Minutes of the 11th Meeting ofCulture, Leisure & Social Affairs Committee (2016-17)

Central and Western District Council

Date : 16 November 2017 (Thursday)Time : 2:30 pmVenue : Conference Room

14/F, Harbour Building 38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong

Present:ChairmanMr CHAN Chit-kwai, BBS, JP*

Vice-chairmanMr YEUNG Hoi-wing*

MembersMr CHAN Choi-hi, MH (2:30 pm – 5:50 pm)Mr CHAN Hok-fung, MH, JP*Ms CHENG Lai-king*Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, JP (2:47 pm – 3:17 pm)Mr HUI Chi-fung (2:30 pm – 4:12 pm)Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH*Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney (2:42 pm – end of the meeting)Miss LO Yee-hang, MH (2:30 pm – 6:12 pm)Mr NG Siu-hong*Mr YEUNG Hok-ming*MrYIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP (2:30 pm – 6:25 pm)

Co-opted MembersMs CHEUNG Kai-yin (3:41 pm – end of the meeting)Mr IP Yik-nam (2:37 pm – end of the meeting)Mr LEE Man-sing*Mr SHAM Chi-hang, Christopher*

Remarks: * Members who attended the whole meeting ( ) Time of attendance of Members

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GuestItem 5Mrs Elina CHAN

Mr Cedric CHENG

Ms Pauline NG

Mr John Stewart

Mr Thomas TANG

Mr Stephen Loggie

Ms Rebecca YIP

Ms Rebecca CHAN

Principal Assistant Secretary (Infrastructure & Research Support), Education Bureau

Assistant Secretary (Infrastructure) 1, Education Bureau

Board Vice-chairman, English Schools Foundation

Director of Facilities, English Schools Foundation

Senior Project Manager, English Schools Foundation

Principal of Island School, English Schools Foundation

Business Manager of Island School, English Schools Foundation

Representative, Traffic Consultant MVA

Item 6Mr LEE Hong-nin

Mr TAM Wing-kai

Mr Ken GO

Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2, Development Bureau

Project Manager (Heritage Conservation) 2, Development Bureau

Assistant Manager, Property Services, PMQ Management Company Limited

Item 7Ms CHAN Shuk-hing, Daphne

Ms MAK Eva

Senior Librarian (Central & Western), Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Librarian (Shek Tong Tsui Public Library), Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Item 8Ms CHAN Suk-fan, Bianca Deputy District Leisure Manager (District

Support) Central and Western, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Item 9Mr CHAN Chak-wingMrs KWOK WONG Mun-yi

Mr CHO Kong-sangMs Uson CHUNG

Ms WONG Lai-chun

District Engineer/West, Highways DepartmentSenior School Development Officer (Central

Western and Southern) 2, Education BureauVice Principal, Ying Wa Girls’ SchoolChairperson, School Redevelopment

Subcommittee, School Redevelopment Steering Committee, Ying Wa Girls’ School

Vice Chairperson, School Redevelopment Subcommittee, School Redevelopment

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Ms Florence L.K. CHANSteering Committee, Ying Wa Girls’ School

Associate, P&T Architects and Engineers LtdItem 10Dr Andrew Stephen YUEN Mr Julien-Loïc Garin

Chairman, Lumieres Hong KongFestival Founding Director, Lumieres Hong

KongItem 12Mr FU Wai-hon Social Worker, Caritas Jockey Club Intergrated

Service for Young People - Shek Tong TsuiItem 13Ms CHAN Ka-yi Assistant Social Worker, Caritas Jockey Club

Intergrated Service for Young People - Shek Tong Tsui

Item 14Ms WONG Chui-chiMs Catherine KWOK

Mr Ted TAMMs Mini LAMMs CHENG Miu-wing

Mr TO Wai-shun

Ms CHUI Sze-yui

Social Worker, Caritas Parents Resource CentreSocial Worker, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

Western District Eldery Community CenterDirector, Hau Saang LimitedRepresentative, Hau Shang LimitedSocial Worker, St. James Settlement Central &

Western District Elderly Community CentreVice Principal, Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui

CollegePanel Head of Technology and Living, Lok Sin

Tong Leung Kau Kui College

In Attendance:Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze, Susanne, JP District Officer (Central and Western)Ms WONG Suet-yi, Penny Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)Ms YEUNG Wing-shan, Grace Senior Executive Officer (District Council),

Central and Western District OfficeMr NG Wai-lung, David Assistant District Social Welfare Officer (Central

Western, Southern and Islands) 2, Social Welfare Department

Mr WATT Wai-yeung, Edwin Senior Community Relations Officer (Hong Kong West/Islands), Independent Commission Against Corruption

Mrs KWOK WONG Mun-yi Senior School Development Officer (Central Western and Southern) 2, Education Bureau

