limited ecological value although a few not so common species are found. The waters around Green Island are not considered to be an important nursery and spawning ground for commercial fisheries resources. Any necessary mitigation measures would be recommended in the final study report.

B. Marine Safety

    2. Some objectors were concerned that closure of the Sulphur Channel would remove an essential marine channel used frequently by small vessels, would reduce the natural shelter area in the western harbour and would endanger navigation by forcing small vessels to compete with high-speed and ocean-going vessels along the major fairway.

    3. The closure of Sulphur Channel may cause inconvenience to small vessels. However, measures have been designed to fully mitigate the situation, which include the provision of an additional fairway (the New Southern Fairway), designation of specific marine lanes for different classes of vessels, setting up of a control station on the GID to direct and monitor marine traffic and the dedication of a full time patrol launch to regulate traffic in the waters surrounding the GID. With these measures, we believe the navigation conditions at GID will be an improvement on the present situation.

C. Disruption to current users of the waterfront

    4. Existing waterfront users, including the China Merchants Wharf Godown and Transportation Company Ltd., objected to the GID due to the inconvenience and disruption caused. We will address their concern by carrying out the GID in three stages. When Stage 1 of the GID is completed, all existing users would be relocated to the new waterfront before the remaining stages of the reclamation commence.

D. Public dumping

    5. Some objectors objected to public dumping as a long-term solution to the territory-wide waste disposal problem. Reclamation offers an ideal outlet for the disposal of inert construction waste and there is no better or more environmentally friendly alternative. Our policy is to try to maximize the use of public fill materials in reclamation projects, wherever possible. Moreover, if reclamation is not carried out through public dumping, the usual alternative would be the use of marine sand which involves dredging and causes greater disruption to the marine habitat.

E. Water quality of the harbour

    6. In addition to the study on ecological, water quality and marine traffic impact of the GID, we have also conducted a Comprehensive Study on Reclamation to look at the cumulative impact of reclamation, including the GID, on the harbour. The findings of this Study show that the water quality, hydraulics and wave conditions of the harbour will not be adversely affected by the proposed reclamation.

Enclosure 2 to PWSC(97-98)127

436CL - Green Island development, stage I - reclamation
and reprovisioning of waterfront facilities

Breakdown of the estimate for consultants’ fees

Consultants’ staff costs


Estimated man months

Average MPS* salary point

Multiplier factor

Estimated fees
($ million)

(a) Engineering and planning review

Professional

Technical

43

34

40

16

3.0

3.0

7.1

1.9

(b) Dredging assessment

Professional

Technical

11

12

40

16

3.0

3.0

1.8

0.7

(c) Supervision of site investigation

Professional

Technical

5

3

40

16

3.0

3.0

0.8

0.2

Total consultants’ staff costs12.5

*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 1.4.96, MPS pt. 40 = $55,390 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $18,595 p.m.)

(2) The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Territory Development. We will only know the actual man months and fees when we have selected the consultants through the normal competitive system.