An Assessment of the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme

8/10/2019 An Assessment of the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme

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Title An assessment of the agricultural priority area scheme

Author(s) Li, Hon-kwong, James.;.

Citation

Issue Date 1991

URL http://hdl.handle.net/10722/27685

RightsThe author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patentrights) and the right to use in future works.


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AN ASSESSMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL

PRIORITY AREA SCHEME

BY

James LI HON KWONG

Master of Public Administration Dissertation

University of Hong Kong

1991


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Acknowledgements

This

work could

not

have been accomplished

without

Professor

Ian

Scott's

patient

and enlightening

guidance throughout.

While allowing me to preserve the

originality of the work to the largest extent, he read

every line, every page and every note and suggested many

corrections to the draft.

For an amateur in agriculture

and town planning, Professor Scott's guidance could not

been more useful.

Every mistake in this work however

is mine.

I

must

thank

the Agriculture

and Fisheries

Department which enabled me to have free access to the

materials contained in its library.

(Thank you, Pinky

I

knew I have created a lot of trouble to you).

I would also like to thank Mrs. Betty Neoh who

made the whole thing possible at the outset.

It must be

God's blessing for a staff like me to have her support and

forbearance.

Last but not least, I

have to thank Ling

for

taking up the most monotonous and tiresome part of the

work by typing the whole draft for me.

It required no

less love and care than skill for her to have put up with

it so beautifully.

James H.K. LI

June 1991

L


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Acknowledgements

Pages

Chapter

1

Introduction

15

Chapter

2

vegetable farming in

6-23

the New Territories

Chapter

3

Agricultural land-use

24-28

under urbanization

Chapter

4

Land policies in the

39-64

New Territories and the

effects on agricultural

land-use

Chapter 5 Land use planning in

65-84

Hong Kong

Chapter 6

Agricultural Priority Area

85-114

Schente - an assessment

Chapter

7

Towards a land-use policy

115-140

for agriculture

Appendix I

Appendix II

Bibliography

Hong Kong agricultural

land-use 1953-1980's

Hierarchy of land-use plans


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Author's note:

Different scales of weights and square measure are used

throughout tMs dissertation.

The following conversions

are provided for readers' reference:-

i hectare

= 10,000 sq. meters (2.47 acres)

i acre = 6 dau chung

J. picul

133 lbs (0.06 metrIc tons)

i kilogram = 2.20 lbs


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To all the genuine

farmers in Hong Kong


7/156


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Chapter 1 IntroductIon

The objective of this study is to discuss what and

how

land-use

planning can

do for agriculture.

The

methodology used is to analyse, through the experience of

the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme,

the cause-effect

relationship between land-use planning and environmental

changes,

the

background

and

constraints for

land-use

planning; and the political and soclo-economic elements of

land-use planning policies.

The scope

of this

study is

therefore two-fold;

agriculture and land-use planning.

Agriculture in this

study refers to market gardening with vegetable farming as

its main concern and flower farming playing a residual

part. There are

two

justifications for

this.

Quantitatively,

In 1989,

local

vegetable

production

represented 74%

of the

value

of the

total crop

productlon.(1)

Qualitatively, vegetable Is the main diet

for

people

and deserves particular attention

for

that

reason.

Agriculture In the conmon sense includes livestock

rearing.

In this study, livestock farming is excluded for

the

following reasons. Firstly,

livestock farming and

i


9/156

vegetable

farraing

have

different

characteristics

and

problems.

Livestock farming produces animal waste which

if not

properly

disposed

of

will cause

environmental

problem.

In contrast, vegetable farming is considered the

vanguard

of

environmental

protection.

Apart from

producing

primary

products,

it

is

favoured

by

environmentalists as it has effective greening impact on

the environment.

From another environmental perspective,

vegetable

farming

is

also considered a victim of

environmental pollution in the forms of acid rain and soil

erosion.(2)

Secondly, government has different policies

for livestock farming and vegetable farming. To control

the environmental impact caused by livestock farming, the

government adopted

a

Livestock Waste Control Scheme in

1988 which imposed strict measures to control the disposal

of livestock waste in all livestock farms in Hong Kong by

phases.

The

Scheme

also banned livestock farming in

certain areas.

Po draw up

areas

in which livestock

farming is allowed,

the concept of Livestock Up-grading

Area is devised.

This is a separate policy different from

the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme which is the target

of

this s.udy.

Thirdly, mixed livestock and vegetable

farming

is

not

widely practiced

in

Hong

Kong. The

separate modes of farming can be clearly delineated by the

two

different groups of

farmers

and land used. This

allows

separate academic

studies on

the

two farming

practices.

2


10/156

Land-use planning Is about planning the uses of

1and.

Simple and clear as it sounds, it is sometimes used

interchangeably and jointly with town planning and urban

planning.

It is a deliberate government policy to change

the environment.

Agriculture and land-use planning are two separate

subjects which deserve scholarly research in their own

right. The attempt to put these two subjects together in

one

piece

of

research is

bound

to

be not

without

limitations.

Land being one of the factors of production,

means a lot particularly to agriculture.

In Hong Kong,

most

of

the

agricultural

land

lies

in

the New

Territories.

Due to rapid urbanization in the past three

decades,

agricultural land

in

the New Territories was

encroached upon by urban development.

Coupled with the

historical background and the administrative practices of

land policies in the New Territories, the shrinkage of the

agricultural sector was accelerated.

in Chapters Three

and

Four, we shall

look at how agricultural

land was

forsaken in these circumstances.

In

trying to

halt the decrease of agricultural

land,

the

government

attempted

various measures

to

encourage cultivation of fallow land.

One of these was

the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme which was a quasi-

land-use planning measure.

Due to its deficiencies, the


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attempt tailed.

Iii

order to assess how the government

proceeded with the Scheme and why it failed, we shall in

Chapter Five analyse how land-use planning policies are

made and what these policies embrace.

In Chapter Six, we

shall

scrutinise

the

Scheme,

Its origin,

its

implementation and how

it

fell through.

In

the

last

chapter,

I shall

venture

to

establish

a

case for

agriculture

in land-use planning and see what land-use

planning can do for agriculture.

This study sees agriculture from the perspective

of land-use planning.

Problems facing agriculture which

are out of the realms of that perspective are not dealt

with in this study.

However, lt should be borne in mind

that these problems such as shortage of farming labour and

large gap

in prices between farm produce and consumer

products,

are

of

the

same

urgency

and are

no less

difficult. This socio-economie aspect of agriculture will

need to be taken care of by other research which however

are scarce in Hong Kong.

Crie positive sign emerging is

that the Planning

Department

is

undertaking

a

socio-economic survey on agricultural undertakings In Hong

Kong which will serve as a base for sensible policy for

local agriculture.(3) It is hoped that in the context of

a favourable land-use planning policy, local agriculture

will one day be given an opportunity to take up a fair

share in the development of the society.

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Notes

1)

Hong Kong 1990 (Government Printer, Hong Kong),

P.111.

2)

Acid rain is not consideied a culprit for crop

damages in Hong Kong.

At the 3rd meeting of the Crop

Farming

Sub-committee,

Environmental

Protection

Department and Agricu1ture and Fisheries Department

denied that acid rain occurred in the New Territories

and that it caused damages to crops.

(See minutes of

the 3rd Crop Farming Sub-committee of the Advisory

Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries on

3 January

1989, unpublished.)