Dr CHAN Vivian Senior Medical and Health Officer (Community Liaison) 2, Department of Health

Mr CHAN Chun-wah Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinator, Police Community Relations Office, Western District, Hong Kong Police Force

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Ms CHOI Suk-kuen, Shirley Senior Manager (Cultural Services) Hong Kong West, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

Ms CHAN Suk-fan, Bianca Deputy District Leisure Manager (District Support) Central and Western, Leisure and Cultural Services Department

SecretaryMiss MAN Sum-yi, Annie Executive Officer (District Council) 5,

Central and Western District Office

Opening remarks

The C hairman welcomed all to the 11th Meeting of the Culture, Leisure & Social Affairs Committee (CLSAC) (2016-2017) under the Central and Western District Council (C&WDC).

Item 1 - Adoption of the agenda

2. Mr KAM Nai-wai suggested that, as the office of an Elected Member of the Peak Constituency under C&WDC was vacant at present and the proposed redevelopment project under Item 5 of the agenda was located on Borrett Road in the Peak, this agenda item should be further discussed at the next meeting at the request of the Member of the constituency concerned in future.

3. Mr YIP Wing-shing agreed with Mr KAM Nai-wai’s suggestion and said that the Secretariat might assist in arranging a briefing to help the newly-elected C&WDC Member to get familiarised with the redevelopment proposal.

4. The Chairman believed that the relevant department and organisation would arrange a briefing for the new C&WDC Member after the election and, when necessary, the agenda item could be followed up again at the meeting.

5. The Chairman announced that the agenda was adopted.

Item 2 - Confirmation of the minutes of the 10th meeting of CLSAC (2016-17)

6. Members had no comments on the draft minutes of the 10th meeting of CLSAC. The minutes of the meeting were confirmed.

Item 3 - Action checklist on matters arising from the 10th CLSAC meeting (2016/2017)

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 73/2017)

7. Members noted the action checklist and had no further comments.

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Item 4 - Chairman’s report

8. The Chairman had nothing particular to report.

Item 5 - Redevelopment of Island School at 20 Borrett Road, Mid-levels, Hong Kong

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 45/2017) (2:34 pm – 3:16 pm)

9. Mrs Elina CHAN , Principal Assistant Secretary (Infrastructure & Research Support) of Education Bureau (EDB), introduced the redevelopment project of the Island School at 20 Borrett Road, Mid-levels, Hong Kong. Island School was an international school under the English Schools Foundation (ESF) offering secondary curriculum. Built in 1974, the school premises aged over 40 years at present. The Island School currently operated 42 classes and had 1 128 students enrolled in the 2016/17 school year. To cater for the school’s continuous development, ESF had reviewed and assessed the existing school facilities, and considered that there was inadequate teaching space. Moreover, ageing of the school premises accelerated in recent years. Therefore, it had proposed the redevelopment proposal to EDB in order to improve the existing conditions of the school premises and learning environment. ESF had attempted to look for suitable sites or vacant school premises on the Island side for re-provisioning but failed. Therefore, in-situ redevelopment was the only feasible alternative. After considering the information provided by ESF, EDB agreed in principle its proposal to redevelop the Island School.

10. Ms Pauline NG , Board Vice-chairman of ESF, said that there had been concrete spalling from the ceilings and exterior walls of the school premises for almost 10 years, and the school had to spend large sums of money on repair works every year. ESF had earlier on engaged a consultant to inspect the structural conditions of the school premises and had conducted site visit with government departments concerned. Since the accelerated ageing of the existing school premises was posing a potential risk to the safety of teachers and students of Island School, EDB had temporarily allowed the Island School to use two vacant school premises in Sha Tin (i.e. the premises of ex-HKCCPA Ma Chung Sum Secondary School and ex-Shatin Tsung Tsin Secondary School) as temporary school premises. ESF was now carrying out renovation works at the two decanting premises. It was expected that the Island School would move to the temporary premises for operation by January 2018.

11. Mr Thomas TANG , Senior Project Manager of ESF, said that as there had been concrete spalling from the ceilings and exterior walls from time to time, protective netting had been installed at the school building to prevent spalling concrete from accidentally injuring teachers and students. The inspection report previously prepared by the consultant revealed that owing to the continuous ageing of the building, some steel bars had started to corrode, and spalling of concrete and exposure of steel bars would likely accelerate. Continuous

