Minutes of the 18th Meeting of North District Council (2016-2019)

Date : 11 October 2018 Time : 9:30 a.m. Venue : North District Council Conference Room Present Chairman: Mr SO Sai-chi, SBS, MH*

Members:

Mr LI Kwok-fung (9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.) Dr HO Shu-kwong, Raymond* Mr LEE Koon-hung* Hon LAM Cheuk-ting (9:45 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.) Mr HAU Chi-keung (9:38 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.) Mr HAU Fuk-tat, Simon (9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.) Mr YIU Ming* Mr CHAN Yuk-ming* Mr WONG Wang-to, MH (9:31 a.m. –11:15 a.m.) Mr TSANG King-chung, Kent (9:37 a.m. –2:00 p.m.) Ir PANG Chun-sing, George, MH (10:05 a.m. –12:30 p.m.) Mr TSANG Hing-lung* Mr WAN Wo-tat, Warwick (9:35 a.m. –2:00 p.m.) Mr WAN Wo-fai, MH* Mr LIU Hing-hung* Mr LAU Ki-fung* Mr TANG Kun-nin, Tony, MH* Hon LAU Kwok-fan, MH (9:50 a.m. –10:00 a.m.) Mr LARM Wai-leung

(9:30 a.m. – 12:06 p.m.)

Secretary: Ms CHU Wai-lin, Francoise

Senior Executive Officer (District

Council), North District Office Remarks: * Members who attended the whole meeting ( ) Time of attendance of Members

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In Attendance Mr CHONG Wing-wun, JP District Officer (North), Home Affairs

Department Mr LEE Kwok-chung District Commander (Tai Po), Hong Kong

Police Force Ms CHIU Wai-po District Commander (Border), Hong Kong

Police Force Ms CHIN Man-yi, Maggie District Planning Officer/Fanling, Sheung Shui

and Yuen Long East, Planning Department Mr LU Pei-yu Senior Engineer/1(N), Civil Engineering and

Development Department Mr KWUN Hing-yu, Joseph District Lands Officer/North, Lands Department Mr CHAN Kai-lam, Allan Chief Manager/Management (Tai Po, North &

Shatin), Housing Department Mr YAM Mun-ho District Social Welfare Officer (Tai Po/North),

Social Welfare Department Ms CHAN Siu-mui, Polly Chief Transport Officer/Goods Vehicle,

Transport Department Mr YEUNG Yuk-shing Acting District Environmental Hygiene

Superintendent (North), Food and Environmental Hygiene Department

Mr WONG Shu-yan, Francis Chief Leisure Manager (New Territories North), Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Mr WONG Yiu-wa Senior District Engineer/North East, Highways Department

Miss HUI Pui-man, Sophia Assistant District Officer (North) 2, Home Affairs Department

Item 2

Mr LAM Sai-hung, JP Director of Civil Engineering and Development Mr YIP Hung-ping, Joe Chief Engineer/N1, Civil Engineering and

Development Department Ms LEUNG Tik-yan Senior Engineer/Public Relations, Civil

Engineering and Development Department

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Item 3

Mr LEE Hong-nin, Robin Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2, Development Bureau

Mr LAU Wing-kit Project Manager (Heritage Conservation) 3, Commissioner for Heritage’s Office, Development Bureau

Mr LEE Hung-kei, Vincent Senior Architect (Antiquities & Monuments) 1, Antiquities and Monuments Office, Development Bureau

Mr TANG Kam-piu, Billy Assistant Chief Executive, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, LC-HKS

Mr TANG Kwok-hei, Hezon Corporate Development Officer, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, LC-HKS

Mr CHAU Lok-kan, Dennis Architectural Designer, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, LC-HKS

Item 4

Ms KO Wan-yee, Florence Head of Tree Management Office, Development Bureau

Ms CHEUNG Wai-ying, Olivia Assistant Secretary (Tree Management) 3, Development Bureau

Item 5

Mr LEE Lap-shun Senior Scientific Officer (Forecast Operation), Hong Kong Observatory

Absent Mr CHAN Wai-tat Mr CHAN Shung-fai

Opening Remarks The Chairman welcomed Members and departmental representatives to the 18th Meeting of the North District Council (“NDC”), especially Mr YEUNG

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Yuk-shing, Acting District Environmental Hygiene Superintendent (North) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (“FEHD”), who attended the NDC meeting for the first time. (Mr WONG Wang-to joined the meeting at this juncture.) Application for Absence 2. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had received applications for absence from Mr CHAN Wai-tat and Mr CHAN Shung-fai. Mr CHAN Wai-tat was absent due to work commitments while Mr CHAN Shung-fai was absent as he was on a business trip overseas. Since their grounds for absence did not fall within the circumstances set out in the NDC Standing Orders, the meeting did not approve their applications for absence. Item 1 - Confirmation of Minutes of Last Meeting

3. The Chairman said that the Secretariat made a proposed amendment to the minutes of the 17th meeting held on 26 July 2018: the representative of the FEHD on the attendance list should be Ms MA Mei-kiu instead of Ms LEUNG Mei-kiu. The Secretariat proposed that the typo was to be corrected. 4. The meeting confirmed the amended minutes of the 17th meeting. Item 2 - Director of Civil Engineering and Development Meets with

NDC Members

5. The Chairman welcomed Mr LAM Sai-hung, Director of Civil Engineering and Development (“DCED”) who came to visit the NDC. He also welcomed the accompanying officials Mr Joe YIP, Chief Engineer/N1 and Ms LEUNG Tik-yan, Senior Engineer/Public Relations of the Civil Engineering and Development Department (“CEDD”) to the meeting. 6. Mr LAM Sai-hung gave a PowerPoint presentation on the CEDD’s organisation structure, scope of service (including provision of land and

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infrastructure, port and marine services, geotechnical services, and environment and sustainability services), and the projects and studies being carried out by the CEDD in North District. The PowerPoint slides were attached at Annex I.

(Hon LAM Cheuk-ting and Hon LAU Kwok-fan joined the meeting at this juncture.)

7. Mr YIU Ming said that the Greening Master Plans (“GMP”) for 15 districts in Hong Kong had been implemented, but the GMP for North District was not yet implemented after 2012. He enquired whether the views about the GMP put forward by NDC Members in 2012 were still valid and hoped that the CEDD would provide a timetable for the implementation of the GMP for North District.

(Hon LAU Kwok-fan left the meeting at this juncture.)

8. Mr LAU Ki-fung made the following comments and enquiries: (a) He called for the CEDD to speed up the various infrastructure projects in

North District to ease traffic congestion;

(b) He was glad to know that the lifts retrofitted at pedestrian subways NS51 and NS128 under the Universal Accessibility Programme (“UAP”) would be open for use in October. He had relayed to the Director of Highways the repeated delays of the works under the UAP and had observed that the works sites were idle. He hoped that the departments concerned could strengthen the supervision of such works in future;

(c) The Development Bureau (“DEVB”) and the Lands Department (“LandsD”) were making arrangements for residents affected by the development of the Kwu Tung North and Fanling North New Development Areas (“NDAs Project”) to voluntarily move out ahead of schedule. He hoped that the CEDD could strengthen the communication with the affected residents to ensure that the works would commence only after they were rehoused. He also hoped that the CEDD would maintain close liaison with the above agencies so that the works would not start before the departure of the residents to avoid affecting the works progress; and

(d) According to the layout plan of the NDAs Project, residents at the Ho Pak Section of Shek Wu San Tsuen should not be affected under the Project. However, residents there recently received letters from the departments concerned, saying that they would be affected by the

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remaining works of the Project. He enquired whether there were any changes to the NDAs Project, resulting in more residents being affected.

(Ir George PANG joined the meeting at this juncture.)

9. Mr LEE Koon-hung made the following enquiries and comments: (a) He was aware that dredging works were conducted at the seabed of Sha

Tau Kok Typhoon Shelter six to seven years ago. Some boatmen told him that some parts of the channel at Starling Inlet were still very dangerous. Vessels would easily hit the rocks or small islands in the channel and there was an occasion where a police vessel hit obstacles. Since there was no lighthouse in the areas, he hoped that the CEDD would review the need for lighting of the channel and consider, for example, whether to install a lighthouse or other lighting facilities;

(b) He was glad to know that the CEDD had decided to implement the Pier Improvement at Lai Chi Wo and was carrying out a study on the seabed. He hoped that the CEDD would commence the works as soon as possible to benefit villagers; and

(c) After the passage of Typhoon Mangkhut, vessels were unable to berth at the piers of remote villages at low tide and therefore construction materials and other supplies could not be transported to those villages. The CEDD and other departments concerned were advised to address the problem of berthing difficulties at those piers as soon as possible.

10. Mr WONG Wang-to opined that there were inadequate roads linking to motorways in North District. He hoped that the CEDD would ease the traffic congestion at the two main roundabouts in the district, for example, by providing more entrances or exits to motorways. He cited the traffic accident happened on a non-motorway road in North District in the afternoon on 8 October, leading to serious congestion at a roundabout linking to a motorway. Traffic condition did not resume to normal until at around 8 p.m. 11. Mr Simon HAU made the following comments:

(a) He thanked the Geotechnical Engineering Office (“GEO”) for promptly solving the problem of loosened soil at Southern Luen Sang Area of Kwu Tung in August during which there was persistently heavy rain, which had protected a few households from danger;

(b) There were many cases of tree failure on the slopes of rural areas in Kwu

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Tung during the strike of Typhoon Mangkhut. Fallen trees posed a grave risk to residents living in the dilapidated huts and squatter structures in the vicinity. Although the GEO and the Home Affairs Department (“HAD”) had been following up the issue, and the GEO had even deployed staff to Phoenix Garden to conduct inspections, they still had not given a reply on the follow-up work because it was not clear as to which departments were responsible for the maintenance of certain parts of the slopes. He hoped that the CEDD would continue to follow up the issue; and

(c) In respect of the Agri-Park development project, since the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (“AFCD”) had not reached a consensus on the compensation package with affected residents, the CEDD met with resistance from the residents in the course of carrying out ground investigation works near Tsiu Keng. As a result, the works remained unfinished to date. He was ready to help the Government communicate and cooperate with residents so as to reach a consensus on compensation matters.