However,

lt

is widely claimed

that vegetable farming suffered badly from flooding

and soil

erosion

caused

by

indiscriminate

and

uncontrolled use of land adjacent to the farmed land

for open storage of containers and abandoned vehicles

and by large scale public projects.

See Chapter

Three.

3)

See South China Morning Post, 20 April 1991.

5


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Chapter 2 Vqgetable f arming

in the New Territories

"Up ta 1641, the whole area of Hong Kong, Kowloon

and

the

New Territories was

rural,

with

sorne

seven to eight hundred villages large and small,

on

hill

and plain,

relying

on

the land

and

sometimes the sea

for

a

livelihood.

A

subsistence

economy was

based

on

farming

and

fishing,

but with commodites

such

as

granite,

salt, saitfish, exported by sea to the populated

areas of the Pearl River Delta and Canton.

S(l)

From a

place

capable of

exporting

raw

commodities, as Hayes reported, to one which imports 100%

of rice and 66% of vegetables, Hong Kong has gone through

dramatic and basic changes in agriculture in almost one

and

a

half

century.

From

1841-1941,

the

growing

urbanization of the northern shore of Hong Kong harbour

first took

over,

then required or led to

the gradual

removal of old villages.

In this process, changes were

associated with a switch from rice farming to vegetable

farming and livestock rearing to meet the needs of the

urban population . (2 )

Urban expansion spread to Kowloon

after its cession in 1860 and gained momentum after 1900.

The

first decade

of the New Territories after it was

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leased to Britain in 1899 was marked by great improvement

in communications through construction of roads, and o

the Kowloon Canton Railway.

After a decline of population

due to disease, reduced birth rate and the departure of

boys and adult males to work as manual labour overseas, a

modest expansion of the old market town in Then Long,

Fanling and Tsuen Wan followed.

From 1920s onward, the

population of the New

Territories was

increased by a

steady flow of worker Immigrants from China, many of thera

agriculturists who stayed on.

Rice growing was

the

principal

agricultural

activity

until

the late

1950s. Before

the

Japanese

occupation, over 80% of the colony's agricultural land was

under rice cultivation.

The quantity

and quality of the

production was so high that part of it was exported to San

Francisco

each year for

the

use of Chinese

residents

there.(3) During the Japanese occupation period, there

was an acute shortage of food and a lack of employment

opportunities for the

New

Territories

villagers.

In

consequence, a majority of the irrigated land was used to

grow rice.

In

the

early

part of

the post-war years

(1946-1953),

prices of paddy were relatively high. The


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price incentive

lured more people to agriculture.

In

addition, the colonial government

was keen on encouraging

paddy cultivation.

Biacide,

in his agricultural policy

report in 1954 stated "Paddy is the most important grain

crop of the Colony and every endeavour should be made to

extend

its

cultivation and

improve yields on

existing

areas.

It should not be supplemented by other crops'

(4)

Most of the resources of the Agriculture Department

which

was set up

in 1946,

were

devoted to

paddy

experiments,

demonstrations

and

extension

during

this

period.

Despite

the

government's promotion

of

rice

cultivation, a great change in agricultural land-use from

paddy to vegetable growing was taking place.

The main

role

of this

change was

played by the refugees

from

mainland China after the Second World War and during the

Civil

War in

China

(1915-1949).

Influx of

refugees

increased local population from less than 600,000 in 1947

to 3,000,000 in 1961.

Most of them were from Guangdong

and Fujien Provinces who were skillful in cultivation.

(5) For

these

refugees,

who had little capital but

considerable skill and industriousness, vegetable farming

was the only profitable undertaking.

B


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The rise of vegetable farming in Hong Kong

Paddy cultivation comprised

the cultivation of

fresh-water paddy, brackish-water paddy and upland paddy.

Over 70% of the total agricultural land, or 23,352 acres

were

under paddy

in

1954.(6)

Except for the

lands

irrigated with brackish water,

where only one crop was

obtained, most of the paddy fields produced two crops a

year.

Wong reported that in the early years, vegetables

were grown following the second rice crop and on drier

land. (7) A

Department

of

Agriculture,

Fisheries

&

Forestry investigation in 1950 found that the increase in

acreage under

vegetables was

the

result

of bringing

hillside land under cultivation and the reclamation of old

abandoned cultivation areas, the rice acreage being only

slightly decreased.(8)

The development of hillside area

and the re-cultivation of abandoned areas were efforts

mainly put

orth by new immigrants . (9 )

When vegetable

farming

showed

itself

successful,

many

local

farmers

became interested.

Instead of leaving the land fallow in

winter, between rice crops, whenever possible cash crops

or tomatoes or other winter vegetables were grown.

A few

of the less tradition-bound areas went over completely to

vegetables and allowed outsiders to rent some of the clan

land. (10)


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In 1952/53, there were 21,700 acres of land which

were under paddy cultivation while 2,400 acres were under

vegetable cultivation.(11)

In 1966/67, there were 12,380

acres

of

paddy

land and

8,660

acres

of

vegetable

land.(12)

In 1987, there was virtually no paddy land left

and under intensive encroachment of agricultural land by

urbanization,

vegetable

land

amounted

to

only

5,360

acres.(13)

Appendix I

shows

the agricultural land-use

from 1953-1987.

The Agriculture and Fisheries Department

gave three reasons for the change of land-use from paddy

cultivation to vegetable farming.

Firstly, the short term

leafy type vegetables commonly grown in Hong Kong could be

harvested more frequently than paddy: six to eight crops

per annum was considered a normal yield.

The demand for

vegetables in local markets was great and therefore cash

was more readily available.

Secondly, land owners who

rented their paddy land to vegetable growers, demanded and

received a higher rental for their land.

Paddy land was

normally rented for i 1/2

to 2 piculs of paddy per dou

chung (1/6

acre)

per annum.

Whereas the saine land if

rented for conversion to vegetable production was let for

two to four piculs of paddy per dou chung.

Hence more

landowners

were

willing to

let

out their land for

vegetable farming.

Lastly, many of the immigrants, who

had entered the colony after the end of the Second World

War were

essentially vegetable growers.

These people

owned no land and had very little capital.

They therefore

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needed

to

grow

crops

which

would

produce

a

quick

return.(14)

McGee and Drakkis-Smith considered that the

opening up of road transport in the New Territories

was a

facilitating factor for the conversion of paddy

land to

vegetable farrning.(15)

However,

to the list of factors

must be added the establishment of the Vegetable Marketing

Organization in 1946.

(See the following)

The 'vegetable revolution' brought about certain

important social effects in the New Territories.

A rice

farmer required at least

1.5 acres in order to make a

living for his family; but under an intensive system of

vegetable

farming,

a

family can

make a

comfortable

livelihood on the produce of 0.3 acres.(16)

Much of the

fertile and accessible agricultural land was bought or

rented for intensive vegetable farming.(17)

It shattered

the ancestral land held by powerful clans as Old Schedule

Lots.

Judith Strauch studied the impact of the growth of

market

gardening

on conventional

land pattern

in Fung

Yuen. She

found that such disintegration of ancestral

land

encouraged the proliferation of

squatter huts

as

outsiders who were cultivators could rent land, but not

village houses.

It also macle possible a lot of "middle

peasants"

dreams

of

being

landlords

coming

true . ( 18)

Fragmentation of agricultural land became a phenomenon.

These outsiders do not form a community in any sense.