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maintenance of the existing building would be costly but could not slow down much its ageing. ESF had arranged a consultant for regular inspection of the building conditions and maintenance. Subsequent to typhoons and rainstorms, the school might need to announce suspension of classes. Resumption of classes would be arranged only after the conditions of the school building were confirmed to be safe after professional assessment. It was therefore necessary for the school to carry out redevelopment works. ESF had engaged a consultant for the design and would engage a contractor for the construction works. The scope of works included demolition of the existing building and construction of an eight-storey secondary school premises on the site (including two levels of basement and an underground parking area). The new school premises would provide 42 classrooms, 15 small group teaching rooms, 13 science laboratories, 17 special rooms, an indoor swimming pools and other ancillary facilities. The number of students that could be accommodated was similar to that of the existing school premises. During the redevelopment works, the students of the Island School would need to move to the two temporary school premises in Sha Tin to continue classes until completion of the works. He thanked the Sha Tin District Council for supporting the Island School to use the two temporary school premises in the district. The proposed redevelopment project was not a designated project under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499). ESF had engaged a professional consultant to conduct a Preliminary Environmental Review at the design stage which had been approved by the relevant department. There were 144 trees within the project boundary, of which 53 would be preserved and 91 would have to be removed under the proposed works. All of those trees were not important trees. ESF would incorporate planting proposal of trees as part of the project, including the planting of about 91 trees. The professional consultant would also stipulate clause in the relevant contract to be signed with the works contractor requiring the works contractor to implement environmental mitigation measures to strictly control noise, dust and surface run-off that might be generated during the construction stage to satisfy the established standards and guidelines of the Environmental Protection Department (EPD). Therefore, it was expected that the school building works would not have any negative impact on the surrounding environment during the construction. ESF had taken into consideration the impact of the school premises on the surrounding landscape at the design stage. The new eight-storey school premises (including two levels of basement and an underground carpark) would be built along the hillside, which was of similar height to the existing school premises and was shorter than the neighbouring residential blocks. Therefore, the visual impact of the new school premises on the nearby residential blocks would be minimal. The professional consultant engaged by ESF had conducted a Traffic Impact Assessment and consulted the Transport Department (TD). Currently, most of the students went to the Island School by school bus. As there were no laybys for school buses at the existing school premises, school buses would usually pick up and drop off students along the Borrett Road. By making use of the sloping ground conditions, a vehicular ingress/egress of the new school premises would be provided at the upper part of Borrett Road and a vehicular exit the lower part. Upon the completion of the redevelopment, there would be adequate parking space for school buses within the school site for student pick-up and drop-off. School buses would no longer require to be parked on the roadside.

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Therefore, the redevelopment project should be able to improve the current traffic condition in the vicinity during the before and after school hours. Besides, to minimise the impact on nearby roads users during the construction stage, the professional consultant would implement measures to closely monitor the vehicular access arrangements at the works site.

12. Mrs Elina CHAN of EDB said that according to the prevailing policy, the amount of capital grant from the Government would be equivalent to the cost for constructing a standard-design public sector school for the same student population, and ESF would bear the costs for all the non-standard facilities or those parts exceeding the standard provision. EDB planned to consult the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Education in the first quarter of 2018 and seek funding approval from LegCo Finance Committee (FC) afterwards. Subject to obtaining funding approval from FC, the construction works were expected to commence in the second quarter of 2018 the earliest and complete in the first quarter of 2022. The Island School might operate at the new school premises on Borrett Road by the 2021/22 school year the earliest.

13. The Chairman invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr SHAM Chi-hang supported the redevelopment proposal to improve the learning environment of the students. However, he said that many school premises in Hong Kong were 80 years old or above. He asked why there was premature ageing of the school premises of Island School which was over 40 years old only.

(ii) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming asked whether the 91 trees to be removed under the proposed works would be cut down or relocated to other places; the species and size of these trees; and the species and size of the trees provided for compensatory planting in future.

(iii) Ms CHENG Lai-king was concerned about whether the temporary school premises in Sha Tin were well prepared for use by students because the redevelopment proposal would be carried out on a rather tight schedule. She enquired about the difference in height between the new school premises and the existing one. She pointed out that there was recurrence of project delay for the redevelopment project of another school in the district, the Ying Wa Girls’ School (YWGS), and was concerned about whether the ESF redevelopment project would be completed in 2022 as scheduled. She also enquired about the arrangement of access by works vehicles on the narrow Borrett Road during construction.

(iv) Mr KAM Nai-wai said that the Peak had always been an area of tranquility. He therefore considered that the environmental mitigation measures to be adopted by the contractor during construction should be more stringent than the standards and guidelines laid down by EPD, with a view to strictly preventing the noise, dust and surface runoff generated during construction from causing nuisance. As learnt from the location plan, there was a lot of

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green areas in the new school premises. He asked how many trees would be provided for compensatory planting. He also asked whether ESF had maintained a channel of communication with the residents nearby, providing them with more information on the proposed redevelopment of the school premises to relieve their worries over the project.

