Tag Archives: China

     The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Ma On Shan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     “The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment in the Ma On Shan area,” a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (May 24).

     The planning scheme area, covering about 816 hectares, is located in the eastern New Territories along the southern shore of Tolo Harbour. It is bounded by the Ma On Shan Country Park in the south and east, Tolo Harbour in the north and Sha Tin Hoi (Tide Cove) in the west.
      
     The approved OZP has incorporated an amendment shown on the draft Ma On Shan OZP No. S/MOS/27, which involves incorporation of strips of land located to the south of Chevalier Garden along Mui Tsz Lam Road and near Mui Tsz Lam Village into the planning scheme area and zoning them as “Green Belt”.

     The Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP are amended to take into account the above amendment. Opportunity is also taken to update the general information of various land use zones and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.

     The approved Ma On Shan OZP No. S/MOS/28 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Sha Tin, Tai Po and North District Planning Office, (iv) the Sha Tin District Office and the Ma On Shan Sub-office of the Sha Tin District Office, and (v) the Sha Tin Rural Committee.

     â€‹Copies of the approved 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.tpb.gov.hk). read more

     The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Shau Kei Wan Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     “The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment in the Shau Kei Wan area,” a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (May 24).

     The planning scheme area, covering an area of about 201 hectares in the north-eastern part of Hong Kong Island, is bounded by Shau Kei Wan Typhoon Shelter to the north and Tai Tam Country Park to the south. To the east is Heng Fa Chuen and to the west are the residential developments of Lei King Wan, Taikoo Shing and Kornhill.
      
     The approved OZP has incorporated amendments shown on the draft Shau Kei Wan OZP No. S/H9/19, which mainly involve (i) rezoning a site at A Kung Ngam Village (AKNV) and its adjacent areas from “Open Space” (“O”), “Green Belt”, “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Business” (“OU(B)”), “Other Specified Uses” annotated “Comprehensive Recreational Development Area” and areas shown as ‘Road’ to “Residential (Group A) 6”, and a site to the north of Ming Wah Dai Ha from “O”, “Residential (Group A)” and “Government, Institution or Community” (“G/IC”) to “Residential (Group A) 5” for public housing developments; (ii) rezoning a site at 5 AKNV Road from “OU(B)” to “OU(B)1” to facilitate the wholesale conversion of an existing building to a hospital; and (iii) rezoning a site at 456 Shau Kei Wan Road from “G/IC”, “O” and an area shown as ‘Road’ to “G/IC(1)” to facilitate the redevelopment of an existing social services building.

     The Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP are amended to take into account the above amendments. Opportunity is also taken to update the general information of various land use zones and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.

     The approved Shau Kei Wan OZP No. S/H9/20 is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Hong Kong District Planning Office, and (iv) the Eastern Home Affairs Enquiry Centre.

     Copies of the approved 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.tpb.gov.hk). read more

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (May 24) released the latest grading of water quality for 39 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (see Note 2).
 
     Seventeen beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), 13 as Fair (Grade 2) and 10 as Poor (Grade 3).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:

Chung Hom Kok Beach	Repulse Bay Beach*
Clear Water Bay Second Beach*	Silver Mine Bay Beach*
Deep Water Bay Beach*	South Bay Beach*
Hap Mun Bay Beach*	St. Stephen’s Beach
Hung Shing Yeh Beach*	Stanley Main Beach*
Kiu Tsui Beach	Tong Fuk Beach
Lo So Shing Beach	Turtle Cove Beach
Lower Cheung Sha Beach	Upper Cheung Sha Beach
Middle Bay Beach

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

Big Wave Bay Beach*	Kwun Yam Beach
Butterfly Beach*	Pui O Beach*
Cafeteria New Beach	Shek O Beach*
Casam Beach*	Silverstrand Beach*
Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach*	Tai Po Lung Mei Beach*
Clear Water Bay First Beach	Trio Beach
Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach

 
Grade 3 beaches are:

Anglers’ Beach*	Hoi Mei Wan Beach
Approach Beach	Kadoorie Beach*
Cafeteria Old Beach	Lido Beach*
Castle Peak Beach	Ma Wan Tung Wan Beach*
Golden Beach*	Ting Kau Beach*

 
     Compared with the grading released last week, Big Wave Bay Beach, Cheung Chau Tung Wan Beach and Kwun Yam Beach have been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2, and Cafeteria Old Beach, Golden Beach and Kadoorie Beach from Grade 2 to Grade 3.
 
     “The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches,” an EPD spokesman said.
 
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
 
     While the ratings represent the general water quality at the beaches, the EPD spokesman reminded members of the public that water quality could be temporarily affected during and after periods of heavy rain. Bathers should avoid swimming at beaches for up to three days after a tropical cyclone or heavy rainfall.
 
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD’s website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666. Members of the public can also obtain the latest daily water quality forecast information for all beaches that are open for swimming through the Beach Water Quality Forecast mobile application (available for download from: www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQApp) or the dedicated beach water quality forecast page (www.epd.gov.hk/en/BWQForecast) on the EPD’s beach thematic website.
 
Note 1: Lifesaving services are provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department at 22 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk (*) above, from April 1. Due to the damage caused to the footpaths leading to Chung Hom Kok Beach by landslides, the beach is temporarily closed until further notice. For details, please refer to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department’s Special Announcement (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/beach/index.html).
 
Note 2: This refers to Discovery Bay Tai Pak Beach which is a non-gazetted beach that has no lifesaving service. read more

     In response to the Japanese Government’s plan to discharge nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station, the Director of Food and Environmental Hygiene issued a Food Safety Order which prohibits all aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds originating from the 10 metropolis/prefectures, namely Tokyo, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Miyagi, Chiba, Gunma, Tochigi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, from being imported into and supplied in Hong Kong.
 
     For other Japanese aquatic products, sea salt and seaweeds that are not prohibited from being imported into Hong Kong, the Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department will conduct comprehensive radiological tests to verify that the radiation levels of these products do not exceed the guideline levels before they are allowed to be supplied in the market.
 
     As the discharge of nuclear-contaminated water is unprecedented and will continue for 30 years or more, the Government will closely monitor and step up the testing arrangements. Should anomalies be detected, the Government does not preclude further tightening the scope of the import ban.
 
     From noon on May 23 to noon today (May 24), the CFS conducted tests on the radiological levels of 258 food samples imported from Japan, which were of the “aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt” category. No sample was found to have exceeded the safety limit. Details can be found on the CFS’s thematic website titled “Control Measures on Foods Imported from Japan” (www.cfs.gov.hk/english/programme/programme_rafs/programme_rafs_fc_01_30_Nuclear_Event_and_Food_Safety.html).

     In parallel, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) has also tested 52 samples of local catch for radiological levels. All the samples passed the tests. Details can be found on the AFCD’s website (www.afcd.gov.hk/english/fisheries/Radiological_testing/Radiological_Test.html).
 
     The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has also enhanced the environmental monitoring of the local waters. No anomaly has been detected so far. For details, please refer to the HKO’s website
(www.hko.gov.hk/en/radiation/monitoring/seawater.html).
 
     From August 24 to noon today, the CFS and the AFCD have conducted tests on the radiological levels of 53 768 samples of food imported from Japan (including 34 770 samples of aquatic and related products, seaweeds and sea salt) and 13 588 samples of local catch respectively. All the samples passed the tests. read more

     The Chairman of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Security, Mr Chan Hak-kan, reviewed the Fire Services passing-out parade for five station officers, 28 senior firemen/senior firewomen of the Mobilising and Communic… read more