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19/156

Social life for the most part is carried out in

isolated

family units, linked only by networks of dyadic bonds

of

personal friendship with other farailies.(19)

As far as land ownership is concerned, the rise

of

vegetable

farming

led to

an

increase

in tenancy

farming.

Based on the 1965 Farm Survey, it was found that

over 87% of vegetable land was rented,

subrerited or on

permit.(20)

This is a striking contrast to the indigenous

paddy farmers, most of whom were private or clan owners.

In Contrast with paddy farming in which rent was paid in

paddy grains, vegetable farmers preferred to pay rent in

money.

In recognition of the value of the vegetables that

were replacing the traditional rice crop, landowners also

preferred to accept rents in cash terms.

Vegetable Marketing Organization

When vegetable growing was relatively unimportant

in Hong Kong in the years prior to the Second World War,

the marketing of such vegetables was in the hands of laans

or

middlemen.

Nost

farmers were

indebted

to

these

middlemen who, after giving advances of money on credit,

were then able to buy from the farmers at low prices and

sell

to

retailers

at

high profit margins.(21) Goran

12


20/156

Mjmer described the

farmez

as"

a constant information

seeker, and the kind of knowledge he needs can be obtained

from friendly neighbours who have just returned from

a

marketing

expedition,

or front

the general

tea-house

conversations during which much of the price negotiating

of the

local markets

take

place.1r(22)

The marketing

process can

be

regarded

as

unreliable, time-consuming,

uneconomical and unfair to the farmers.

After the Second

World War, the government, with a view to rehabilitating

the farming industry, "introduced a long needed reform by

taking the marketing of vegetables out of the hands of

middlemen which lead ultimately to co-operative marketing

by the farmers themselves."(23) In 1946,

the Vegetable

Marketing Organization was established under the authority

vested

in

the Director

of

Marketing.

It

was

first

established by an order made under the Defence Regulations

of

1940 which was replaced in 1952 by the Agricultural

Products (Marketing) Ordinance, Cap. 277. By the order,

the movement and sale of vegetables in Kowloon and the New

Territories

was put completely under control of the

Organization.

This meant

in

practice

that all the

vegetables grown in the N.T. or brought into the N.T. and

Kowloon for sale, were moved only by the Organization's

transport and brought to the Vegetable Wholesale Market in

Cheung Sha Wan where they were sold by open auction to

registered bidders.

Phis practice was able to secure a

better price

for

farmers

and

a lower

price

for the

13


21/156

public.

Hence, even though "the drivers and

crews of the

lorry

fleet

of the

official

Vegetable

Marketing

Organization

often

openly

show

discontent

and behave

rudely,'(24)

the farmers preferred to make use of the

Organi zation s service.

The post of Director of Marketing has been filled

by a nominated governntent officer since it was created.

Since 1964 it has been held by the Director of Agriculture

and Fisheries.

The

Organization

operates

mainly

to

provide services for the improvement of agriculture or of

the

marketing

of

agricultural products and

for

the

collection, transportation, sale,

grading,

packing,

storage,

adaptation

for sale,

processing,

insurance and

advertising

of

agricultural

products.

It

is a

non-profit-making concern with

the main source

of

its

revenue being the commission of 10% charged on the value

of all sales through the wholesale vegetable market.

At

the

very beginning,

only

five depots

manned

by

the

Organization staff and a number of collecting centres were

set

up

in

vegetable growing

districts

of the New

Territories.

As the co-operative movement developed (see

the following part of the chapter), societies were founded

and took

over

most

of

the collecting

centres by

undertaking

the work

of

collecting,

weighing

the

vegetables and the related documentary work.

There are at

14


22/156

present

27 vegetable

marketing co-operative

societies.

Two

depots romain functional, providing an

alternative

service for growers who prefer to sell through agents.

The Organization

is

administered

by

the

Director

of

Marketing

who

is

assisted

by the

Assistant Direct

(Agriculture). The Marketing Advisory Board comprising

three members

of

the public and the Chairman and two

Vice-chairmen of

the Federation

of Vegetable Marketing

Co-operative Societies Ltd., advises the Director who is

the ex-officio Chairman on any matters referred to it by

the Governor or the Director.

In 1947, the Organization

handled 19,427 tonnes of local vegetables and 7,658 tonnes

of

imported vegetables,

the total wholesale value being

$7,348,690.(25)

In

1988,

it

handled 63,256

tonnes of

local

vegetables

and

128,900

tonnes

of imported

vegetables,

the

total

wholesale value being

$579,578,125.(26)

This was an increase of about 8200% in

terms of value.

Financial assistance available to farmers

Increased capital

investment

is

required

if a

farmer is to expand or intensify his farm business.

This

capital is needed to rent or purchase more land and to

provide

better

fertilizers,

improved

seeds

and new

implements.

Since most

farmers

are operating at

the

15


23/156

extreme margin,

it would be very difficult for them to

save enough to meet immediate or long-term requirements.

More capita]. from outside should therefore be channelled

into agriculture.

To meet farm credit needs,

financial assistance

was made available from three loan funds administered by

the Agriculture

and Fisheries

Department;

the

Kadoorie

Agricultural Aid Loan Fund, the J.E. Joseph Trust Fund and

the

Vegetable

Marketing Organization

Loan Fund.

The

Kadoorie Agricultural Aid Loan Fund was established in

1955 by Messrs.

Lawrence and Horace Kadoorie.

The Fund

in

1968/69

made loans

of a total amount of

$2 , 880,474

. (27)

In 1987/88, the loans granted amounted to

$7,023,000.(28)

Loans from this fund were granted for

development and working capital; and the purposes for whch

they were required included purchases of livestock and

feed,

fetilizers,

insecticides,

seeds

and planting

material, land formation and development, water supplies;

construction cf buildings for livestock, and construction

and maintenance of fish ponds.

The J.E.

Joseph

Tr.ist

Fund was established in

1954 to

provide

loans

to

farmers

through co-operative

societies

for

agricultural

productive

purposes. In


24/156

1968/69, the Fund granted $1,211,000 to farmers who were

members of co-operative societles.(29)

In 1987/88, loans

made

to

farmers

under the Fund

amounted

to

$2,446,000.(30)

The Vegetable Marketing Organization Loan

Fund was set up in 1953 to provide short term loans to

vegetable farmers.

Since farmers got adequate credits

from the above two Funds, the 1MO Loan Fund came as a last

resort to farmers.

In fact, no loan was made under the

Fund

from

1964-1979 as

shown

in

the

Agriculture

and

Fisheries Department annua]. reports during this period.

There are other loan funds which assist farmers'

livihood. The World Refugee Year Loan Fund established in

1962

provides

loans

through co-operative

societies

for

purposes of relief from indebtedness, productive purpose,

the establishment of a revolving fund from which loans to

members could be nade to help them with such matters as

doctor's bills, school fees and burial expenses of

close

relatives.

The Agricultural Products Scholarship Fund was

established

in

1978

to provide financial assistance to

farmers orXheir chiidrens to pursue education.

17


25/156

The co-operative movement

It has been generally accepted that the key to

agricultural development is improved productivity by the

family members.

The most practical method seems to be the

organization of such people in groups where they know each

other and join together voluntarily for the promotion of

social, economic and other benefits.

En 1950, a combined

Co-operative and Marketing Department was established to

encourage the co-operative movement in the agricultural

sector.