(v) Mr CHAN Choi-hi asked whether the demolition time of the existing school premises could be shortened and recommended enhanced dissemination of the relevant information to residents nearby. He hoped that ESF would provide the information on the types of trees for compensatory planting and consider implementing vertical greening and rooftop greening. He was concerned about whether the parking spaces in the underground parking area would be adequate for use by school buses in future. He asked whether measures had been adopted to encourage more parents to make use of the school bus services. He also asked EDB about the amount of capital grant subsidised by the Government.

(vi) Mr YIP Wing-shing was concerned about tree removal and replanting. He hoped that the project time could be shortened in order to minimise the nuisance caused to residents in the vicinity. He supported the redevelopment proposal, and agreed with the initiatives of reserving parking spaces for school buses in the new school premises and encouraging students to travel by school bus. He asked whether the new school premises would include new green features and elements.

(vii) The Chairman also supported the redevelopment of the school premises to improve the teaching environment and the traffic condition on Borrett Road. He asked how many parking spaces for school buses and private cars would be provided respectively in the underground parking area in future. As for the tentative ratio of 1:1 for trees to be removed and trees to be replanted, he thought that such ratio could be raised to 1:2 or above.

(viii) Mr CHAN Hok-fung said that the excessive number of private cars outside the international school had caused serious traffic congestion thereat. He asked whether ESF had planned to solve this traffic problem through the redevelopment project.

14. Ms Pauline NG of ESF responded as follows:

(i) She explained that the existing school premises were built with salt water at the time and were of poorer quality, hence the school had to tie up substantial time and money in repair works in the past ten years.

(ii) In response to Members’ concern over traffic problems, she said ESF introduced a “zero private car” policy when the Island School commenced its operation in the temporary school premises this year. The policy prohibited parents from driving the students to and from the school by private cars, with a view to reduce the number of vehicles and the traffic load. ESF had planned to extend the policy to all schools under the

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management of ESF on a trial basis starting from the coming school year. Parents of the new students would be required to sign an undertaking, promising that their children would not access to and from the school by private cars. ESF hoped to fully implement the “zero private car” policy in two to three years. The school would carefully study the scheduling of school bus routes, so as to facilitate students to travel to and from the school by the most efficient and direct routes.

(iii) She pointed out that the parking spaces in the underground parking area were mainly reserved for use by school buses which would not be parked on Borrett Road for pick-up/drop-off activities. The remaining parking spaces in the car park would be used by teachers.

(iv) She said that the school had studied the height of the new school premises. As the new school premises would be built along the hillside and was of similar height to the existing school premises, the visual impact of the new school premises on the surrounding area would be minimal.

(v) In response to Members’ concerns over tree removal, she said that 91 trees would be removed and all of them were not important trees. The school would discuss with architects and horticulturists on planting some local species and species of more educational value, as well as look into undertaking more compensatory planting in other areas in the school premises.

15. Mr Thomas TANG of ESF responded as follows:

(i) He said that ESF was experienced in minimising the impact of the works on the surrounding areas during construction because it had to carry out projects for various schools under its management from time to time. As the ESF attached great importance to prevention of nuisance caused by noise, dust and surface runoff, the school and the consultant would jointly approve the construction plan submitted by the contractor. To exercise stringent control of noise nuisance, the school would request the contractor to use construction methods and equipment that generated less noise and vibration; avoid using percussive piling; install noise barriers; and maintain communication with adjacent schools and residential blocks about the project. ESF would also request the contractor to arrange for watering of the roads and to control the speed of the construction vehicles, in order to avoid fugitive dust impacts. As for drainage, the contractor would need to use a temporary drainage system to avoid discharging the effluent directly and resident architects and supervisory staff would also monitor the performance of the contractor at the site.

(ii) He added that, as revealed in the previous inspection report of the consultant, there were large areas of concrete spalling and exposure of steel bars at the school premises but the structure of the buildings had not been affected. However, ESF was still very concerned about the potential danger to teachers and students.

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(iii) In regard to Members’ concern over the trees, he said that the trees proposed for removal were not large or valuable ones. The school would incorporate green elements in the redevelopment project and would replant a total of not less than 91 trees.

(iv) He said that renovation of the temporary school premises in Sha Tin had been launched in July 2017 and gradual relocation of the facilities and miscellaneous articles of the school to the temporary school premises would be commenced in December 2017. It was thus expected that the school could commence operation in the temporary school premises in January 2018.

16. Ms Pauline NG of ESF responded that in regard to liaison with the community, the Island School would organise a series of exchange and joint activities with local schools after it had relocated to the temporary school premises in Sha Tin. It was hoped that the pattern of collaborating with local schools could be continued after the Island School had returned to the redeveloped school premises in the Central and Western District in future. Community relations officer of ESF would also assist in promoting communication between the Island School and schools and residents’ organisations in Sha Tin when it was using the temporary school premises for operation.