12. Mr Warwick WAN made the following comments, enquiries and suggestions:

(a) He expressed his concern about the design of railings of the footbridge at MTR Fanling Station. He anticipated that the CEDD would adopt the standard design of the Highways Department (“HyD”). Nevertheless, since some people would park their bicycles by the railings of the footbridge, he suggested the railings be designed in such a way as to prevent parking of bicycles there. Furthermore, he asked how the footbridge would connect with the two existing walkways; and

(b) The progress of retrofitting barrier-free facilities at pedestrian walkways was very slow. Each project took around four years to complete. The CEDD had not informed the NDC or DC Members of the constituencies concerned of the works progress and difficulties encountered. He opined that the root of the problem was that the contractor, having been awarded seven contracts for the lift retrofitting works, failed to handle all the projects concurrently. He suggested that the CEDD should strengthen the supervision of the performance of contractors and offer incentives to those who could finish the works ahead of schedule so as to motivate them to speed up the works.

(Hon LAM Cheuk-ting left the meeting at this juncture.)

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13. Mr Tony TANG said that the CEDD was responsible for the infrastructure works at Queen’s Hill in Fanling. Most of the NDC Members supported the development of public housing in the district, but requested that sufficient facilities, especially transport facilities, be provided by the departments concerned. Members had repeatedly requested the Transport Department and the HyD at different meetings to widen Sha Tau Kok Road and to build new roads to cater for the population of nearly 50 000 generated by the public housing development at Queen’s Hill. He pointed out that congestion frequently occurred on Sha Tau Kok Road at present. If the problem was left unaddressed, residents of the public housing developments at Sha Tau Kok, Ta Kwu Ling, rural areas in Fanling and Queen’s Hill would all be affected. While he understood that the CEDD was not the main department responsible for the development at Queen’s Hill in Fanling, he hoped that the DCED would be people-oriented and explore with other departments concerned on how to provide sufficient facilities to resolve issues faced by the community. 14. Ir George PANG made the following comments:

(a) As mentioned by Mr LEE Koon-hung, some piers and seawalls in North District were damaged by Typhoon Mangkhut. Without the pier facilities, it would be difficult for villagers in remote areas to go to urban areas. Knowing that the CEDD was responsible for the maintenance of piers and seawalls in the territory, he hoped the department could take appropriate action to repair the facilities;

(b) Although the tombs at Fanling Wai were situated in the development area of Queen’s Hill, he and other NDC Members were supportive of the Government’s plan to develop public housing at Queen’s Hill. The CEDD had commenced the site formation and foundation works two to three years ago. Since both works vehicles of the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point (“LT/HYW BCP”) and the development area at Queen’s Hill and refuse collection vehicles to/from Ta Kwu Ling Landfill got access from Sha Tau Kok Road, the road was very congested during morning and evening rush hours at present. Although the Lung Shan Tunnel and the connecting road to the LT/HYW BCP would be commissioned soon, he was worried that Lung Ma Road was unable to serve a population of 40 000 to 50 000 generated by the public housing development at Queen’s Hill. He urged the DCED to seek solutions to the problem with the departments concerned; and

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(c) The CEDD had commenced the study on the feasibility of building flyovers or approach roads near Kai Leng Roundabout and had presented the design proposal to the NDC a year before, but the design was yet to be finalised. He looked forward to the CEDD’s early completion of the study to solve the problem of severe congestion in North District.

15. Mr Kent TSANG made the following comments:

(a) There had been heavy rainfalls and strong typhoons during the year. After the torrential rains in August, there were landslides on the slopes near Ta Shek Wu Tsuen which led to complete closure of Fan Kam Road for nearly a week. Given that many village roads were adjacent to slopes, he hoped that the CEDD could act ahead to follow up the maintenance and stabilisation of slopes. He believed that if the departments concerned could properly address slope problems, landslides could be avoided;

(b) One side of Tai Lung Road was adjacent to a slope where landslides of varying degrees had occurred after flooding and typhoons. No government department had formally addressed the problem to date. He hoped that the CEDD could address the issue;

(c) The transport infrastructure in North District and the motorways linking the district to Kowloon had reached saturation point. He hoped that the CEDD would proactively deal with the transport problems in North District and carry out road planning in a forward-looking way, instead of handling them only after the NDAs Project was completed which brought a further increase in the local population;

(d) The CEDD would carry out works at Po Shek Wu Road near Tai Tau Leng Roundabout under phase 2 of the NDAs Project. Given that there was long-standing congestion on the road section and congestion was expected to be more serious after the completion of the NDAs Project, he hoped that the CEDD would actively consider advancing the works of the road section to Phase 1 or giving priority to the works in Phase 2; and

(e) A department had said that noise barriers would be installed on Fanling Highway near Tsung Pak Long under phase 2 of the NDAs Project. He hoped that the works could be implemented earlier.

16. Mr LIU Hing-hung made the following comments:

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(a) Residents of North District were very concerned about the traffic congestion problem in the district. Whenever there were traffic accidents, there would be congestion at Tai Tau Leng Roundabout. He hoped that the CEDD would finish the road improvement works as soon as possible to relieve the congestion in North District; and

(b) He hoped that the CEDD would perfect the road network of Wa Shan Tsuen under the NDAs Project to improve the external traffic links for the village.

17. In response to Members’ enquiries, comments and suggestions, Mr LAM Sai-hung gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(a) The CEDD had discussed the GMP for North District with the NDC. As he had just mentioned, the CEDD was planning to seek funding approval for the works under the GMP for North District from the Legislative Council (“LegCo”) in late 2018 or early 2019, and would then conduct the tender exercise and commence the works. The CEDD would continue to communicate with the NDC about the details of the GMP for North District;

(b) In respect of the traffic from North District and Tai Po to urban areas, the traffic situation of the several tunnels linking the two districts to urban areas was not satisfactory. There was often a rather long tailback on the section of Tai Po Road near Sha Tin Racecourse. The CEDD had started to widen the section of Tai Po Road near New Town Plaza in Sha Tin from a dual two-lane road to a dual three-lane road;

(c) Kai Leng Roundabout was small in size and its capacity was small. The CEDD had started to study how to improve Kai Leng Roundabout and Tai Tau Leng Roundabout. It was believed that if the problems of the two roundabouts were solved, great improvements could be made to the vehicular access to and from motorways, which would bring considerable benefits to local traffic. The preliminary findings would be reported to the NDC once available;

(d) The CEDD was aware of the congestion on Sha Tau Kok Road. It was carrying out the LT/HYW BCP and associated works and the infrastructure works for development at Queen’s Hill. Upon the commissioning of the connecting road to the LT/HYW BCP in 2019, it was anticipated that vehicles heading to areas farther away would be diverted to the connecting road and the roundabouts en route via Fanling

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Highway. Hopefully the traffic situation on Sha Tau Kok Road would significantly improve. Furthermore, the CEDD would examine how to reduce the impact of the infrastructure works at Queen’s Hill on the traffic of Sha Tau Kok Road;

(e) In response to Members’ comments about slow progress of works and unattended sites for the projects in North District under the UAP , he explained that as there were many buried services in the district (with some of them uncharted), contractors had to discuss the relocation of the services with the organisations concerned. Therefore, the works were actually in progress even if the construction sites were idle. He appealed for Members’ understanding;

(f) The CEDD was planning to seek funding approval from the LegCo in 2019 for the construction of the advanced works and first stage works and the detailed design of the remaining works of the NDAs Project. The CEDD would discuss the relocation arrangements for affected villagers with the DEVB and the LandsD, and would continue to properly liaise with the villagers to facilitate their relocation;

(g) The CEDD would liaise with the HAD in respect of the piers and seawalls mentioned above, and would take follow-up action if the facilities were damaged. The CEDD would enhance liaison with the Members concerned when necessary;

(h) Substantial resources would be needed if landslides were to be avoided completely. Therefore, the CEDD could only manage the risk of landslides to a reasonable level. At present, Hong Kong was one of the regions with the lowest probability of landslides. The United Nations had praised Hong Kong for its exemplary performance in controlling landslides;

(i) There was a landslide on Fan Kam Road in late August and thankfully no casualties were caused. All lanes of Fan Kam Road had to be closed after that and one-lane-two-way traffic arrangement was still in force at present. The CEDD would install soil nails on the slope when carrying out the related maintenance works which were expected to finish in 2019;

(j) Responsible officers of the CEDD would follow up Mr LAU Ki-fung’s enquiry about whether Shek Wu San Tsuen would be affected by the NDAs Project;

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(k) Responsible officers of the CEDD would contact the Marine Department and followed up the dredging works at the seabed of Sha Tau Kok Typhoon Shelter and the safety issue of the channel at Starling Inlet mentioned by Mr LEE Koon-hung;

(l) In response to the traffic problem in North District as mentioned by Mr WONG Wang-to, he explained that from the traffic and transport perspective, traffic accidents would have a greater impact on roads which were being utilised at capacity. The CEDD would explore measures to improve the traffic in North District;

(m) The GEO’s staff would contact Mr Simon HAU to follow up on the tree failure cases on slopes;

(n) The CEDD would offer compensation to farmers affected by the Agri-Park development project according to the existing compensation package;

(o) Given that the comments given by Mr Warwick WAN on the widening of the footbridge at MTR Fanling Station involved technical details, responsible officers would contact Mr WAN to get more information and arrange for a site inspection;

(p) The GEO would inspect Tai Lung with Mr Kent TSANG to know more about the landslide problem; and

(q) The CEDD would examine the road network of Wa Shan Tsuen with respect to the concern raised by Mr LIU Hing-hung.