The vegetable collecting depots established by

the Vegetable Marketing Organization to collect vegetables

from farmers for sale at the market were the embryos of

early vegetable marketing co-operative societies.

The

first co-operative society registered by the Registrar of

Co-operative Societies (the post held by the Director cf

Agriculture

and Fisheries) was a vegetable marketing

society formed by the farmers in Fanhing in 1951.

At

present,

there

are 29

vegetable marketing co-operative

societies.

The peak years were in late'GOs and early 'lOs

when there were

31

of

them

(31).

The Federation of

Vegetable

Marketing

Co-operative

Societies is

an apex

society

representing

26

of

its member-societies in

furthering the benefits of the vegetable growers.

There

is also an Irrigation Co-operative Society which operates

a

mutually

beneficial

irrigation

scheme including

the

18


26/156

naintenance of water pumps

and channels

and

13

Better

Living

Co-operative

Societies

which

manage

farming

members' villages or housing schemes and look

after the

welfare of their members and families.

Conclusion

In this chapter,

have outlined the history of

vegetable revolution in Hong Kong's agricultural sector

which began after the Second World War.

The revolution

brought about changes

in local agriculture not only in

land-use, but

also landowner-tenant relationship.

The

revolution was started off by the new tenants who mostly

were new immigrants from mainland China.

However it was

prompted by government's basically non-intevention policy

and supported by institutional establishments.

In Chapter

Three, we shall analyse the difficulties facing vegetable

farming and the new challenge it has to take up.

19


27/156


28/156

9) See Charles J.

Grant,

The extension of the arable

area

in Hong Kongu

in symposium of

land use and

mineral dposits in Hong Kong,

Southern China and

South-east

Asia

edited

by

S.G.

Davis,

(Hong Kong

University Press, 1964).

10)

Ibid.

11) Department

of

Agriculture,

Fisheries

&

Forestry,

Annual Report, 1952/53. (Government Printer, 1954).

12)

Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Annual Report,

1966/67. (Government Printer, 1968).

13)

Aqricu1ture and Fisheries Department, CS Paper 5/88

"Supply

of

fresh

vegetables

in

Hong

Kong",

unpublished, 1988.

14)


1957/58, (Government Printer, 1959).

15)

T.G. McGee and DW. Drakakis, "Sap Pat Heung-Emigrant

Villages in Hong Kong." in Urban Hong Kong edited by

Victor Sit, (Summersofl Eastern Publisher Ltd . , 1981.)

16)

Charles J. Grant, op.cit.

17)

C.T. Wong, "Vegetable farming in Hong Kong

:

a study

in

agricultural

geography."

unpublished

thesis

submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

the University of Hong Kong, 1971.

18)

Judith

Strauch,

gardeners,

the

"Middle peasants

and

market

social context

of

the

vegetable

21


29/156

revo1utio

in a small agricultural Community in the

New Territories, Hong Kong

in From vill

to CityJ

studies in the traditional roots of Hong Kong society

edited by David Faure, James Iayes, Alan Birch, 1984.

(Hong Kong University Press, 1984).

19)

Ibid.

20)

C.T. Wong, 'tVegetable farming in Hong Kong

:

a study

in

agricultural

geography."

unpublished thesis

submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in

the University of Hong Kong, 1971.

21)

R.R.

Mason

and

K.C.

Lung, Vegetable

Marketing

Organization Hong Kong 1946-48, unpublished.

22)

Gcran

Mjmer,

uEconomic

j

Shatin-vegetable

gardeners

in

a

Hong Kong

Valley",

(Hong

Kong

University Press, 1980).

23)

Agricultural Department, Annual Report, 1946/47,

(Government Printer, 1948).

24)

Goran Aijmer, op.cit.

25)

vegetable Marketing Organization Hong Kong,

Annual

Report, 1947-48.

26)

Vegetable Marketing Organization Hong Kong, Annual

Report, 1988-89.

27)


1968/69 .

(Governnient Printer, 1970).

28)



22


30/156

29)

Agriculture and Fsheris Department, Annual Report,


30)

Agriculture and Fisherios Department, Annual Report,


31)


1968/69-1972/73, (Government Printer).

23


31/156

Chapter 3

gricu1tura1 land-use under urbanization

Urbanization

has

proceeded

apace

in

this

century.

By the year 2000, 52% of the worlcVs population,

compared with the 42% in developing countries will reside

in urban settlements

. (i)

In Hong Kong, the rapid growth

and expansion of the urban area during the post Second

World Wr period has revo1utionied the pattern of local

land use.

We have seen in Chapter two how vegetable

revolution took place because of the intensive use of land

as a result of urbanization.

In this chapter, we go on to

see how urbanization further changes the land-use rattern,

this tinte encroachntent on agricultural land.

Decrease in agricultural land

Urban

sprawl pressure generated

from continued

new town development and accompanied by land speculation

and the erection of temporary industrial and residential

structures have widespread adverse effects on agricultural

land utilization in the New Territories.

In Hong Kong, the first comprehensive survey of

all agricultural land was done by the staff of Agriculture

24


32/156

and Forestry Department

(now called the Agriculture and

Fisheries Department) in 1955.

In 1960, there was a total

of 13,660 ha. of cultivable land.(2)

In 1970, the amount

of land devoted to agriculture slightly dropped to 13,360

ha.(3)

However,

in 1980,

it was drastically reduced to

9,970 ha.(4)

It was a loss of 70.6% compared with 1960.

In 1987, it was further reduced to 9,270ha.

(5)

For the

trend of loss, see Appendix I.

Population increase in the past four decades had

a particularly large impact on the land-use pattern in a

small place like Hong Xong.

In 1947, Hong Kong had a

population of only 1,750,000.(6)

In 1961, the population

increased

to

3,174,700.(7) In

1986,

Hong Kong's

population

was 5,395,997.(8)

To

house

this large

population,

the government initiated a ten-year housing

programme

in

1972.

A massive new town programme was

launched to identify land in the New Territories to house

the people.

Due to this programme population in the New

Territories increased from 675,582 in 1971 to 1,881,166 in

1986.(9)

With the increase in population, more houses,

shops, factories, schools and other public works have to

be built and a considerable amount of fertile agricultural

land has been lost to this vast urban development.

The society

at

that

time was

content to

see

agricultural land being exploited.

A Legislative Council

25


33/156

member suggested openly that a long range solution for

urbanization is

the

"opening up of the New Territories

based

on the

maximum

use

of

land

even by

diverting

agricultural land on the assumption that mainland China

will

be the

main supplier

of our agricultural

products.'1(lO)

Housing

at

that time was

such

an

overriding issue that when the governnent built a second

race-course in Shatin, it was criticised by Chung Sze-yuen

at

the Legislative

Council

as a

misuse of

land

resources . (11)

Apart from housing, agricultural land in the New

Territories

was also forsaken for

industrial

uses.

Industrialists in the Legislative Council wasted no time

in requesting industrial land in the New Territories when

the new town programme was announced. Hilton Cheong-leen

made the following remarks in 1974:-

I Related to the expansion of public housing in

the New Territories is the question of finding

more land for industrial growth.

It has recently

been mooted in the press that Tal. PO, Yuen Long

and Junk Bay be investigated as potential sites

for industrial estates.

....I am pleased to see

that

Government

has

at

last woken up

to the

realization

that we must

act more quickly in


34/156

offering

land to

medium-sized

and

large-sized

companies. "(12)

Bowing

to

their

pressure,

the

government

was

willing

to

forsake

agricultural

land

for

industries.