17. Mr John Stewart , Director of Facilities of ESF, said ESF was very concerned about the impact of the project on the surrounding environment, hoping that the school could continue to be a “good neighbour” of the community. In the past two years, ESF had contacted and met various organisations near the Island School, such as schools and non-governmental organisations. ESF wanted to set up a liaison group for regular exchange with various bodies in the community, so as to let them know the project progress and listen to their views.

18. Mr Stephen Loggie , Principal of Island School of ESF, shared the same hope of making the Island School a “good neighbour” in the community. He said many organisations in the district made use of the facilities in the Island School on a regular basis. He hoped that the school could continue to provide better physical facilities for the community after completion of the redevelopment works in future.

19. Mrs Elina CHAN of EDB advised that the amount of government subvention was about $430 million in September 2017 prices.

20. The Chairman appreciated the “zero private car” policy adopted by ESF and hoped that other schools would take similar action in future. He considered monitoring of the redevelopment project during implementation very important and proposed that contact points regarding the project should be posted outside the works site for access by the public for enquiry. He hoped that EDB could enhance its liaison at community level and plant more trees to compensate the loss. Finally, he hoped that EDB would contact the new C&WDC Member of the constituency concerned to brief him/her on the redevelopment project of the

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Island School.

(Post-meeting note: On 27 November 2017, EDB and ESF gave a briefing to the newly-elected C&WDC Member of the Peak Constituency on the proposed redevelopment project of the Island School, which was supported by the Member.)

Item 6 - Request for reviewing the use of facilities and venues of PMQ (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 62/2017) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (3:16 pm – 3:57 pm)

21. The Chairman invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr HUI Chi-fung said that despite Members and the public had voiced their request at C&WDC meetings or in the community for opening more public space in PMQ and for enhancing the relationship between PMQ and the community in the past few years, he did not see any significant improvement made by PMQ in these areas. Residents and organisations in the district thus requested PMQ to set out the information, charges and relevant mechanism of the venue available for hiring. He gave recognition to the success of the PMQ Management Company Limited (PMQ Ltd) in promoting creative industries and reported on the types and figures of events held in PMQ during each meeting of the relevant working group. However, he opined that it was still inadequate in opening PMQ for use by the community and PMQ was also not closely intertwined with the community. He was discontented with the less-than-100-words reply given by the Development Bureau (DEVB) which did not mention about measures adopted to monitor the operation of PMQ as he thought that DEVB should play its supervisory role well. Over the past few years, there were very few cases regarding usage of PMQ venues by district organisations. In this connection, he requested PMQ Ltd to set up a mechanism to facilitate the public to learn about the information on venues in PMQ available for use by the public and the related facilities. He said that the existing modus operandi made people feel that PMQ was a highly commercialised place which was not related to the needs of the general public. However, as PMQ was situating at the centre of the community, he hoped that the Administration would actively review and follow up on this.

(ii) Mr NG Siu-hong said that the food prices of many food establishments in PMQ were high and some food establishments even wanted to apply for liquor licence. Thinking that promotion of art was not necessarily linked to money, he asked whether PMQ Ltd would consider selling snacks at affordable prices to attract the general public to visit PMQ. He also asked whether DEVB would formulate relevant guidelines to stipulate the percentage of consumer goods for sale at different price levels in PMQ, and what the former charges and application mechanism of hiring the venues in PMQ were. He requested PMQ Ltd to further explain what kinds of activities would meet the criteria of “fitting in with the positioning of

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PMQ”. He also requested DEVB to disclose more information on the account of PMQ to facilitate the public to jointly monitor the operation of PMQ.

(iii) Mr CHAN Choi-hi hoped that PMQ would continue to monitor the impact of noise and traffic on the community. In his opinion, lack of new ideas was the cause of making PMQ less attractive to the public for re-visit in recent years. He therefore asked PMQ Ltd what new elements would be added to PMQ to attract visitors. He asked about the percentage of local up-and-coming designers using the venue and whether PMQ Ltd would consider introducing more local artists to use the venue and providing them with room for development, thus assisting in promoting the development of local arts and culture. He hoped that DEVB and PMQ Ltd would review the development of PMQ and foster a new and creative ambience.

(iv) Mr LEE Man-sing said that PMQ was situated at the centre of the business district and residential zone in Central. It happened that there was a demand for meeting place from owners’ corporations (OCs) of many tenement buildings in the district. As a list of charges for hiring venues in PMQ was not available and the public also had no idea of the facilities that were available for hiring, this undoubtedly deprived the public of the opportunity for using PMQ. Even if additional charges would be imposed by PMQ Ltd for organizing activities of different nature and size, he still hoped that PMQ Ltd could provide the schedule of standard charge for reference by the public and upload the relevant information onto its website.

