2024-05-16 28Hse Editor
In the past, due to the lengthy and complicated land rezoning procedures, some projects have not completed the procedures for 20 to 30 years, which was often criticized by the society. Property surveyor Huang Yongsheng said that these problems existed as early as 2000. The main reason is that Hong Kong officials are afraid of "playing a wok" or even being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption. Whenever the commercial part is involved, they will "stop the fun."
Land is inevitably wasted
He believes that officials are "cowardly", largely because in the past individual opposition members of the Legislative Council were very sensitive to the issue of "collaboration between officials and businessmen", and even pursued them. In such an atmosphere, every official would rather "do less and make fewer mistakes" and "do not do well".
Huang Yongsheng pointed out that a famous example is Nam Sang Wai, Yuen Long. Since the 1990s, Henderson Land and the Fu Laorong family have formed a consortium to develop low-density residential projects in Nam Sang Wai, but the Town Planning Board has always pointed out that the developer failed to meet the conditions and refused to grant planning permission for many times. Until 2015, when the consortium proposed the "Twin Harmony" development plan in Nam Sang Wai, it proposed to build more than 2,500 private residences and subsidized housing. The Town Planning Appeal Board panel passed the appeal and released its judgment only a few days ago. It mentioned that the AFCD and the Planning Department's positions on the project are not easy to understand, inconsistent and unfair in some aspects.
In addition, a consortium last year applied for the development of a large-scale residential project on a brownfield site in Tung Shing Lane, Nam Sang Wai, which had been idle for more than 30 years and provided 3,565 units. The entire site covers an area of about 577,000 square feet. It is planned to be developed at a plot ratio of about 3 times, and the residential part occupies more than 1.68 million square feet.
Huang Yongsheng believes that some large-scale land developments in Hong Kong have been delayed for at least 20 to 30 years. In addition to the "refusal to release" by the Planning Department, it is also related to the protracted negotiation of land premiums. If developers want to invest in a new development area, they must first be able to see the growth of population trends, but the government does not have any timetable or blueprint in this regard, which makes developers less willing to pay land premiums.
One site application review the whole district waiting
In the past, some developers or owners have judicially reviewed the Town Planning Board for individual sites, such as the Kwai Chung Outline Zoning Plan. In 2013, some people brought up judicial review, and the dispute could not be resolved until 2021. However, in the same picture, there are many other unrelated issues. Controversial or unobjectionable sites are planned to be used for public housing, but all revisions to the Kwai Chung Outline Zoning Plan will be submitted to the guild after the judicial review is completed. That is, a judicial review can delay the supply of public housing in that area by at least 8 years.
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