Speaking on the development of the New Territories,

the

then

Secretary

for

the

ew

Territories

told

the

Legislative

Council in 1975 of the following:-

The magnitude and variety of development make

lt

difficult to believe that there is

a recession

elsewhere,

it is certainly boom-time in the New

Territories

Since

I spoke

last

Noveniber

65

acres

of

land have

been sold

r granted

for

industry, realizing revenue of $82 milllon'(13)

Obviusly,

the

government

considered

the

blooming

of

industries in the New Territories a remarkable achievement.

The continued expansion of towns and industries

in the New Territories took up large amount of level and

fertile land.

The areas most affected were Shatin, Tsuen

Wan, luen Long, aiid Tuen Mun.

In Yuen Long and Then Hun,

there are still 4,400 ha. of agricultural land left.(].4)

There is almost no agricultural land In Shatin and Tsuen

Wan . C 15 )

Cheung Yan-lung, an indigenous villager and a

27


35/156

Legislative

Council

member

summarised the

impact

of

urbanization On agriculture as follows:-

"We used to pray for rain to corne at the right

time, so that two crops of paddy instead of

one

could be harvested from the saine patch of paddy

field.

We used to fetch water from the nearby

streams for cur

k

at the spot where our

women folk washed our clothing.

We used to pick

snails and catch frogs

in the padciy fields to

augment our inadequate diets, while clearing the

weeds amidst the budding young seedlings in the

paddy fields.

We used to make hay at harvest

time, so as to feed and fatten our cattle

Sadly

these days are no more'

For the pressure of

increased

population consequent

upon

the

urbanization of the New Perritories, has forced

me and many others to move to

Kowloon111(16)

Other than direct

losses

of

agricultural

land

inflicted by urbanization and industrialization, there is

also a rising proportion of fallow or abandoned land.

In

1966, there were 1,680 ha.

of such land.(17)

In 1986,

fallow or un-cultivated land was 4,070 ha. but represented

43.06% of the total agricultural land at that time.(18)

In those early years,

fallowness could be attributed to

lack of water, fertilizer or remoteness from the market

28


36/156

and could be brought back to cultivation with Improved

Irrigation and

cultivation

technique

and

with the

establishment of the Wholesale Vegetable Market.

However,

under rapid urbanization,

some

farmers

abandoned

their

fields because of rising labour Costs and anticipation of

future resumption by Governnient

for development . ( 19 )

In

1967, wage differences between agricultural and industrial

workers were in the range of $2-5 a day to the latter's

advantage.

In late 1970s and early 1980s, as a result of

substantial

increase

in

the

Importation

of

fresh

vegetables from China, there was a 40% drop in real terms

of price level of vegetabLes(2O)

This severely affected

the profitability of vegetable farming.

In a survey done

on the rural exodus of villagers in Taj Po In 1979, 31.7%

said they

left because they could not

earn

a

living.

29.2%

said

there

were

better job

opportunities

outside.(21)

The exodus of farmers led to a large portion

of agricultural land being left uncultivated.

While some farmers abandon farming as a way to

make a living, some land-owners reserve their own land in

anticipation of speculative profits from selling it for

urban development.

They think that land leased out to

farmers will be hard to retrieve.

According to a survey

done by the Agriculture and Fisheries

Department on 560

farmers and landowners, 31.6%

considered that landowners'

speculatiofl

Ofl

land was the main reason for fallowness.


37/156

Another 39.8% said that landowners were reluctant to rent

their

lanci

to

other people because they did not want

outsiders to reside In their village or they considered

the rent too low and the legal leasing arrangement too

tedious.(22) Many landowners instead lease their land for

open storage of containers and abandoned vehicles.

The

reluctance on the part of the landowners to lease out

their land for farming has a severe impact on agriculture

as more than 80% of the farmers in Hong Kong belong to the

tenant

class,

sub-tenant

class,

or part-Owner class

as

revealed in the same survey which also showed that over

60% were without a tenancy agreement.

Where there was an

agreement, the tenancy was for a period of five years or

less in two thirds of the cases.

The absence of security

of tenure discourages commitments on the part of tenant

farmers

to

long

term

capital investment to

up-grade

farming practices and improve productivity.

Another

major

cause

for the decrease in

agricultural land

is

the

proliferation

of shacks and

squatter settlements in the New Territories, in effect the

establishment

of

slums on

agricultural

land.

Wong

estimated that if over 10% of the crop land is covered by

buildings,

the

capacity

for

intensive

farming will

gradually diminish. (23)

30


38/156

The loss ot Agricultural land is also due to the

public and private construction works in the rural areas

which tend to pay little regard to the protection of the

rural environment, and may sometimes cause damages to the

existing

irrigation and drainage infrastructure without

proper and prompt reinstatement.

The damages done by the

public works often lead to

flooding of the cultivated

land.

Tal Chin-wah made the following remarks on the

damages done by public and private developments in the

Legislative Council in 1987:-

'The floods in April caused severe damage to the

farming community and industries, particularly to

crops and livestock.

Water

levels of

approximately six

feet

in depth

were

being

reported

in

some

places.

Farmers blamed

the

Public Works Department and government land fill

In nearby areas

for causing blockage of water

courses and rivers

Some works were said to have

altered the natural flow of water.

However, the

Government claimed that, in fact, it was private

development

schemes

by land-owners

which

had

caused the blockage of rivers and the existing

drainage scheme . "(24)

On the same occasion, Cheung Yan-lung was more

specific

in saying that "floodings are caused by large

31


39/156

scale

development

and

constructions

in new towns"

as

"mountains

have been levelled and lands

reclaimed" arid

"soil piled up will block our drainage system once there

are heavy rain-storms"(25)

The extensive loss during

floodings will not only threaten the farmers' living and

hence deter them from continuing farming, but will also

permanently damage the cultivability of the land.

Marginal

land

for

farming

-

an

attempt

to

increase

aqricultural land

In order to make

the

best

use

of

land

for

agriculture, the

Agriculture

and

Fisheries Department

encourages development of hillside land for cultivation

and

to

rehabilitate

fallow

and

abandoned

land. The

concept

is

to

develop

'marginal

lande

for farming.

'Marginal l can be defined as undeveloped government

land

in

the New Territories for

which

no imminent

development

plan has been drawn up . (26)

The concept

however

is

not

new.

In

1953,

the

Agriculture and

Fisheries Department set up an investigational project of

a high altitude experimental station in Tal Po Shan at a

height of 600m. above sea-level with a view to determining

the potentiality of hill agricultural development and to

discover the most suitable crops that might be grown at

upper levels(27)

The concept led to some success in

32


40/156

developing some marginal land for farming.

In the later

1950s, although the loss of acreage in agricultural land

was

considerable,

the

total

area

developed

from

the

marginal land offset the reduction to some extent.(28)

Although the concept today has been altered in

some way, the aim is the same.

Since late 1980s, due to

the Livestock Waste Control Scheme, many livestock farmers

have been displaced.

Some of them sought assistance from

the government to provide land which were outside the

ambit of the Control Scheme for them to resume farming.

At the same time, the Agriculture and Fisheries Department

successfully developed the Pig-on-litter system which on

the one hand allowed pig farmers to raise pigs on spent

sawdust

and

on the other hand,

allowed the pig waste

disposed

on

the sawdust

to

be

re-used

for

vegetable

farming.