18. Mr LARM Wai-leung noted that the CEDD had implemented a number of projects in North District in recent years and he acknowledged the efforts and achievements made by the CEDD. He pointed out that North District had been plagued by traffic congestion at Kai Leng Roundabout for years, but the DCED failed to provide comprehensive responses. He had proposed about two years ago to build a flyover at Kai Leng Roundabout, and he had requested the CEDD to conduct a feasibility study on the proposed works and briefed the NDC on the findings. He asked the CEDD to confirm whether the works were feasible, and if yes, to provide a timetable for the works. 19. Mr LAM Sai-hung responded that the crux of the problem of Kai Leng Roundabout lay in the small inner diameter of the roundabout which prone to causing tailbacks and traffic congestion. The CEDD was conducting the

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feasibility study on north-south link as alternative to So Kwun Po (Kai Leng) Roundabout in North District, including the feasibility of building a flyover and slip roads at Kai Leng Roundabout. The CEDD hoped that the study could solve not only the existing problems at the roundabout and also foreseeable problems. It was also hoped that the study, to be supported by data on vehicular flow, could help solve the problems based on scientific principles. The CEDD therefore had to allow sufficient time for a detailed study and to compare different proposals with a view to tackling the problems at root. The completion time of the works would depend on the complexity of works. More time would be needed if land resumption was involved. The CEDD was ready to share the preliminary findings, once available, with the NDC and other parties concerned. 20. Ir George PANG understood that the CEDD had to handle a wide range of work in addition to the road and flyover works which were originally under the HyD’s purview. He also understood that the CEDD was conducting the feasibility study on north-south link as alternative to So Kwun Po (Kai Leng) Roundabout in North District. He hoped that the department could prioritise the projects and deploy more manpower to carry out more urgent projects first. 21. In conclusion, the Chairman said that a number of major development projects were underway in North District and cooperation with various government departments would be needed on various matters in the coming future. The work of the CEDD was a matter of vital concern to North District as it determined whether residents in North District could enjoy a quality living environment. He called on the DCED to follow up Members’ views. Lastly, he congratulated the DCED on his promotion to the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) on 13 October, and hoped that he would visit the NDC again after his promotion. 22. Mr LAM Sai-hung responded that he would continue to take charge of public works after his transfer to the DEVB and the works projects in North District were within his scope of duties. He looked forward to making contributions to North District. (Mr LI Kwok-fung, Mr HAU Chi-keung, Mr Simon HAU and Mr WONG Wang-to left the meeting at this juncture.)

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Discussion Items Item 3 – Batch V of the “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through

Partnership Scheme” – Revitalisation of Luen Wo Market into “Luen Wo Market – House of Urban and Rural Living” (NDC Paper No. 52/2018)

23. The Chairman welcomed Mr Robin LEE, Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2 of the DEVB, Mr LAU Wing-kit, Project Manager (Heritage Conservation) 3 of the Commissioner for Heritage’s Office (“CHO”), Mr Vincent LEE, Senior Architect (Antiquities & Monuments) 1 of the Antiquities and Monuments Office, and Mr Billy TANG, Assistant Chief Executive, Mr Hezon Tang, Corporate Development Officer and Mr Dennis CHAU, Architectural Designer of the Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service, LC-HKS (“HKLSS”), to the meeting. 24. Mr Robin LEE briefly presented Luen Wo Market Revitalisation Project as follows:

(a) Luen Wo Market was a Grade 3 historic building and was one of the four selected buildings under Batch V of the Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme (“Revitalisation Scheme”). Dr LAU Chi-pang, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Built Heritage Conservation (“ACBHC”) and representatives of the CHO had visited the NDC in October 2016 to present the Revitalisation Project and listened to Members’ views;

(b) The DEVB invited non-profit-making organisations to submit proposals under the scheme. After assessment by the ACBHC, HKLSS was selected to revitalise Luen Wo Market as “Luen Wo Market – House of Urban and Rural Living” (“House of Urban and Rural Living”); and

(c) It was anticipated that the revitalisation works would start in 2021 and finish in 2022 at the earliest. The House of Urban and Rural Living would then be put into operation. The details of the Revitalisation Project were set out in NDC Paper No. 52/2018. He asked Members to note the latest progress of the project and to lend their support to the revitalisation proposal put forward by HKLSS.

25. Mr Hezon Tang gave a detailed PowerPoint presentation on the revitalisation proposal of Luen Wo Market. The PowerPoint slides were attached at Annex II.

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26. Mr TSANG Hing-lung was glad to know that the Revitalisation Scheme of Luen Wo Market would be implemented and he made the following comments:

(a) Luen Wo Market was an important community landmark. Local residents looked forward to revitalising and rejuvenating the market. Although the market had been used by some organisations to hold events in recent years, some residents did not regard that as genuine revitalisation but merely an act to prolong the life of the ailing building. The area, formerly a marketplace, was once with heavy pedestrian flows. It was supposed to be full of hustle and bustle;

(b) He appreciated that the Revitalisation Project was comprehensive in that the elements of a market would be included in the revitalised House of Urban and Rural Living. There would be shops selling local agricultural products, restaurants, guided tours, etc. Restaurants were of particular importance because they could attract people to visit the market;

(c) The House of Urban and Rural Living would not be put into operation till several years later. By the time, there might be changes in community demand and market trends, and the current operation plan might not be able to cater for the market needs at that time. HKLSS should therefore maintain close liaison with residents and members of the community, and adjust its operational approach and bring in new elements in the light of the prevailing situation. Since the Revitalisation Project was required to be self-sustainable in the long run, HKLSS had to be responsive to market development and to run the House of Urban and Rural Living in an innovative and flexible way; and

(d) Luen Wo Market was an important community landmark. He suggested HKLSS consider establishing a steering committee or an advisory committee to invite members of the community to express views on how to operate the House of Urban and Rural Living and to discuss the development direction together.

27. Ir George PANG made the following comments and suggestions: (a) Luen Wo Market was the collective memory of residents. The market

was very prosperous in the 1960s and 70s. On the second and sixteenth days of each month of the lunar calendar, villagers nearby would bring

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their agricultural products and livestock to Luen Wo Market for sale;

(b) Luen Wo Market was currently in a derelict state. It would occasionally be hired by some non-governmental organisations to hold activities. For example, a bamboo shelter was recently erected beside Luen Wo Market for volunteers to cut hair for the elderly there. He suggested that the bamboo shelter could be used as a performance venue for activities like busking which was very popular in recent years;

(c) Luen Wo Hui was built after Shek Wu Hui in the late 1940s to early 1950s. As just mentioned by Mr Hezon Tang, there was a public steelyard in the then Luen Wo Market. The weight of all the goods sold in the market had to be measured by the public steelyard. Villagers also had to use the public steelyard to measure the weight of their agricultural products before selling them;

(d) He suggested that one or two stalls making or selling traditional snacks of walled villages (such as popular Chinese New Year food like fried rice biscuits and steamed sticky rice dumplings) should be set up in the House of Urban and Rural Living to preserve collective memories. Luen Wo Market was a historic building. He hoped that people of all ages could feel the market atmosphere in the 1960s to 70s when they visited the venue. It would be particularly good for elderly visitors with failing memory as the venue reminded them of the time when they were young; and

(e) Luen Wo Hui was built with funds contributed by the gentry including Mr PANG Fu-wah, a respected figure of the Pang clan and Mr LI Chung-chong, Mr LI Kwok-fung’s grandfather, with the support of the Government. Unlike the present situation, Luen Wo Hui was a flourishing place in the old days. Despite the high-rise buildings, Luen Wo Hui nowadays had a reduced pedestrian flow. There used to be quite a number of Chiu Chow food stalls in the area, but that was no longer the case. As the government departments and HKLSS were determined to revitalise Luen Wo Market, they should do it properly to benefit more people.

28. Mr LAU Ki-fung made the following comments, suggestions and enquiries:

(a) He acknowledged the revitalisation efforts made by the departments concerned and HKLSS. He could see that the revitalisation team had

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conducted a great deal of research. He hoped that the House of Urban and Rural Living would organise bazaars in future to preserve the tradition;

(b) North District was characterised by a high production of agricultural produce. As Luen Wo Market used to be a food market, he hoped that the place could be used to promote local agricultural products. Guided tours should also be organised to enable residents within and outside North District to know more about the characteristics of the district, such as local agricultural products and bazaar culture;

(c) He was pleased that the Revitalisation Project could promote local employment. The House of Urban and Rural Living would create 23 full-time and 30 part-time posts. Since many local residents wished to secure a job in the district, the Revitalisation Project succeeded in addressing the needs of the residents. He hoped that the project could create more posts in future;

(d) He suggested the restaurants in the House of Urban and Rural Living should promote their businesses by specifying that the food they served was made with local agricultural products or was local traditional food (such as rice biscuits made by residents of Sheung Shui Wai);

(e) He asked about the operation hours of the House of Urban and Rural Living;

(f) There were many artists in North District. He suggested that the House of Urban and Rural Living should strengthen cooperation with the artists by, say, providing them with venues to hold exhibitions; and

(g) He suggested that prior to the official commencement of the revitalisation works, residents should be invited to express their views on the project and that subsequent to the opening of the House of Urban and Rural Living, a mechanism should be established (such as setting up of a committee or a focus group) to allow residents to express their views regularly. By doing so, not only could the operator better understand residents’ needs, but also community coherence could be enhanced. Although Luen Wo Market had accomplished its historical mission in 2002, he hoped that it could maintain its functions.

29. Mr Tony TANG made the following comments and suggestions: (a) Revitalising Luen Wo Market was the wish of many residents of North

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District. In the late 1940s, Mr LI Chung-chong, the grandfather of Mr LI Kwok-fung, raised funds from some local leaders in North District, Tai Po and San Tin, Yuen Long for setting up the Luen Wo Land Investment Company for the purpose of building Luen Wo Hui. Prior to the establishment of Luen Wo Hui, North District residents who wanted to visit a bazaar had to go to Shenzhen on foot. Although Shek Wu Hui was built afterwards, there was friction between the leaders of Fanling and the person-in-charge of Shek Wu Hui and therefore local leaders of Fanling decided to build Luen Wo Hui;

(b) A traditional rural area with over 100 villages, North District featured distinctive rural features. The Government had established Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail in North District and helped maintain the ancestral halls, temples and other ancient buildings in the district. Many local and foreign tourists came to North District specifically for the historic sites to know more about the traditional culture. Along with Liu Man Shek Tong Ancestral Hall, Fanling Wai, Kang Yung Study Hall and walled villages, the House of Urban and Rural Living would hopefully become another tourist attraction in North District;

(c) He suggested setting up a small exhibition hall inside the House of Urban and Rural Living for the display of farming tools of walled villages (such as winnowing machine and mud rake). Also, various forms of exhibitions (such as display of old photos) could be held in the hall to introduce the decennial Ta Chiu Festival and the lantern lighting ritual during the Ching Ming and Chung Yeung Festivals to allow visitors to know more about the way of life in walled villages; and

(d) He hoped that the Revitalisation Project could have a focus on nostalgia and preserve the traditions of the district. There used to be stalls selling traditional food such as steamed rice cup cakes and salted fish in Luen Wo Market. The revitalised House of Urban and Rural Living should also sell traditional snacks or handicrafts and should not provide modern facilities such as supermarkets. Today some of the villagers still made traditional snacks such as steamed sticky rice dumpling, Hakka rice cake, New Year pudding, glutinous rice dumpling, etc. Selling traditional snacks in the House of Urban and Rural Living could preserve the traditions and be in line with the architectural style of the ancient Luen Wo Market. This would help promote the traditional culture and showcase yesteryear’s way of life. It was his belief that upon completion of the House of Urban and Rural Living and with the

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proper management and ongoing promotion efforts of the operator, the rural culture could be better preserved and would help enrich people’s, especially foreigners’, knowledge about the traditional culture. It would be a great loss if traditional snacks and handicrafts died out as no one passed them on. He gave his full support to the Revitalisation Project and urged the departments concerned to consult the NDC and village representatives about the project details and to make preservation of traditional cultures (such as snacks and handicrafts) the direction of revitalisation.