(v) Mr CHAN Hok-fung said that the existing mode of operation of PMQ was the same as that of a shopping mall. He considered it necessary to rethink whether PMQ had achieved its original goal of nurturing the local creative industries. He asked how many persons of the local creative industries were successfully nurtured or aided by PMQ since its establishment.

(vi) The Chairman opined that PMQ was a successful revitalisation project, and it helped gathering creative talents, facilitating exchange of ideas and promoting the development of creative industries. However, he agreed that there was a lack of liaison between PMQ and the community, as mentioned by Members. He requested PMQ to consider using more channels for enhanced liaison with the community, providing more information to OCs on facilities available for hiring, and keeping a closer watch on its impact on the community such as traffic problems.

(vii) Ms CHENG Lai-king asked PMQ Ltd what channels it would use to recruit new artists to work in PMQ, and what criteria for selection of artists were used for reference.

(viii) Mr SHAM Chi-hang asked about the duration of the contract signed between PMQ Ltd and the Government and hoped that PMQ Ltd would enhance its publicity work and open more facilities for use by the public.

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22. Mr LEE Hong-nin , Chief Assistant Secretary (Works) 2 of DEVB, thanked Members for their concern and comments on PMQ. He said that the PMQ project was jointly implemented by DEVB and the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau (CEDB). DEVB was mainly responsible for the implementation of the policy regarding heritage conservation while CEDB the use of the Former Police Married Quarters on Hollywood Road. In 2014, DEVB selected the Musketeers Education and Cultural Charitable Foundation Limited which set up the PMQ Ltd to take up the day-to-day operation of PMQ. DEVB hoped that the two objectives of conserving the Grade III historic heritage and opening up the public space for visit by the community could be achieved through this project. On the one hand, PMQ Ltd was required to provide regular reports to the Government, such as financial reports, audited financial statements and progress reports on opening up the compound for public access, etc.; and on the other, the Bureau would carry out regular inspections of PMQ to see if its operation complied with the original agreement. He explained that all proceeds from the operation of PMQ would be used for the development and operation of PMQ. He said that the fixed term of tenancy entered between the Government and PMQ was ten years. After ten years, the Government would assess whether it was suitable for PMQ Ltd to continue operating PMQ and, if affirmative, PMQ Ltd might apply for renewal of the tenancy for five more years. He said that PMQ Ltd would regularly report to the working group on the operation of PMQ. The achievements of PMQ in promoting the creative industries were obvious to all, and the number of visitors to PMQ ranked first among all conservation projects implemented by DEVB, having a record of more than 11 million visitors so far since its commissioning in 2014.

23. Mr Ken GO , Assistant Manager of Property Services of PMQ Ltd, said that there were generally two kinds of applications for hire of venues in PMQ, namely, those for organising large-scale activities and those for using common rooms. As for application for organising large-scale activities, the applicants were required to submit in advance their proposals for consideration, and the three main considerations of PMQ Ltd were as follows: (i) design, cultural and arts activities would be accorded priority; (ii) the activities should be creative, innovative and educational; and (iii) the activities should be of high quality and beneficial to brand-building for PMQ. Venue charges would be determined in the light of the nature and scale of activities under application. PMQ Ltd would assess the applications subject to the availability of venues and provision of sufficient information by applicants, and would provide the successful applicants with details regarding conditions of use for facilities, venue charges and so on. Owing to difference in scale and nature of activities under application, PMQ Ltd would provide a specific quotation to each applicant only after receiving the respective activity plan. Moreover, at the request of C&WDC, PMQ Ltd had designated Common Room No. 302 in Block A as a meeting place for OCs in need in 2014. The common room was about 300 square feet in area and could accommodate 20 persons or so. Interested OCs were required to submit their applications one month prior to the date of meeting and the hourly rental was $100. In 2015 and 2016, one application and two applications were received respectively. He agreed that the existing utilisation rate of the designated common room by OCs was low. PMQ Ltd would explore ways to launch more promotional and

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publicity activities to inform residents of facilities in PMQ available for hire. He said that PMQ Ltd had sent letters to OCs in the district in October 2014 to promote the use of the conference room. He said that there were 90 studio units, 15 pop-up stores and 50 co-working spaces in PMQ at present. The overall occupancy rate of studio units in PMQ was 92.8%, with tenants engaged in design and related services accounting for 23% of the total; fashion design 23%; household/office design 17%; fashion accessories design 15% and so on. He would reflect Members’ comments on food pricing of food establishments in and enhanced positioning of PMQ to PMQ Ltd for consideration. He thanked Members for their concern over and support to PMQ, and PMQ Ltd would further study ways to enhance operation of PMQ in various aspects with a view to promoting and developing brand names for local products.

24. Mr LEE Hong-nin of DEVB called on Members to help relay the information on facilities in PMQ available for hiring to residents.

25. The Chairman said that Members could assist PMQ Ltd in distributing publicity materials and disseminating information to OCs.