This system has the advantages of solving the

problem of disposing livestock waste as well as re-using

the waste for vegetable farming.

In order to try out the

system, the Working Group on Marginal Land for Farming was

established under the Advisory Committee on Agriculture

and

Fisheries

in nid-1990 to identify

undeveloped

government

land

for

this

scheme and

to

consider the

administrative arrangements such as leasing conditions and

plot

delineation.

The

Working

Group

has initially

identified Hung Lung Hang in Ta Kwu Ling which has an area

of about 25.52 ha. of undeveloped government land to test

33


41/156


42/156

Notes

(1)

Yeung Yue-man, DUrban Agriculture in Asia'

e

United Nations University

1985)

(2)

Agriculture and Forestry Department, Annual

port

1960/61 (Government Printer, 1962)

(3)

Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Annua.

eport


(4)

Agriculture and Fisheries Departnient, Annua.

Report 1980/81 (Government Printer, 1982)

(5)

Agriculture and Fisheries Department, Annual Report


(6)

Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong

Statistics 1947-67 (Government Printer, 1969k

(7)

[bid

(8)

Census

nd Statistics Department, Hong Kong Ainual

Digest of Statistics, 1.989 Edition

(Government

Printer, 1989)

35


43/156

(9)

Ibid

(10)

See "Hong Kong Hansard, Session 1972/73",

(Government Printer, Hong Kong), P.547-8.

(11)

Ibid

(12)

See "Hong Kong Hansard, Session 1974/75"

(Government Printer, Hong Kong), P.86.

(13) See "Hong Kong Hansard, Session 1975/76"


(14)

Planning Department, "North West New Territories

Development Strategy Review (Planning Department,

1990)

(15) For an account of how agricultural land in Tsuen Wan

was

converted to urban land-use,

see C.T.

Wong's

"Urbanization

and

agriculture: the

impact of

agricultural

and

town

development on

the rural

environment in Hong Kong." in Geography and the

Environment in Southeast Asia edited by R.D. Hill

and Junnifer M.

Bray, (Hong Kong University Press,

1978)

36


44/156

(16)

See "Hong Kong Hansard, Session 1982/83"


(17)



(18)



(19)

See V. Sit's "Agriculture under the urban shadow"

in Urban Hong Kong

(Hong Kong:

Summerson Eastern

Publishes, 1981)

(20)

Agriculture and

Fisheries Department,

"Supply

of

fresh vegetables in Hong Kong" presented to the Crop

Farming Sub-committee of the Advisory Committee on

Agriculture and Fisheries, unpublished, 1988.

(21)

Tai PO District Office, "Rural exodus of villagens

from remote areas of Tal Po district, summer survey

1979", unpublished, 1979.

(22)

The results of the survey was never published but

were

discussed

at

the

Land

Development

Policy

Committee meeting on 31 May 1991

37


45/156

(23)

C.T. Wong, op.cit.

(24)

See "Hong Kong Hansard, Session 1986/87, Vol. II"

(Government Printer, Hong Kong) P.1503.

(25)

[bid. P.1506.

(26)

The definition of

'marginal land' is given by the

Agriculture

and Fisheries

Department

at

the

ist

meeting of the Working Group on Marginal Land for

Farming

which

is

established under the Advisory

Committee on Agriculture and Fisheries

in 1990 to

plan for the development of undeveloped government

land in the New Territories for vegetable as well as

livestock farming.

(27)

C.T.

Wong and K.L.

Tse,

"Hill

agricultural

development in Hong Kong", the paper was presented

to

the seminar

on

Nepal's

experience

in

hill

agricultural development held at Kathmadu, Nepal 30

March to 3 April 1981.

(28)



38


46/156

Chapter 4 Land policies in the New Territories

and the effects on acricultural land-use

s'The fact that land-use planning has followed,

rather than led,

land policy

in Hong Kong

Is

nowhere

better

demonstrated than In

the

New

Territories." - Roger Bristow, 1984.

One

needs

to

have

some

Ideas about

the

government's land policies in the New Territories, their

history and their present

form, in order to appreciate

Roger Bristow's remark.

This chapter descrIbes the land

policies

in

the

New Territories

with

the

purpose

of

understanding their devastating effects on agriculture In

the New Territories.

It will also help us evaluate the

Agricultural

Priority Area

Scheme

which

was

aimed

at

saving agricultural land,

and allow us to analyse the

political battle over the Town Planning (Amendment) Bill

which Is aimed at tightening the control over the use of

land in the New Territories.

Historical persptive

Traditionally,

rights

to

land In the

New

Territories were divided between the tenant who had the

right to farm the land In perpetuity and the landlord who


47/156

had the right to collect rent

on the land.

The tenants

interests were protected by the traditional rule that land

could not be arbitrarily recalled by the landlord unless

he,

or

a

nenther

of

his

family,

wished to

farm.

The

tenant's right to farm his piece of land did not cease

with

death;

his

son

inherited

the right

to

farm the

land. (1)

on ist July 1898, the New Territories were leased

from China for a term of 99 years under the Convention of

Peking.

At the time, it was judged expedient to declare

the New

Territories

Ito

be

part

and

parcel of

Her

Majesty's Colony of Hong Kong

..... for all intents and

purposes as if they had originally formed part of the said

Colony"(2) and to decree that all laws and ordinances in

force

in

the colony

should

take

effect

in the New

Territories. However,

in

a

desire to ensure peaceful

take-over(3), certain exceptions were made with respect to

land.

A clause

of

the

Convention

of

Peking headed

"Expropriation

of

Natives"

states:

"It is

further

understood

that there will

be

no expropriation

or

expulsion

of

the

inhabitants

of

the district included

within the extension, and that if land is required for

public

offices,

fortifications,

or

the like

official

purposes,

lt shall

be bought

at

a

fair price." The

converse

of

the

inability

to

expropriate

was

the

obligation to recognise existing rights.

Three government


48/156

agencies were involved

:

the Land Office, surveying teams

and the

Land

Court.

These

bodies

carried

out

the

registration

of

deeds

and

of

claims,

preparation of

a

rough rent roll, traverse and cadastral and

topographical

surveys,

demarcation, preparation of Crown leases and

a

provisional

titles

register,

hearing

of

petitions,

formulation

of

policy,

determining the

forni

of

title,

considering

undisputed

claims

and

adjudicating

upon

disputes.

The Costs of these tasks were huge and the

entire process was not completed until 1905.

At the end

of

the day,

354,277

lots

comprising 40,738

acres were

confirmed by the British Crown;

because they were too

small and scattered to be given individual titles, these

lots were recorded in Block Crown Leases for each of the

566 Demarcation Districts and are known as Old Schedule

Lots.(4)

Most of these Old Schedule Lots were classified

in the Crown Leases

as

agricultural land with a small

amount of building land in villages.

Crown rent was fixed

at the time of the lease and the tenure of a lease was 75

years from ist July 1898, subject to renewal for 24 years

niinus three days. On 4th March 1904, all land not already

claimed was proclaimed to be Crown Land.

At this luncture,

it is worthwhile to pause and

consider some of the repercussions of the land policy from

1898 up to the settlement in land matters in l9O.

The

following points are significant.

41


49/156

(a)

The arrangements for the land eliminated the

traditional

taxiords who "were large

and

power lineages in the New Territories laying

claim to vast tracts of land on the basis of

the regular payments to them by the tenant

cultivators."(5)

It upset the whole balance

of local influence, wealth and power in the

region

and contributed

to

the

relative

decline

of

lineage groups

in

the

New

Territories.