30. Mr LEE Koon-hung made the following comments, suggestions and enquiries:

(a) When he was small, Luen Wo Hui was very prosperous with many food stalls. It was sad to see that the present Luen Wo Hui had become dead and quiet. He suggested that the restaurants inside the House of Urban and Rural Living should produce signature snacks of Luen Wo Hui to rekindle the nostalgic memories; and

(b) He hoped that the House of Urban and Rural Living would be operated in a down-to-earth fashion and would not be overly modernised, or it would attract only young people and fail to allow the older generation to reminisce about the past. He also hoped that the revitalisation team would do more research by, say, interviewing him or residents of Luen Wo Hui to include local characteristics of Luen Wo Hui in the Revitalisation Project.

31. Ir George PANG made the following comments and suggestions: (a) He shared Mr LEE Koon-hung’s view that the House of Urban and Rural

Living should not be too modernised, or only young people but not older people would be attracted to it;

(b) There were five major clans in the New Territories, namely the Tang clan, the Liu clan, the Man clan, the Hau clan and the Pang clan, and four of them originated in North District. The Man clan, though mainly settled in Tai Hang Village, Tai Po and San Tin, Yuen Long, had also helped financed the construction of Luen Wo Market. He hoped that the revitalisation team would, as part of the preparation work, take some time to visit members of the clans and talk to villagers to gain a deeper understanding of the clans’ histories. Urban residents might be interested in historic sites such as the Lung Yeuk Tau Heritage Trail as well as Pang Ancestral Hall, Sze Tak Study Hall, the old cannons and

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watchtowers dated from the Song Dynasty in Fanling Wai, which were not far away from the House of Urban and Rural Living. The revitalisation team could visit the village representatives concerned and explore with them the historic sites where guided tours should be conducted. There were considerable history resources in North District and they should be better utilised. Apart from displaying photos in the House of Urban and Rural Living, heritage tours should be arranged for people to visit these historic monuments; and

(c) Wai Tau dialect and Hakka dialect commonly spoken in walled villages would soon become extinct. Heung Yee Kuk was holding courses in Sha Tin to teach Wai Tau and Hakka dialects to young people. He suggested holding similar courses in the House of Urban and Rural Living and he was happy to be an instructor.

32. Mr Robin LEE said that Members had just recalled how prosperous Luen Wo Market had been and the Revitalisation Project was aimed at bringing Luen Wo Market back to prosperity. He thanked Members for their comments and suggestions, and gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(a) A total of 19 historic buildings would be revitalised in five batches under the Revitalisation Scheme. In the first two batches, nine historic buildings had been revitalised and had commenced operation. Among the 19 historic buildings, three were located in North District. The Revitalisation Scheme had made good progress and had brought about both tangible and intangible benefits to the communities where the historic buildings were situated. The aims of the Revitalisation Scheme were manifold, including promoting education, culture, arts, medical services and tourism development, fostering the development of local economy, creating employment opportunities, preserving and reusing vacant historic buildings, and strengthening cohesion within the district;

(b) The Revitalisation Scheme was not only supported by local sectors, but was also recognised internationally. Among the nine projects which had commenced operation, five were awarded the UNESCO Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation, which had proven that the Revitalisation Scheme had gained international recognition. Last year, the Blue House Cluster in Wan Chai even won the top honour of the Award of Excellence. This was the first time Hong Kong had received this honour. The main reason for the winning of the award was the good communication established by the operator of the Blue House Cluster with local residents and different stakeholders. He believed that

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HKLSS would continue to attach importance to public engagement and maintain communication with other stakeholders;

(c) At present, there were three revitalisation projects in North District. The first one was the former Fanling Magistracy under Batch III of the Revitalisation Scheme. The project was near completion and the building was expected to open in late 2018. He thanked the NDC for its support to the project. The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the operator of the building, would invite Members to visit the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Institute for Leadership Development after revitalisation in around November to let Members find out more about its operation. The second one was the Lady Ho Tung Welfare Centre in Kwu Tung under Batch IV which was also supported by the NDC. The project had been granted funding. It was estimated that revitalisation works would commence in late 2018 and finish in 2020. The third one was Luen Wo Market under discussion. It was estimated that operation would commence in 2022 at the earliest. He believed that HKLSS would maintain close liaison with all stakeholders in the course of preparation; and

(d) He would leave Members’ suggestions on the operation of the House of Urban and Rural Living to HKLSS’ representatives to respond.

33. In response to Members’ comments and suggestions, Mr Billy TANG gave a consolidated reply as follows:

(a) He was honoured to have HKLSS being selected as the operator of the Revitalisation of Luen Wo Market. He thanked Members and local residents for their deep concern over the project, and promised that he would visit all stakeholders;

(b) With regard to the historical items (such as winnowing machine and public steelyard) as just mentioned by Members, HKLSS had planned to display items from different eras in the House of Urban and Rural Living to showcase scenes of life of a community which had realised urban-rural integration. However, HKLSS did not possess such items for the time being and he hoped that residents who possessed such items could generously donate them to HKLSS;

(c) He undertook to maintain cooperation with all stakeholders during the preparation stage. HKLSS had been serving North District for a long time and had been working in partnership with different sectors in the

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district. He looked forward to the continued partnership;

(d) Luen Wo Hui did not cover only Luen Wo Market, but also its environs. HKLSS planned to organise guided tours and would organise them in a modern fashion;

(e) It was tentatively planned that the House of Urban and Rural Living would open from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Monday to Thursday, and from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. or 10:00 p.m. on Friday to Sunday, depending on whether a bazaar would take place at night. The operation of vegetable stalls had been taken into consideration when deciding the opening hours as market traders would start working at 4:00 a.m. and collect vegetables as early as 6:00 a.m. He estimated that there would be fewer non-local visitors from Monday to Thursday, and hoped that the bazaars held at weekends would attract more non-local visitors. The House of Urban and Rural Living would organise night bazaars on Fridays and daytime bazaars on Saturdays and Sundays;

(f) He hoped that the restaurants in the House of Urban and Rural Living would sell local agricultural products and traditional food. However, it was not easy to recruit chefs who could cook traditional food. Most of them were only willing to give cooking demonstration or coach people. It was also quite impossible to require them to work for long hours in the restaurants because of their old age. He hoped to create a branding effect for the House of Urban and Rural Living, as in the case of Cheung Chau where people would think of the local snacks of Cheung Chau when visiting the place. He hoped that visitors would associate the House of Urban and Rural Living with traditional food items in North District;

(g) He hoped that Members could provide information and assist in liaison work. HKLSS would send two staff members to conduct research in the district. The contents of the exhibition in the House of Urban and Rural Living would be updated timely to recreate different scenes of Luen Wo Hui in the old days;

(h) There would be 40 stalls in the bazaar held in the House of Urban and Rural Living. Eleven of them would be reserved for traditional arts and crafts. There would also be a public space for performance use; and

(i) The construction works of the House of Urban and Rural Living would be entrusted to the architectural team. HKLSS would maintain liaison

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with Members on the planning of software infrastructure. Members were welcome to inform HKLSS of their comments.

34. In conclusion, the Chairman said that all Members were supportive of the revialisation of Luen Wo Market, and had put forward views worthy of consideration. He recalled that there was a tree in each of the four corners of Luen Wo Hui in the past, and a police post was erected beneath one of the trees. By the time only two police officers were deployed in Luen Wo Hui and residents could go to the police post to ask for help when necessary. He hoped that HKLSS could collect and display more historical information to attract both local and non-local visitors to the House of Urban and Rural Living, thereby achieving the vision for revitalising the building. He wished the revitalisation of Luen Wo Market a smooth success. (Mr LARM Wai-leung left the meeting at this juncture.) Item 4 - Proposal: Providing Additional Resources to Strengthen Tree

Management System (NDC Papers Nos. 53/2018 and 54/2018)

35. The Chairman said the DEVB had provided a written response to the above proposal. Moreover, Ms Florence KO, the Head of Tree Management Office (“TMO”) and Ms Olivia CHEUNG, the Assistant Secretary (Tree Management) 3 of the DEVB were at the meeting to answer Members’ enquires.

36. Mr LIU Hing-hung presented NDC Paper No. 53/2018. 37. Ms Florence KO presented NDC Paper No. 54/2018. 38. Dr Raymond HO had the following comments and questions:

(a) After the passage of two recent typhoons, some species of trees had a risk of collapse and should no longer be planted by roadsides;

(b) Some collapsed trees had been cut into logs and placed at roadsides instead of being removed. They might become the breeding grounds of mosquitoes in rainy weather; and

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(c) He enquired if the collapsed trees could be turned into facilities like benches and be placed at where they were once planted to create a distinctive feature. The authority might also follow the Mainland practice of turning trunks and branches into fertilisers. Such practices would be more environmental friendly than disposing the trees at landfills and could avoid hindering the operation of landfills.