26. The Chairman commenced the second round of discussion. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr KAM Nai-wai hoped that the venues available for hire by OCs, charges and related procedures would be clearly provided by PMQ Ltd in the theme page “Our Site and Features” under the website of PMQ.

(ii) Mr HUI Chi-fung thought that the design of the website was not user-friendly. He could not accept the explanation of PMQ Ltd on venue charges and did not understand why the commercial mode of letting venues at a fluctuating price like “the price of seafood” was adopted. He also thought that DEVB had shirked its responsibility of monitoring the performance of PMQ by making excuse that its focus was on conservation. He pointed out that the focus of conservation should be on the operation mode of PMQ as well as the way of linking up a cultural heritage and the community. He requested DEVB to enhance monitoring of the operation and extent of public access of PMQ. He said that the existing operation of PMQ was highly commercialised, and that the profit records were not provided in the response given just now. It would not be beneficial to the public if PMQ Ltd only focused on profit-making without attaching great importance to the tie between PMQ and the community. He said that if PMQ Ltd turned a deaf ear to the aspirations of the community and C&WDC, PMQ would not be a successful revitalisation project of historic buildings, and the reputation of PMQ Ltd would also be adversely affected.

(iii) Mr SHAM Chi-hang opined that PMQ should shoulder some social responsibilities and should therefore consider exempting the rental for hiring the common rooms by OCs and non-profit-making governmental organisations.

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(iv) Mr NG Siu-hong opined that DEVB should not only regulate the hardware of PMQ but also examine the extent of public access to the facilities inside the buildings and the achievement of the objective to promote creative industries. He asked whether PMQ Ltd agreed that PMQ should adopt a more popularised positioning and whether it had relevant plans. He hoped that PMQ Ltd would disclose the criteria of letting venues. He said that art should not be assessed in monetary terms and PMQ should be encouraged to further promote diversification of arts.

(v) The Vice-chairman agreed that it was necessary to review the utilisation of PMQ. He asked whether Common Room No. 302 would be left unoccupied at timeslots not used by OCs. As a fee waiver mechanism was implemented for venues in municipal services buildings, he also asked whether PMQ Ltd would consider introducing such mechanism to PMQ for enhanced utilisation of the common room by OCs.

(vi) The Chairman said that it was understandable for PMQ to adopt a mode of business operation because it was a project operating on a self-financing basis. However, PMQ Ltd should consider implementing a fee waiver mechanism proposed by Members. He said that C&WDC had been discussing the positioning of PMQ over the years in the hope of preventing PMQ from following the same old path of “1881 Heritage” which, after revitalisation of the former site, became a selling place of consumer products at the higher end which were unaffordable by the general public. He opined that PMQ Ltd should conduct a review of its positioning and aim to provide service to the general public, facilitating the public to use facilities provided in PMQ, enjoy free music performances and experience the art and cultural ambience.

27. Mr LEE Hong-nin of DEVB responded that the Bureau, apart from focusing on heritage conservation, had been monitoring the use of the public space in PMQ and examining the business performance of PMQ regularly in order to ensure the sustainability of its operation. He said that the project of PMQ covered both heritage conservation and promotion of creative industries. PMQ Ltd had also subsidised some designers with the commercial rental collected to aid their development in PMQ. He thanked Members for their comments and undertook to review and improve the development of PMQ in various aspects.

28. Mr Ken GO of PMQ Ltd added that Common Room No. 302 would be available for use by other tenants of PMQ for developing creative industries in the unoccupied timeslots.

Item 7 - Press for setting up a permanent public library in Sheung Wan and improving the mobile library services

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 63/2017) (3:57 pm – 4:21 pm)

29. This agenda item was chaired by the Vice-chairman.

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30. Mr KAM Nai-wai said that, as provided in the written reply of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), there was no mandatory standard specifically imposed on the provision of small libraries. Therefore, it was unreasonable for the Government to explain in the past that there was no need to set up a library in Sheung Wan because public libraries were already provided in Hong Kong City Hall and Shek Tong Tsui. According to the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guideline (HKPSG) regarding provision of public libraries, there was a need to provide a permanent public library in Sheung Wan. As the Government did not respond to their request for setting up a permanent public library in Sheung Wan over the years, he hoped that the Government would reconsider the proposal of providing the Sheung Wan Public Library. Besides, in regard to paragraph 4 of the written reply provided by LCSD, he asked whether it had indicated the Government’s plan of relocating the Technical Processing Unit of the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) on the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building to somewhere else and whether LCSD had considered providing other facilities at the vacated premises on the 9th floor. As for mobile libraries, some members of the public had lodged complaint on the provision of outdated books in these libraries. He therefore hoped that books provided in such libraries would be replaced more quickly, and the visiting frequency of mobile libraries to Sheung Wan would increase.