(b) The survey done between 189B to 1904 was

full of errors and inconsistencies in

demarcation and measurements.

Such errors

were manifested

in

the conversion

of

the

record to square feet from dou chung in the

1960s and the sub-division of snall lots in

the conversion exercise.

All these confused

the land dealings and had a significantly

bad impact

on government's

land

policies

towards the Old Schedule Lots.(6)

(C)

The classification of the land in terms of

agricultural or building land has raised

subsequent

questions

as

to whether

these

terms were descriptive of land-use at the

42


50/156

time - these permitting the use of land for

other

purposes

-

or

prescriptive.

The

government

supports

the

latter

interpretation which was borne out in the

case

Watford

Construction

Company

and

Secretary for the New Territories

heard In

August 1979.

It was held that the effect of

the terms of the Crown Lease was to effect

not merely a demise of agricultural land but

also

demise

pending

the

lessors

permission to build, as agricultural land.

This decision has considerable Implications

for the development of private land in the

New Territories, most of which Is demised as

agricultural

land.

It

should

facilitate

attempts

by government to control private

development, insofar as specific permission

must

be

granted

to

change land

from

agricultural to building use.

(ci)

The Convention of Peking which stipulated

that resumption of land for the development

of

building land

and its

subsequent

sale

should

only be effected

if

it

was

for

"official purpose" and land resumed should

be

"bought

at a fair

price".

The

Interpretation

of the

key phrases

by the

43


51/156

government

and

the

landowners

are

not

Identical.

The

dispute

over

the

interpretations

was

particularly

sharp

in

the 1920s when a large inflow of refugees

from China required land resumption by the

government for town planning purposes.

The

Contentions

had

much bearing on

the

relationship between Heung Yee Kuk and the

government and the latter's subsequent land

policies in the New Territories.

Since 1904,

land needed for private development

has

generally been disposed

of

by public auction

and

covered by a 'New Grant' lease.

Lots disposed of in this

fashion are known either as

'Auction Lots' or 'New Grant

Lots'

and represent the second major category of

land

holdings in the New Territories.

The Old Schedule Lots under Block Crown Leases

and

the New Grant Lots relate to the leased land as

accordingly to the New Territories Ordinance of 1910, "all

land in the New Territories .....

declared to be and to

have been from the 23rd day of July 1900 the property of

the Crown."

However, due to the fact that the basic

legality of land transactions in the New Territories dates

from the Ordinance which has the important provision that

fljfl

any proceeding's in the Supreme Court or the District

44


52/156

Court

in relation to

land in the New Territories,

the

Court shall have the power to recognize and enforce

any

Chinese custom or customary right affecting the land",

such leased land is often referred to

as

'private land'

and

is

subject

to the problems

of, as Bristow flotes,

'va1jd limits to pre-1898 traditional rights which have

often been disputed."(7)

Crown land in the New Territojes

All remaining land

in

the New Territories not

covered as 'private land' is technically Crown land which

may

either be

vacant,

or

may be used for

specific

government purposes such as Country Parks, Military Area

and reservoirs;

or may be let off for various teniporary

uses by private individuals. An unspecifiable amount of

Crown land in the New Territories is occupied by tolerated

or illegal squatter structures.

The basis

of

policies

in respect of temporary

tenure is that:

(a)

land can be given a beneficial short-term

use and revenues can be derived therefrom

45


53/156

(b)

land licensed in t]iis way

can be reclaimed

by government quickly when it is needed for

permanent development.

One form of temporarily allocating Crown land is

through Crown Land Licences, formerly known

as Crown Land

Permits which are renewable annually.

They are issued for

a wide range of uses including residential? industrial,

arid commercial use and additionally, special

uses such as

community or recreational development.

In the decade of

1970s, one of the main use of Crown Land Licences was to

'legalise' illegal squatter structures while in the 1980s,

Crown Land Licences were being converted to short term

tenancies,

initially concentrating

on

conversion

of

industrial uses but subsequently commercial uses.(8)

Short-terra Tenancies

are

issued by abbreviated

tender as opposed to direct grant in the case of Crown

Land Licences.

The vast majority of Short-term Tenancies

are for plots of less than 1000 sq.ft. and over 36% are

for shop use.(9)

As in the case of Crown Land Licences,

Short-term Tenancies have been used as an instrument by

which a large member of illegal uses that have been in

existence for many years, can be officially recognised and

tolerated by the goverrunent.

46


54/156

A small percentage of

temporary tenure is in the

form of forestry licences

which are normally granted to

villagers to cut pine for firewood.

It is temporary and

renewable on a yearly basis.

Several problents exist in the policy of disposing

land temporarily:-

(a)

It is the result of no plans for the

permanent use of the land.

In planning

terms, it is a non-policy.

(b)

In political and administrative

the result of the pressure from

privatesector to use or develop

variety of ways which have flot

encompassed by any plans in the

Territories.

terms, it is

the

land in a

tet been

New

(c) The vast majority of temporary tenancies

are renewed as a matter of course.

It is in

fact a tenure which has a long if not a

permanent nature.

(d) There is no incentive for temporary tenure

holders to improve standards of building

construction and the environment.

47


55/156

Land-use policies for leased

land

The control over th$

use of leased land niet with

problematic

political Opposition from the outset.

A

member of

the

Heung Yee Kuk expressed the view that,

without the consent of the NT landowners

the Hong Kong

Government unilaterally drew up the Block Crown Lease in

1905

in order to control the use of private land."(lO)

The fact that leased land is commonly referred to, both

inside and outside the government, as "private land", is

indicative of an inherent uncertainty over both precise

legal definitions and valid powers of control.

Be that as it may, various enactments have been

introduced and procedures set Out to control the use of

leased land.

One of them is the control through issuing

free building licences by which the 'small house policy'

is

instituted.

This policy is

applied in leased land

outside the lay-out areas where government land-use plans

are utilised or where land-exchange policies apply (see

later sections in

this

chapter) .

In this

policy,

"buildings directly concerned with agriculture,

such as

pigsties and chicken sheds,

may normally be erected on

agricultural

land

and

small

domestic structures

for

occupation by villagers on their own land may be permitted

by the issue of a free building licence in the environs of

an existing village or their natural extension if no land

48


56/156

is

available

within

the

village,

provided

that

the

building does not interfere qith rural development

or the

implementation of town planning.'(lj)

The Heung Yee Kuk

opposed

the

need

criterion

whereby

small

house

entitlements were based upon deliberation

as to whether

the applicant

was

not

adequately

housed

according to

village custom.

In 1972, the policy was relaxed to allow

every male descendant of indigenous village to build one

small house in

his life

time. This

policy

Irhas

contributed

to

the widespread infiltration

of

sporadic

permanent structures over much of the more inhabitable

parts of the New Territories."(12)

It is not surprising

that

small-house

entitlement

has

been

a

means

of

constructing highly marketable

suburban

houses, rather

than a way of meeting bona-fide housing needs

for the

indigenous inhabitants or

lessees

of

agricultural

land.(13) The fact that the policy was not under the

District

Land

Offices of the

Buildings

and Lands

Department perpetuates"

a

development control procedure

that has always remained outside the consideration of the

land-use planning professionals . " (14)

Modification

of

Tenancy Permits

and Short-term

Waivers

are

two

instruments governing the majority of

short-term conversions of O1

Schedule agricultural land

to non-agricultural use.