39. Mr LAU Ki-fung had the following comments:

(a) With a lack of tree planting knowledge, the authorities had planted some species at wrong places. After the passage of Super Typhoon Mangkhut, it was revealed that there were cement grounds under the roots of some collapsed trees, causing abnormal growth of trees roots. The TMO should enhance the health inspection of trees in the district and formulate responding strategies;

(b) According to a community organisation, trunks and branches of the collapsed trees were useful in many ways and could be recycled as green furniture. However, they were now thrown away at landfills as rubbish. He understood that the first priority of the authorities was to clear the fallen trees, but the TMO should formulate the relevant policies in future and cooperate with community organisations by allowing them to handle trunks and branches that could be reused;

(c) The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (“LCSD”) might use its wood chippers to reduce broken branches into woodchips which could be reused in nature;

(d) The department concerned should encourage community involvement by considering expanding the Green Volunteer Scheme to cover all the 18 districts in Hong Kong. With abundant trees in North District but limited resources, the Government could leverage the Green Volunteer Scheme by delivering knowledge of tree conservation to the green volunteers who could then monitor the conditions of trees in North District and provide data and comments for the relevant departments to follow up. This would be of much help to the Government for handling tree-related matters; and

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(e) The Government might promote knowledge of trees among students at primary, secondary and university levels so that they could help monitor the health of trees. The education work could also raise students’ awareness of tree preservation and environmental protection, and would be important for the district or even territory-wide tree conservation work .

40. Mr Warwick WAN had the following comments and suggestions:

(a) The Government hotline 1823 failed to offer appropriate assistance on clearing fallen trees and handling problematic trees during and before the typhoon;

(b) When handling tree-related complaints, the Housing Department (“HD”) insisted that extensive pruning should not be carried out according to the practice note even the trees concerned were tilting across the rooftops of the houses nearby;

(c) Being a concrete jungle, Hong Kong had huge areas of land covered by cement, causing abnormal root growth of the trees planted along roadsides. The taller the trees grew, the higher the risk of collapse. Some fallen big trees (such as Chinese banyan) did not have main roots;

(d) Some trees planted on slopes had been left unattended;

(e) The roots of some big trees planted on pavements had spread to the neighbouring cycling tracks. Not only did the tree roots occupy significant pavement space and cause damage to the cycling tracks, but they also caused inconvenience to both pedestrians and cyclists. The situation also made it difficult for the departments concerned to carry out road cleansing and maintenance works;

(f) The Government should review its tree management policy. It should make reference to the practice of other places and avoid massive planting of large trees (especially by the roadsides where there were limited space), lest the trees might cause other problems when they grew up. The Government might consider planting more

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trees at main access of housing estates;

(g) The TMO should adjust its greening strategy by pruning trees frequently to prevent them from growing too tall; and

(h) He suggested that the government departments (especially the HD) should require the security companies they engaged to hire a certified arborist and to provide other staff with relevant training so that they could help clearing fallen trees after typhoons, so as to avoid the situation of fallen trees being left unattended due to a lack of manpower or tools.

41. Mr Kent TSANG opined that after the typhoon, adequate resources had been allocated by the Government to clear fallen trees in the urban areas of North District. However, collapsed trees in some rural areas had yet to be cleared as many of the places involved private land (except that some emergency cases had been handled by the Hong Kong Fire Services Department (“FSD”)). He had received requests for assistance from some members of the public, saying that trees had fallen upon the rooftops of squatter huts. But no assistance would be provided by the TMO for such cases. Even though village representatives had arranged helpers to clear collapsed trees in rural areas, the resources were insufficient given the vastness of the rural areas in North District. He remarked that the green volunteers trained by the LCSD could only assist in tree surveillance work but not tree cutting. As suggested in the above proposal, a tree care volunteer team (“volunteer team”) should be set up with public funding to approach tree problems with different solutions and to help handling tree problems in places where government support was inadequate. He hoped the Head of TMO would respond positively to the proposal.

42. Ir George PANG had the following comments:

(a) The Government had made sufficient preparation before Super Typhoon Mangkhut came, but the clean-up work in the wake of the typhoon was comparatively inadequate;

(b) There was a lack of arborists in Hong Kong and a shortage of manpower in government departments who could help handling tree matters. After the passage of the typhoon, many broken trunks and branches awaiting clearance could still be seen by the roadsides in

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various places throughout Hong Kong. He enquired if the Government had any stopgap measures, including allocating more resources for hiring more temporary workers and deploying serving civil servants as appropriate to carry out clean-up works in the short run;

(c) He praised the hard work of policemen and firemen who performed the relief work diligently after the typhoon, including the clearance of collapsed trees on roads to restore traffic flows;

(d) It was known that some members of the public, seeing a lack of government resources, joined together on their own initiative to remove fallen trees and clean up their community;

(e) Many collapsed trees had disproportionately small roots compared to their crowns, making the trees top-heavy and easily blown over;

(f) The Government should plant the right tree species in the right place. Different species should be planted in country parks and by the roadsides;

(g) Most of the roads and pavements in Hong Kong were paved with cement, and the tree pits were too small for tree roots to absorb air. Moreover, as ground infiltration of rainwater was made impossible, tree roots could only spread laterally or would even grow along road surface to absorb water; and

(h) He hoped the departments responsible for planting trees, including the TMO, the LCSD, the HyD, the HD and the AFCD, would review the planting practices in Hong Kong, such as whether suitable tree species were used, whether tree pits should be enlarged, and how to reinforce tree trunks (by say, installing cable bracings on trunks).

43. Mr LIU Hing-hung said that many trees collapsed in the wake of Super Typhoon Mangkhut, and the Hong Kong Police Force (“HKPF”), the HyD, and the LCSD cleaned up tree debris promptly to re-open the roads. Some of the fallen trees were yet to be removed as they did not affect the traffic flows. However, they did affect the daily lives of residents and cause inconvenience to

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them. Therefore, the setting up of a volunteer team as suggested in the above proposal could share the workload of the Government in cleaning up tree debris and handling public complaints. So far there were still a number of collapsed trees and broken branches awaiting clearance in the district, with some of them on the rooftops of village houses. The setting up of the community volunteer team could help handling the issues, solving the problems for the public and protecting their personal safety. He hoped that funding would be provided by the Government to set up the volunteer team which could serve the public during natural disasters. Moreover, oversized or overgrown trees would be blown over easily by strong winds. As far as he knew, trees of excessive height in places like Sha Tin Racecourse or in other countries would be trimmed at the top so that lateral branches would grow. Therefore, he opined that topping would not necessarily affect the health of trees as said by some tree experts. He also suggested growing suitable tree species by roadsides to ensure that trees would not collapse easily in future.

(Ir George PANG left the meeting at this juncture.)

44. The Chairman put forward the following views and questions:

(a) Many trees had collapsed because of Super Typhoon Mangkhut and various problems related to tree planting were revealed, including tree planting techniques and species selection. For instance, some trees were planted too close to each other that they could only grow upwards. Some trees were planted too shallow by tree contractors, resulting in the roots growing only in the shallow depth of the soil. Some contractors even did not remove the roots’ nylon wrapping before they planted the trees, and some workers hurt the seedlings inadvertently when using lawnmowers. Some large trees had been planted in planters with little soil which were only suitable for planting shrubs. Some trees of excessive height should not be trimmed at the top. Due to the reasons above, some trees became vulnerable to strong winds and collapsed easily during typhoons. He did not understand why trees could not be trimmed at the top, opining that topping could be carried out if one got the timing right;

(b) Due to their exposure to wind, big trees were not suitable for planting along pavements. But they could be planted on hillsides or by major roads. Small trees that were less susceptible to wind damage would

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be preferable in urban areas;

(c) He understood that it was not easy to obtain the professional qualification of an arborist and arborists had to know English. The authority should organise courses conducted in Chinese so that more horticultural workers could be trained. The authority should also help them obtain the licence of an arborist so that they could assist in tree maintenance and management work;

(d) The idea of setting up a volunteer team as mentioned in the proposal was inspired by the volunteer teams set up by the FSD in squatter areas and villages in the New Territories through the old District Offices in the past. The volunteer teams were provided with fire extinguishers, fire beaters and sand buckets, and fire safety knowledge was imparted to the volunteers so that they could help extinguishing the fire before firemen arrived;

(e) In North District, many tree-related issues needed attention but there was a lack of resources. With the setting up of the volunteer team, volunteers could be taught with knowledge of trees and their maintenance. Problematic trees spotted during routine inspections by the volunteer team could be reported to the relevant departments so that the problems could be addressed as soon as possible;

(f) The Government should streamline the procedures and allow the volunteer team to carry out minor tree pruning works to reduce tree risks. If prior approval had to be obtained from arborists for all the relevant works, he was afraid that some trees might have collapsed before completion of the procedures;

(g) The volunteer team could assist in the tree pruning works or clearance operations in the areas not covered by government resources;

(h) The volunteer team could be formed by recruiting members by community organisations. Training could be provided by the TMO or experienced instructors who could teach knowledge of tree care and acquire tools such as ropes and saws for the volunteer team, so that the participants might serve as a manpower reserve for tree

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management in North District and offer assistance to the TMO when necessary. The establishment of the volunteer team would require limited resources but be helpful to the work of the TMO;

(i) There were many horticultural workers in North District and there were also tree climbing teams in schools. They could also help in the tree maintenance works in the district; and

(j) The establishment of the above-mentioned volunteer team was different from that of the Green Volunteer Scheme by nature. The TMO might first set up the volunteer team and promote the relevant work in North District, and then promote the idea to other districts. He hoped that the TMO would take the above proposal seriously and consider setting up the volunteer team in North District.

