The Town Planning Board today (December 31) announced amendments to the approved Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     The amendments mainly involve the rezoning of various sites bounded by Wang Chiu Road, Sheung Yee Road, Wai Yip Street and/or Hoi Bun Road for commercial developments to expedite the transformation of the Kowloon East area into another core business district to support Hong Kong's long-term economic development. These include rezoning of two sites to the north and south of the Kai Fuk Road Flyover, with the former mainly from "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Refuse Transfer Station" ("OU(RTS)") to "Commercial (1)" and the latter mainly from "Government, Institution or Community (1)" ("G/IC(1)") and "OU(RTS)" to "Commercial (2)" ("C(2)"). Two parcels of land to the immediate west and southeast of the proposed "C(2)" zone are rezoned mainly from "G/IC(1)" and "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Business" ("OU(B)") to "Open Space". The section of Cheung Yip Street to the north of Hoi Bun Road is indicated as "Pedestrian Precinct/Street" on the OZP for public enjoyment.

     The amendments also include rezoning of Yip On Factory Estate and the adjacent section of Wang Hoi Road from "OU(B)" and an area shown as "Road" to "Residential (Group A)3" for public housing development, and rezoning of various strips of land to areas shown as "Road" to reflect the latest and/or existing developments in the area.

     Opportunity is also taken to amend the Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP to reflect the above amendments and to update the general information of various land use zonings and the planning area, where appropriate.

     The draft Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay OZP No. S/K13/31, incorporating the amendments, is now available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Kowloon District Planning Office and (iv) the Kwun Tong District Office.

     Any person may make written representations in respect of the amendments to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board on or before February 28, 2022. Any person who intends to make a representation is advised to read the Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 29B on "Submission and Publication of Representations, Comments on Representations and Further Representations under the Town Planning Ordinance" (TPB PG-No. 29B).

     Submission of a representation should comply with the requirements set out in TPB PG-No. 29B. In particular, the representer should take note of the following:

* If the representer fails to provide his or her full name and the first four alphanumeric characters of his or her Hong Kong identity card or passport number as required under TPB PG-No. 29B, the representation submitted shall be treated as not having been made; and
* The Secretariat of the Town Planning Board reserves the right to require the representer to provide identity proof for verification.

     The Guidelines and the submission form are available at the above locations (i) and (ii) and the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     Copies of the draft Ngau Tau Kok and Kowloon Bay OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed at the Town Planning Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     The effective exchange rate index for the Hong Kong dollar on Friday, December 31, 2021 is 101.1 (same as yesterday's index).

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     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (December 31) that Tseung Kwan O Swimming Pool in Sai Kung District has been temporarily closed for cleaning and superchlorination following the discovery of a small amount of faeces in the pool.

     It will be reopened at 4.40pm today.

     The department appeals to swimmers to be considerate and to keep the swimming pools clean. They are advised not to swim after a full meal and should use the toilet facilities if necessary before swimming.

     The Government received a total of 2 847 requests for information under the Code on Access to Information in the second quarter of 2021, a spokesman for the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said today (December 31).

     The total number of requests received since the introduction of the Code in March 1995 and up to the end of June 2021 amounted to 94 375. Of these, 5 378 requests were subsequently withdrawn by the requestors and 4 754 requests covered cases in which the bureaux/departments concerned did not hold the requested information or cannot confirm or deny the existence of information. As at June 30, 2021, 420 requests were still being processed by bureaux/departments.

     Among the 83 823 requests which covered information held by bureaux/departments and which the bureaux/departments had responded to, 81 166 requests (96.8 per cent) were met, either in full (78 916 requests) or in part (2 250 requests), and 2 657 requests (3.2 per cent) were refused.

     Any member of the public who is dissatisfied with the response of a bureau/department under the Code may request that the matter be reviewed. He or she may also lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman.

     In the second quarter of 2021, the Ombudsman received 23 complaints relating to requests for information. In this quarter, the Ombudsman concluded 20 complaints, among which one was partially substantiated, three were unsubstantiated, 13 were concluded by inquiries, and three were assessed and closed. As at June 30, 2021, the Ombudsman's investigations on 24 complaints were ongoing.

     "The Code has provided an effective framework for the public to seek access to information held by the Government," the spokesman said.

     Seventy-two convictions were recorded in November 2021 for breaches of legislation enforced by the Environmental Protection Department.

     Two of the convictions were under the Air Pollution Control Ordinance, two were under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance, five were under the Noise Control Ordinance, 34 were under the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation and 29 were under the Waste Disposal Ordinance.

     A company was fined $16,000, which was the heaviest fine in November, for using powered mechanical equipment not in accordance with the conditions of a construction noise permit.