Modification of Tenancy Permits

were issued to allow lessees of agricultural land to use

49


57/156

their land temporarily for purposes not covered by the

Crown Lease COnditionS.

Provided that the granting of

modification of tenancy did not frustrate moie permanent

allocations of land (for industrial and commercial use),

their applications

were

normally qranted."(15)

Since

1975, Short-term

Waivers

superseded

Modification

of

Tenancy Agreenient which imposed more stringent conditions

such as adequate access with a minimum width of 3.5m. and

compliance with Employment Ordinance, Building Ordinance

and Fire Services Regulations.

Letter of approval has traditionally been used to

facilitate

the

construction,

on a

temporary basis,

of

buildings for agricultural use.

The only condition for

issuing the letter is that applicants have to demonstrate

that they have owners' consent.

There was indication that

before

tightening

up

the

lease

conditioiis

of the

letter-of-approval structures in

1.971,

many pigsties or

chicken sheds were used as dwelling units.(16)

In

the

absence of

a

statutory outline

zoning

plan, land-owners are also free to apply for a re-grant

of

his

land with

modified

lease conditions

to allow new

development elsewhere.


58/156

quisition of land in the New Territories

Resumption

of

Crown Lands

required

for public

purposes

such

as

the

new

town

development

plans

commissioned in the 1960s is governed by the Crown Lands

Resumption Ordinance.

There is an all embracing clause in

the Ordinance which rules that "resumption for any purpose

of whatsoever description which the Governor in Council

may decide to be a public purpose."(17)

Section 4(2) of

the Town Planning Ordinance provides that the Governor in

Council

may

decide

that resumption of

lots

for the

implementation of

an approved statutory plan

is

for

a

public

purpose

in terms

of Crown

Lands

Resumption

Ordinance. Although compensations are paid for the land

resumed, the fact that the government is not contractually

or

statutorily

bound

to

offer an

exchange

or

give

permission

to

build

invites

opposition from New

Territories

landowners, as

the

compensation value of

agricultural land is usually much lower.

To circumvent the landowners' opposition, the New

Territories land exchange policy, often referred to as the

Letter B system, was devised.

Lessees, whose land has

been

subject

to

a

resumption notice,

are offered the

option of a state cash payment or a promise to provide

alternative land for development in return for surrender

51


59/156

of the land required by the Crown.

While Letter B is used

where

resumption proceedings

have

already been

set.

in

motion and Lettcr A is issued where resumptioil proceedings

have not yet begun, they offer either of the following :-

(a)

a stated amount of cash in full. and final

settlement of the surrender

(b)

an exctange of agricultural land in the New

Territories, a foot for a foot being offered

without premium;

(c)

the right to a future grant of building land

in one of the New Territories urban

development areas on the following terms:

(i) an offer of 2 sq.ft of new building

lanci in any New Territories urban layout

for every 5 sq.ft of agricultural land

surrendered;

(ii)one sq. foot of new building land is

offered for each sq. foot of building

land surrendered

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60/156

(d)

a premium Is payable equivalent to the

difference in value of the land surrendered

and that regranted. (IB)

The

immediate result

of

this

policy was

insufficient

land made available by Government to meet

Letter

B

entitlements

as most

lessees preferred

land

exchange to compensation.

The cumulative total of Letter

commitments between 1974 and 1971, for example, amounted

to

22,107,407 sq.ft whereas the land made available by

Letter B

tender was only 410,557 sqft;

sufficient to

liquidize only

5%

of

the

claims.(19)

Moreover, the

transferability of Letters B led to their being amassed by

speculators.

Despite the reform of

the system by the

Working Group on New Territories Urban Land Acquisitions

in

1978

and the

subsequent abandonment

In

1982,

large

commitments remained.

AS time goes by, the commitments

grow larger in terms of market value of land.

According

to

the government's

1991 Hong Xong Annual

Report, the

amount of entitlements stood at 0.74 million sq.m.in 1990.

53


61/156

comments on the land pollcies

We have so far highlighted the characteristics of

land policies

In the

New Territories

with respect

to

leased land and Crown Land.

We also see how the land

policies

are

shaped by historical perspectives

in land

matters in the New Territories with particular regards to

the notion of

Private land',

the indigenous villagers'

perception

to

their

land

interests,

the

arbitrary

delineation

of

agricultural

and

building

land and

its

subsequent implications.

Certain comments can be drawn from the policies

as far as land-use planning is concerned.

Firstly,

the government has been seen to make

ad-hoc

decisions

such

as

the

Short-term

Tenancies,

Short-term Waivers and the issuing of Crown Land Licences

to squatters.

Secondly, each policy was made as a precedent for

others to follow and the implications of one ad-hoc

policy

are wide.

54


62/156

Thirdly, since policies

are piece-meal, there is

a

general awareness

among landowners

that there

.ts

zc

overall presumption against development

except in obvious

prohibited areas.

This leads to a rise in 'hope value'

and land speculation.

Fourthly,

outside

areas

covered

by

statutory

outline zoning plans, lease and licence conditions provide

the

only means

of

development control.

They are not

designed for planning purpose and hence are not capable of

assessing the planning and transport implications of the

applications from the licencees or lessees.

Fifthly, the land exchange system (Letter B) does

not

provide

adeguate

control over

planning by

the

government.

There

is

no

means

administratively

or

statutorily of forcing a landowner to exchange land, and

the governmentts only recourse is to resume. There is no

control over the timing of such exchanges nor is there any

control over the ownership of the Letters and hence, the

land.

Most of all, the immense resources required for the

exchanges

tie

the

hands

of

the

government

in

overall

land-use planning.

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64/156

2.

enforcement

and

government(20),

tolerated

unwillingness

to

control

by

such

illegal

conversions

t he

were

The vague definition of the term

'agricultural

land'

and the loose lease conditions

also

allow the

land-owners to

convert gricultural

land to other uses.

The Melhado Judgement(21)

in.

1983 which ruled that land held under the Lease could

legally

be

used

for 'open

uses',

aggravated

the

situation of mass conversion.

Over 500 of such open

storage sites were identified in the North West New

Territories alone. (22)

Small house policy

Since

indigenous

villagers holding

agricultural land were granted free building licences

to erect small

house and the almost absolute free

conditions for such applications, massive erection of

small houses took place over arable land in the New

Territories.

Moreover,

since

small

house

entitlements are not static as any male indigenous

villager can apply on reaching the age of eighteen,

potential

demand

over

the

years

will

likely be

higher.(23)

Not only that agricultural land were

57


65/156

used for building residential

houses, the arable land

in the environs were also

spoilt.

3.

Teniporay uses of agricultural land

Short-term

tenancies

and

short term

licences,

as

noted before,

were used to recognise

illegal

squatter

structures

which were

erected

indiscriminately over

the

agricultural

land during

the

60s and

70s.

On the other hand,

short-term

waivers and modification of tenancies were issued to

Block Crown Lease holders to temporarily convert the

uses of agricultural land.

It was estimated that

over

5,500

temporary

uses

plus

a

further

65,000

domestic squatter structure scattered over the New

Territories.(24) All these measures contributed to

shrinkage of agricultural land which could not be

rehabilitated for farming once it had been developed.

4.

Acquisit

Documents

An Assessment of the Agricultural Priority Area Scheme