45. Ms Florence KO gave a consolidated response to Members’ views, suggestions and questions as follows:

(a) As regards the recovery work after the typhoon, the Government would review the recovery work in respect of Super Typhoon Mangkhut and formulate improvement measures correspondingly to prepare for future major typhoons;

(b) As regards the tree planting in urban areas, trees in old urban areas were planted many years ago, with most of them growing in cramped environment. Guidelines had been issued by the Greening, Landscape and Tree Management Section of the DEVB which was established in 2010 to remind the industry and the works departments to plant trees in a suitable environment. Therefore, the growing environment of newly planted trees was much better than that in the past;

(c) As regards tree replanting after typhoons, the TMO would publish the “Street Tree Selection Guide” (“the Guide”) by the end of this year. Government departments were advised to select suitable tree species for replanting in suitable places by following the Guide and the principle of “Right Tree Right Place”. The industry and the public were welcomed to make reference to the Guide. When replanting trees, factors including the planting objectives, the planting sites and

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the characteristics and needs of different tree species had to be considered. Moreover, one had to ensure that trees planted would grow healthily in their life cycle and pose no danger. The Guide recommended 80 tree species that were suitable for urban environments and were resilient to wind, heat and pests and diseases. Besides, the TMO would convene an inter-departmental tree replanting working group meeting to coordinate the replanting programme. The departments would consult the public on the tree replanting arrangements as and when necessary, with the hope of choosing the most suitable species for planting;

(d) As regards training for volunteers and community involvement, the TMO had been organising seminars and training courses on tree-related themes for the public and students. The TMO welcomed quiries from Members regarding the training courses and seminars. Specific training courses and seminars could also be arranged for North District residents who were interested in greening activities. Moreover, the TMO would hold a territory-wide roving exhibition from November 2018 to March 2019 to introduce to the public proper tree care measures. TMO Officers would answer public’s enquires at the exhibition; and

(e) As far as tree pruning was concerned, it was a common tree care practice. Proper pruning could help improve the structure of trees and contribute to the overall tree health. However, if topping was performed, the trunk of the tree would not be large enough to assume the terminal role. Trees took in air and nutrients via their branches and leaves. Topped trees lost too many branches and leaves and had difficulty in taking in nutrients merely by their trunks. They would also be susceptible to pests and diseases. Branches that grew after topping would be very weak and prone to breakage in windy conditions. Members said they had seen cases of topped trees in some places. Trees might seem to be healthy after topping, but they would become vulnerable to pests and diseases due to the big wounds. Their health would deteriorate gradually and problems would emerge within three to five years. To prevent this from happening for trees in Hong Kong, the TMO adopted better and professional methods of pruning such as crown reduction and regular trimming to avoid excessive size or height of trees and to prevent them from affecting nearby facilities. Such methods could reduce the adverse effects of

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trees to the public, so that human beings and trees could co-exist in harmony in a way that trees could grow healthily while public safety could be ensured.

46. Mr LIU Hing-hung put forward the following views and questions:

(a) Some trees on Fung Nam Road were broken because of the typhoon, but they were still alive with sprouts coming out again. Some trees on Tin Ping Road were also broken by the typhoon and only the trunks remained. He asked whether these trees should be removed or kept;

(b) The roots of many trees grew very shallow, and the trees would keep growing tall if only crown pruning but not topping was performed. This would result in increasing risk of collapse of the trees; and

(c) He did not understand why topping of trees could be done in foreign countries but not in Hong Kong.

47. Mr WAN Wo-fai said that Hong Kong was hit by typhoons every year and witnessed cases of tree collapse on each occasion. He noticed that many large trees that had collapsed in the wake of the latest typhoon were paper-bark trees planted in the 1950s and 60s. Many paper-bark trees were planted along the roads from Fanling to Sha Tau Kok, from Kwu Tung, Sheung Shui to Yuen Long and Tsiu Keng, and from Tai Po to Yuen Long. These paper-bark trees fell over during the typhoon probably because they were near the end of their life cycle. In Sha Tau Kok, many paper-bark trees were planted in the middle of pavements and obstructed the passage of pedestrians. He asked whether the authority would consider removing these paper-bark trees or let them collapse in the following eight to ten years. He pointed out that two paper-bark trees at the site of Green Code, Fanling were removed at a cost of over $2 million. He reckoned that paper-bark trees could neither protect the environment nor provide shading, and doubted if it was worth spending so much on the trees. He opined that the TMO should inspect the paper-bark trees planted on the roadsides and solve the relevant problems. Besides, he asked how the TMO would assess the trees if they were found to be hazardous, and asked whether the TMO would put public safety or conservation of the trees as top priority.

48. Mr Warwick WAN said that the above proposal aimed at tackling the problems that Hong Kong was facing and some improvement measures were

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proposed. However, the TMO only responded by citing the tree management practices of western countries. He opined that this could not help solve the community problems. Given the increasing intensity of typhoons in future, he asked if all the relevant departments (including the HD) had learned from the experience drawn from typhoon Mangkhut and conducted an inter-departmental review of the tree policy and relevant contingency measures to find out the most suitable planting and pruning methods for trees in Hong Kong and to formulate a coordination mechanism. Although it was said that topping would adversely affect tree health, he queried if the life and property of the public and community facilities should be more important than trees.

49. The Chairman said that topping of trees should only be done to young trees to promote the growth of lateral branches. If topping was to be performed for roadside trees, it should be done when the trees were within the height of a double-decked bus (i.e. about 15 feet). Roadside trees which were planted too close to each other or with excessive height due to inappropriate pruning should not be topped. He said that on the Mainland, some trees were topped and moved to other places to make way for a dam construction project and they were still alive. He reiterated that he did not understand why topping could not be done for trees in Hong Kong. He also asked whether the TMO supported the setting up of the tree care volunteer team in North District.

50. Ms Florence KO responded that extensive recovery work had been carried out by the TMO after the typhoon and the TMO would review the work and take stock of experience gained in due course. Upon completion of the review, the TMO would brief the NDC on the improvement measures. Also, the DEVB would hold an inter-departmental working group meeting to discuss tree planting issues. The working group consisted of the core tree management departments, including the HD, the Architectural Services Department, the HyD, the CEDD and the LCSD. The departments would consult all the District Council Members on the tree planting plan, with the hope of providing the public with a better living environment by planting trees to make up for those knocked down by the typhoon. The primary objective of the existing tree policy was to protect the life and property of the public. The tree management departments would therefore remove trees identified as posing imminent hazards, closely monitor trees with health problems and undertake risk mitigation measures regularly. Trees identified with imminent danger should be reported to the Police as soon as possible. The FSD would help remove trees with immediate danger on private and government land. Members of the public could also report problematic trees to the government hotline 1823.

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51. Mr Tony TANG remarked that Ms Florence KO had not indicated whether she supported the establishment of the volunteer team.

52. Mr LIU Hing-hung said that there were originally two trees next to the Praise Assembly, Sheung Shui Wai and they were planted on the land between a small house and a squatter hut. The trees collapsed during the typhoon but fortunately they fell on the small house, or else casualties might be caused. He had informed the relevant department of the tree case before the typhoon came, and the department had undertaken an in-situ inspection. However, no further follow-up action had been taken afterwards, except that a sign marked “T124” was hung there. He reckoned that the authority had been too slow to address problematic trees.

53. The Chairman concluded that North District had to fend for themselves and should not rely on the TMO to solve the tree problems in the district. He thanked the representative of the TMO for attending the meeting.

Item 5 - Proposal: Calling Upon the Government to Review the

Rainstorm Warning System being Operated in Hong Kong and the Arrangements for Handling Water Discharge from Shenzhen

(NDC Papers Nos. 55/2018, 56/2018 and 57/2018)

54. The Chairman said both the Hong Kong Observatory (“HKO”) and the Security Bureau (“SB”) had provided written responses to the above Members’ proposal which were at NDC Papers Nos. 56/2018 and 57/2018 respectively. Mr LEE Lap-shun, Senior Scientific Officer (Forecast Operation) of the HKO, was at the meeting to respond to Members’ enquiries. Also, Ms CHIU Wai-po, District Commander (Border) of the HKPF, would also answer Members’ questions on the matter concerned. 55. Mr LAU Ki-fung presented NDC Paper No. 55/2018 and added the following comments:

(a) As regards the rainstorm warning system, he displayed the regional 24-hour rainfall maps for 26 August 2018 and 29 August 2018, pointing out that over 150 millimetres of rainfall was recorded over Hong Kong

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Island on 26 August 2018. The HKO issued the Amber Rainstorm Warning Signal swiftly at 10:15 p.m. and issued the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal at 11:05 p.m. On 29 August 2018 on which serious flooding occurred in New Territories areas like North District and Yuen Long and more than 200 millimetres of rainfall was recorded, however, the HKO issued the Amber Rainstorm Warning Signal at 2:10 p.m. and did not issue the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal until 6:40 p.m. The rain kept intensifying in North District on 29 August 2018. Based on his visual assessment, the rainfall had reached the criteria for a Black Rainstorm Warning Signal and there was serious flooding in many places in the district. The timing for the HKO to issue a Red Rainstorm Warning Signal on the above two days for different districts varied significantly and it seemed that the HKO was “placing emphasis on the urban areas and neglecting the New Territories”. The existing rainstorm warning system failed to adequately protect the safety of residents in the New Territories. He urged the HKO to review the system critically;

(b) As far as the notification mechanism for water discharge from Shenzhen was concerned, the SB, being the “gatekeeper” of Hong Kong in this regard, performed poorly in handling the notification for water discharge from Shenzhen. The SB said in its written response that the HKPF was informed by the Shenzhen authority at 1:33 a.m. on 30 August 2018 that water would be discharged from Shenzhen at 2:30 a.m. In other words, the decision on water discharge was passed to Hong Kong Police by the Shenzhen authority only 57 minutes before the discharge, falling short of the requirement of giving a 3-hour prior notice under the notification mechanism. Moreover, the Hong Kong Government announced the water discharge only at 2:37 a.m. on the day, i.e. seven minutes after the water discharge. He questioned how the Hong Kong Government could protect the safety of lives and property of Hong Kong residents. He urged the SB and other relevant departments to review the existing mechanism. As there was no representative from the SB at the meeting, he asked the HKPF to convey his views to the Bureau; and

(c) He expressed concern about the quality of water discharged from the Shenzhen Reservoir, but the SB had not responded to this point in its written response. Some affected residents worried that the flood water would get polluted after passing through polluted river courses and harm the health of the residents and their crops if polluted water flew to their houses or farmland.

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56. Mr LEE Lap-shun responded to Mr LAU Ki-fung’s comments as follows:

(a) The rainstorm warning was a territory-wide warning system which reflected the overall impact of rainstorms on Hong Kong. When operating the system, the HKO would take into consideration the risks brought by a rainstorm, including flooding and landslides, and would not over-emphasise individual districts. There would be no question of “placing emphasis on the urban areas and neglecting the New Territories”;

(b) Due to the relatively flat terrain and the presence of large water catchment areas, the New Territories areas were susceptible to flooding during heavy rainfall and the flooding might last for several hours. In view of this, the HKO had launched many years ago the Special Announcement on Flooding in the Northern New Territories (“SAFNNT”) especially for the region to reflect the flooding situation in North District. The HKO also launched the Announcement on Localised Heavy Rain service a few years ago, which was applicable to the 18 districts across the territory;

(c) When a SAFNNT was issued, the departments concerned would take appropriate actions. For example, the Drainage Services Department (“DSD”) would activate the Emergency Control Centre, the HAD would open temporary shelters and the FSD would carry out rescue operations as required;

(d) According to the guideline issued to schools by the Education Bureau (“EDB”), if a SAFNNT was issued by the HKO but the rainstorm warning was not issued, schools should assess their own vulnerability to heavy rainfall and flooding based on their past experiences and the actual situation and decide whether class suspension was required. They might proceed to suspend classes after consulting the EDB. Moreover, parents could exercise their discretion in deciding whether to send their children to school having regard to the weather conditions. The guideline assisted schools and parents in their decision on whether to allow their students/children to go to schools before the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal was issued;

(e) Regarding the rainstorm on 29 August 2018, the HKO issued the SAFNNT at 4 p.m. on the day. It was reported that the rain was particularly heavy in Sheung Shui and Ta Kwu Ling, and residents of the

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two districts were warned of possible flooding. Although the Red Rainstorm Warning Signal and the Amber Rainstorm Warning Signal were cancelled respectively at around 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on that night, the SAFNNT remained in force till 6:45 a.m. the next morning as flooding remained serious during the time. This reflected that the HKO attached great importance to the impact of flooding on North District;

(f) It was noted that Mr LAU Ki-fung expressed concern about the different arrangements on issuing rainstorm warning signals on 26 August 2018 and 29 August 2018. The 24-hour rainfall maps presented by Mr LAU showed the accumulated rainfall amounts of the two days. However, each rainstorm had its own characteristics and the hourly rainfall of each rainstorm differed. Red Rainstorm Warning Signals were issued on the two days at different timings as the HKO had taken into account the hourly rainfall amounts during the time and the impacts of the rainstorms to Hong Kong as a whole instead of the 24-hour rainfall amounts of the two days;

(g) To assist members of the public to get hold of the information on the regions affected by the SAFNNT, the HKO launched a new webpage in September 2018 which showed the regions being affected by the SAFNNT and provided updates on the rainfall data of each district at 15-minute intervals; and

(h) Radio and television announcements would be made when the HKO issued the SAFNNT, and the logo of the SAFNNT would be displayed on television screens. He hoped members of the public would pay attention to the announcements in relation to the SAFNNT and take the necessary precautions.

57. In response to the Police’s role in the notification mechanism for water discharge, Ms CHIU Wai-po responded as follows:

(a) According to the Contingency Plan for Natural Disasters formulated by the SB, the Shenzhen Authority would inform Hong Kong of their decision on water discharge from the Shenzhen Reservoir 3 hours before the discharge. In the event of unforeseen circumstances where the 3-hour prior notice was not feasible, the Shenzhen Authority would notify Hong Kong as soon as possible. Upon receipt of such notification, the Border Liaison Officer of the Border District of the HKPF would pass the message to the departments concerned, including

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the North District Office (“NDO”), Yuen Long District Office, DSD, WSD, FSD, HKO, ISD and SB. The message would also be disseminated within the HKPF so that the frontline formations could get prepared;

(b) As regards the notification arrangements in respect of the water discharge on 30 August 2018, the Police was informed by the Shenzhen Authority at 1:33 a.m. on the day that water would be discharged from the Shenzhen Reservoir from 2:30 a.m. After confirming the details, the Police and the Shenzhen Authority notified the departments concerned promptly according to the existing mechanism. The HKPF had reported to the SB on its work during the incident and was reviewing the communication arrangements among various departments to enhance the efficiency of the notification mechanism;

(c) The HKPF had also discussed with the Shenzhen Authority on the notification arrangements in respect of water discharges at the regular meeting held in mid-September, and was reassured by the Shenzhen Authority that a 3-hour prior notice would be given as far as possible for future water discharge. In the event of unforeseen circumstances where the 3-hour prior notice was not feasible, the Shenzhen Authority would notify Hong Kong as soon as possible so that residents in Hong Kong could get prepared; and

(d) Regarding the quality of the water discharged, according to the information provided by the Shenzhen Authority, the water was discharged from the Shenzhen Reservoir and was potable for consumption by Shenzhen residents.

58. Mr LAU Ki-fung asked the following questions:

(a) Mr LEE Lap-shun just responded that when operating the rainstorm warning system, the HKO would consider the overall impact of rainstorms on Hong Kong. He asked if the HKO was of the view that Hong Kong Island and Kowloon had a greater overall impact on the city, and how the HKO defined the overall impact of rainstorms on Hong Kong; and

(b) As regards the notification arrangements in respect of water discharges from Shenzhen, he asked why the Government made the announcement seven minutes after the water was released. He urged the authority

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concerned to improve the announcement mechanism so that the residents affected would be notified promptly. Should the Shenzhen Authority inform Hong Kong of their decision on water discharge 3 hours beforehand, the HKPF should have sufficient time to notify the departments concerned and local residents. But if in future the Shenzhen Authority informed Hong Kong of the decision less than 3 hours beforehand, the life and property of North District residents could hardly be protected. He asked if the HKPF had put in place any contingency plan. He hoped the HKO and the HKPF could answer the questions he just raised and explain in further detail how the mechanism operated.

59. Mr LEE Lap-shun responded that although Hong Kong was small in area, its terrain was complex and the impact and risk of heavy rain, flooding or landslides in different regions was not the same. As the rainstorm warning was a territory-wide warning system, the HKO would not consider solely the spatial coverage of heavy rain when operating the system. They would also take into consideration the impact of rainstorms. Currently, over 100 rain gauges scattered around Hong Kong and the data collected would be used to determine rainstorm warning. The rain gauges were not distributed evenly across the territory. There were a number of factors being considered. The rain gauges were denser in areas of higher risk of flooding and landslides and of higher population density. If heavy rain fell over areas of denser rain gauges, the number of rain gauges recording high rainfall level would then be higher, and thereby higher chance of issuing rainstorm warning. He referred to a blog article of the HKO mentioned in the HKO’s written reply, titled “Let’s talk about rainstorm warning (Part 1): Origin”, in which there were maps showing the distribution of risks of flooding and landslides across the territory. He was aware that NDC Members would visit the HKO the day following the meeting. Members would then be briefed in detail on the technologies employed for forecasting weather and the considerations to be taken into account when operating the rainstorm warning system. 60. Ms CHIU Wai-po added that as far as she knew, the Shenzhen Authority would make decisions on water discharge after careful deliberation and water would be released by following established procedures. Despite the uncertainties in weather development, the Shenzhen Authority promised that it

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would try its best to act according to the existing mechanism and give the Hong Kong Government a 3-hour notice before water discharge took place. In the event of unforeseen circumstances where the 3-hour prior notice was not feasible, the Shenzhen Authority would notify Hong Kong as soon as possible. Given that various government departments would be engaged when implementing the contingency measures for water discharge, the SB would spearhead a review of the duties and responsibilities of each of the departments and facilitate communication among the departments with a view to improving the notification mechanism. She would relay Members’ views to the SB for further consideration. 61. Mr LEE Koon-hung raised the following views and questions:

(a) In the past, he learnt about the message of water release from news reports. Regarding the water release took place on 30 August 2018, the Police Community Relations Office of the Border District had disseminated the message to members of Sha Tau Kok District Rural Committee and all the village representatives of the district in the morning of the day so that they could notify the villagers. According to the information provided by the Border District, water was discharged from the Shenzhen Reservoir from 2:30 a.m. on the day and the discharge would cease at 4 p.m. To his understanding, water would be discharged slowly at a design flow instead of being released in one go;

(b) In the past, flooding was expected to occur in the low-lying plains of North District when water was discharged from the Shenzhen Reservoir. However, with the completion of the improvement works to Ng Tung River and the drainage improvement works at Loi Tung Tsuen, flooding problems caused by water discharge had been kept under control. The water discharge from Shenzhen was not the cause for flooding in North District on the day. It was that the drainage failed to drain away in time the rain water brought on by heavy rain episodes;

(c) The notification arrangements in respect of water discharges from Shenzhen should be coordinated by the HAD which should notify all the departments concerned (including the DSD, FSD and HKPF) so that they could take necessary actions. He could not see why the SB and the HKPF were tasked to coordinate the dissemination of water discharge messages under the existing notification mechanism; and

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(d) Procedural issues were identified in the notification arrangements in respect of water discharges from Shenzhen. Members should discuss ways to address the issues instead of politicising the matter and speculating about whether the SB and the HKPF had intended to hide the news. In fact, the Border District had done its job properly in notifying the parties concerned of the water discharge, and thanks to their effort the flooding situation was brought under control.

62. Mr WAN Wo-fai opined that one of the recommendations in the proposal, i.e. “To urge the SB to make a serious request to the Shenzhen Authority on behalf of Hong Kong”, showed hostility. He considered that the existing notification mechanism for water discharges was well-established and there was nothing wrong with it. Moreover, he opined that it was unreasonable to ask the Government to explain the water composition as the water discharged had passed through many places. 63. Mr Tony TANG opined that there would be serious impacts on both Shenzhen and Hong Kong in case of dam failure of the Shenzhen Reservoir, and so water discharges from the reservoir were necessary. He recalled that during a water discharge activity at the Shenzhen Reservoir about ten years ago, serious flooding occurred in both Shenzhen and many low-lying areas in North District which might also be induced by seawater backflow. Since that time, the Municipal Government of Shenzhen handled water discharges in a more prudent manner. It would determine the method and flow of the discharge according to the actual situation and notify the Hong Kong Government. In the recent decade, with the completion of the Shenzhen River Regulation Project and the drainage improvement works in Yuen Long by the DSD, the risk of extensive flooding in North District (in areas such as Tin Ping Shan Tsuen and Ho Sheung Heung in Sheung Shui) had been reduced significantly. 64. Mr LAU Ki-fung queried that if, as mentioned by Mr LEE Koon-hung, the HKPF had been notified of the water discharge at an earlier time, why the announcement had not been made earlier. He hoped that the HKPF would, upon completion of the review of the notification process among various departments, brief the NDC on how the efficiency of the notification process could be enhanced. Also, the HKO could explain in detail how the impact of rainstorms would be considered when operating the rainstorm warning system

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during the visit to be made by NDC Members at the Observatory on the day following the meeting so that Members could have a better understanding of it. 65. Mr CHONG Wing-wun said that under the existing Government structure, the SB was responsible for coordinating the emergency efforts during major emergencies so that various departments could take action accordingly. Although the information dissemination of water discharge was not part of the policing work, the liaison work with the Municipal Government of Shenzhen had all along been under the HKPF’s purview for historical reasons. As long as the mechanism remained unchanged, the liaison work with Shenzhen would be conducted under the established liaison mechanism of the HKPF. According to his observation, rainfall was particularly heavy in the evening on 29 August 2018. The NDO started to receive flooding reports and calls for assistance in the evening. All the rainstorm warning signals were cancelled at around 10 p.m. It was not until about 2 a.m. the next day that water discharge took place at the Shenzhen Reservoir. By the time, the climax of the rainstorm in North District was over and no new flooding case was reported to the NDO. It could be seen from the above that the water discharge had not aggravated the flooding in North District. So although there was room for improvement with regard to the notification arrangements for the water discharge, the flooding situation in North District had not been aggravated by the discharge. 66. The Chairman concluded that NDC Members might have a deeper understanding of the operation of the rainstorm warning system when they visited the HKO the day after the meeting. The notification mechanism for water discharge involved historical considerations. Before the return of Hong Kong to China in 1997, the Border District served as the sole counterpart of the Municipal Government of Shenzhen. Before the implementation of the improvement works to Ng Tung River, flooding occurred from time to time in North District due to reservoir discharge in Shenzhen and seawater backflow. In view of this, the notification mechanism for water discharge was established by the Shenzhen Authority and the Hong Kong Government, and it was agreed that a 3-hour notice would be given before water discharge took place. The HKPF might put in a request to the Shenzhen Authority for a 3-hour prior notice as far as possible in future. He considered that the HKPF had tried its best to disseminate the message of water discharge to the affected villagers within such

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a short period of time. He hoped the HKPF would enhance the notification arrangements in respect of water discharge in future. Item 6 - Mid-term Review of Allocation of NDC Funds for the Year

2018-19 (NDC Paper No. 58/2018)

67. The Chairman said that the Working Meeting on the Mid-term Review of Allocation of NDC Funds (“the Working Meeting”) was held on 27 September 2018 at which the NDC examined the use of NDC funds for 2018-19. The following recommendations were made after discussions:

Provision for District Minor Works Projects

(a) Based on the estimates as at 31 August 2018, the proportions of the estimated cash flow of the two relevant committees, namely the District Facilities Management Committee (“DFMC”) and the District Minor Works and Environmental Improvement Committee (“DMW&EIC”), were 53% and 47% respectively, which were close to the original funding split (60% for the DFMC and 40% for the DMW&EIC). As the two committees would continue to organise and launch various district minor works (“DMW”) projects during this financial year, it was suggested that the funding allocation between them remained unchanged;

(b) The Working Meeting also recommended that if, by the end of the financial year, there was any unused DMW provision under the two committees, funding reallocation would take place between them so as to optimise the use of DMW provision for North District;

Provision for Community Involvement Projects

(c) Based on the funding positions of the committees under the NDC and the NDO, it was estimated that a sum of $111,000 that remained unallocated and unspent could be returned to the NDC. As it was estimated by the Community Building, Cultural and Recreational Affairs Committee (“CBC&RAC”) that it would have a shortfall in funding for the rest of the meetings during the financial year, the Working Meeting

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recommended that the sum be allocated to the CBC&RAC.

68. The meeting endorsed NDC Paper No. 58/2018. Item 7 - Applications for District Council Funds (NDC Paper No. 59/2018 and 60/2018)

69. The Chairman said that NDC Paper No. 59/2018 set out the details of 11 applications for DC funds (including three funding applications for community involvement (“CI”) projects and eight funding applications for district minor works projects), one application for revision of the details of a CI project and a report on the revised project estimate of a district minor works project. The Secretariat had compiled a record of the past performance of the applicant organisations in delivering projects, as shown in NDC Paper No. 60/2018, for Members to consider when assessing the applications whether the organisations had good track records in delivering projects. He continued that according to the information gathered by the Secretariat, no Member held a position in the applicant organisations. No Member declared any interests. 70. The meeting approved the above funding applications and the application for revision of project details, and it noted the report on the revised project estimate of the district minor works project. Information Items Item 8 - District Lands Office/North: Returns on Small House

Applications and Redevelopment of New Territories Exempted House Applications in North District

(NDC Paper No. 61/2018) 71. Mr Tony TANG noted the slow progress by the District Lands Office/North (“DLO”) in processing the applications in recent years. Applications made six to seven years ago had still not been approved. With the ever-rising costs of building materials, he worried that applicants could not afford the works costs even their applications were approved. He hoped that the DLO could speed up the processing of straightforward applications.

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72. Mr Joseph KWUN responded by saying that the DLO had been adopting a three-pronged approach in view of the upsurge of applications in recent years. First, internal resources were redeployed to provide additional manpower for handling small house applications and village house rebuilding applications; second, internal administrative procedures were streamlined to speed up the processing time; third, more resources were secured from the LandsD so that dedicated manpower would be available for processing small house applications. 73. The Chairman concluded by saying that he hoped the approach mentioned above could successfully address the issue brought up by Mr Tony TANG. 74. The meeting noted NDC Paper No. 61/2018. Item 9 - Report of the 4th Meeting of the North District Management

Committee in 2018 (NDC Paper No. 62/2018)

75. The meeting noted NDC Paper No. 62/2018. Item 10 - Reports of Working Groups under the NDC (a) Working Group on Parallel Trade Issues

76. Mr Kent TSANG reported on behalf of Mr WONG Wang-to, the Chairman of the Working Group on Parallel Trade Issues, that the 14th meeting of the Working Group was held on 24 September 2018. At the meeting, relevant departments reported on the enforcement actions taken against problems arising from parallel trading activities in the district during the period from 11 May to 3 September 2018. A member said at the meeting that despite the complaints made by residents of Sheung Shui Centre about the use of residential flats nearby as warehouses of parallel goods, not much could be done under the existing patrol mechanism of buildings. The member requested that the DLO should put forward feasible measures to combat such activities and improve the effectiveness of enforcement. Moreover, another member pointed out that a new shop would open at the junction of San Hong Street and Fu Hing Street. It was hoped that the HKPF could communicate with the shop operator before commencement of business to avoid the obstruction of pedestrian

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walkways by goods and suitcases. The departments and agencies responded that continuous efforts would be made to monitor the situation of parallel trading activities in the district, and that manpower would be deployed in response to members’ views and recommendations to step up law enforcement actions. As regards the production of promotional items and banners targeting at parallel trading problems in North District, members of the Working Group gave comments on the preliminary design and content of the banners and flyers and advised on the locations for displaying the banners. The Working Group requested the Secretariat to keep following up the agenda item.

(b) Working Group on Healthy City

77. Mr YIU Ming, Chairman of the Working Group on Healthy City, reported that at the 10th meeting held on 24 September 2018, one application for funds for community involvement projects with an allocation of $75,000 were vetted and approved. The funding application was approved by the meeting a moment ago. After the Working Group had approved the application, it had an uncommitted funding balance of $103,000. After deliberation, the Working Group decided to return the balance to the full Council for re-allocation.

78. The meeting noted the reports of the above working groups.

Item 11 - Any Other Business (a) Neighbourhood First – New Year Reunion Banquet for the 18 Districts’

Neighbourhood 2019 (NDC Paper No. 63/2018)

79. The Chairman said the NDC had received a letter from the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups inviting the NDC to be the supporting and sponsoring organisation of the New Year Reunion Banquet for the 18 Districts’ Neighbourhood 2019 which would be held on 26 January 2019. The invitation letter was attached at NDC Paper No. 63/2018. As no funding had been earmarked by the NDC for sponsoring the event, he did not recommend the NDC to be the sponsoring organisation of the event. But he asked Members to consider whether they agreed that the NDC would serve as the supporting organisation of the event.

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80. The meeting approved that the NDC would serve as the supporting organisation of the above event.

(b) Invitation to Enrolment for the “Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2019 – ‘District Councils Challenge Cup’” (NDC Paper No. 64/2018)

81. The Chairman said that the NDC had received a letter from the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2019 Organising Committee inviting the NDC to participate in the “Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2019 – ‘District Councils Challenge Cup’” to promote the idea of exercising for good health, community unity and friendship among the 18 districts. The Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2019 would be held on 17 February 2019 (Sunday). The NDC was invited to join the 10km challenge where each district should send a team of 10 runners, with at least one of them a serving DC Member. The entry fee for each team was $2,500. The invitation letter and details of the race were at NDC Paper No. 64/2018. The Chairman continued that if the NDC accepted the invitation, one of the Members had to take the lead and be responsible for selecting teammates, liaising and acting as the team leader in the race. 82. Mr YIU Ming supported that the NDC should continue to take part in the event and he expressed interest in running the race again next year. He also expressed his wish to invite personnel of other government departments (such as the HKPF and the NDO) to run the race together. The Chairman appointed Mr YIU Ming to take the lead to form a team and promised to pay the entry fee. He invited Members at the meeting who were interested to run the race together. (c) Briefing on Application for NDC Funds 83. The Chairman said that a briefing on the application for NDC funds would be held at 2:30 p.m. on 27 November 2018 (Tuesday) in the North District Council Conference Room. The Secretariat had written to invite district organisations to send representatives to attend the briefing. He asked Members to help encourage district organisations to sign up for the briefing.

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Item 12 – Date of Next Meeting

84. The Chairman announced that the next meeting would be held at 9:30 a.m. on 13 December 2018 (Thursday) in the NDC Conference Room.

85. The meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m.

North District Council Secretariat

December 2018