31. Ms CHENG Lai-king said that C&WDC had requested for the relocation of the Technical Processing Unit of HKPL from the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building as early as in 1980’s. She opined that the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building was an important community facility in the district. The facilities provided on each floor were open for public access except for that on the floor accommodating the Technical Processing Unit which was for internal use of the Government. She suggested that this unit could be relocated to a factory building. She said that if the Technical Processing Unit would really be relocated from the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building, it was imperative for the Department to consider setting up a public library on the 9th floor.

32. The Vice-chairman invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr HUI Chi-fung said that the agenda item of vacating the office premises from the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building for setting up the Sheung Wan Public Library had been discussed by C&WDC for several times. He said that library services should move with the times, and the frontline services should be provided for use by the public at facilities which were closest to the residential premises and were easily accessible. In his opinion, backend offices should be moved out from these facilities. As the Government Property Agency had made arrangement for provision of various government office buildings over the years, he asked whether the Department had reviewed the use of the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building or had taken the initiative of proposing the relocation of the Technical Processing Unit. He asked whether the Department would seriously consider the views of C&WDC regarding the provision of the Sheung Wan Public Library through relocation of the Technical Processing

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Unit.

(ii) Mr SHAM Chi-hang suggested that the Department should take into account both the population size and population structure of the district concerned when planning for provision of public libraries. He explained that as the size of school net of the Central and Western District ranked second in Hong Kong, there were many students in the district who often needed to visit libraries to gather information for reference. In addition, the books provided in the mobile libraries were usually outdated and service hours were too short. The variety of books provided in school libraries were insufficient to meet the need. For these reasons, provision of an additional public library in Sheung Wan was required.

(iii) Mr YIP Wing-shing said that it was inconvenient for residents to use the City Hall Public Library. As such, C&WDC had been striving for setting up a permanent public library in Sheung Wan for many years. He urged the Department to seriously consider the views raised by C&WDC.

(iv) Mr CHAN Choi-hi said that with the increase in population and the strong demand for library services by the public, he suggested that the number of mobile libraries should be increased from 12 to 15, and the visiting frequency to each district should also be increased. He also suggested that the Department should consider re-provisioning of the Technical Processing Unit to the Hong Kong Central Library. In case conversion of the whole of the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building to a public library was not feasible, it might also consider using half of the floor to set up a library as a short-term programme.

(v) The Vice-chairman said that papers about setting up a public library in Sheung Wan were discussed by C&WDC almost every year. He agreed that the public libraries provided in Hong Kong City Hall and Shek Tong Tsui were not convenient for use by residents in Sheung Wan. He hoped that the Department would explain the meaning of the sentence “the government still has to give all-round consideration to the long-term planning of the facilities in the Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building”, which was stated in paragraph 4 of LCSD’s written reply. He concurred that the Technical Processing Unit mainly dealt with internal process, and requested for providing a permanent library on the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building.

33. Ms CHAN Shuk-hing , Senior Librarian (Central & Western) of LCSD, undertook to reflect Members’ views to the Department. According to the relevant provisions of HKPSG, one district library would be provided for each district by the Department and a district library should be provided for every 200 000 persons. There were three public libraries in the Central and Western District, namely, the City Hall Public Library, Shek Tong Tsui Public Library and Smithfield Public Library. She said that she had taken note of Members’ view. She opined that although the City Hall Public Library was slightly farther away from the residential area, it was provided with abundant stock items and facilities

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to serve a community of 400 000 persons. In this connection, the Department encouraged residents to further utilise the services and facilities of the City Hall Public Library. Situating at an area of about 2 660 square metres, the Technical Processing Unit was responsible for the purchase, cataloguing, collection and dispatch of library materials, etc. When it came to a re-provisioning programme, careful consideration should be given to a range of parameters such as the availability of suitable site, sustainable development and ancillary transport facilities, etc. If it was possible to implement the re-provisioning programme for the Technical Processing Unit in future, the Government still had to give all-round consideration to the long-term planning of the facilities in Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building. She said that the mobile library stop in Sheung Wan currently provided services on alternate Tuesdays. LCSD operated 12 mobile libraries at present, providing services at 111 mobile library stops in various districts across the territory. As the 12 mobile libraries were currently on a very tight itinerary, the Department was unable to increase the visiting frequency to the mobile library stop in Sheung Wan. In regard to Members’ request for enhanced replacement of stock items in mobile libraries, she would ask the subject officers of the relevant section to keep a closer watch of this to meet the need of visitors using the service of mobile libraries. The Department welcomed the public to reflect their preference of books to the staff of mobile libraries, so that such types of books would be provided for readers in the subsequent visits. She added that the number of stock items carried by a mobile library for each visit was limited to about 3 000 and a total of about 80 000 stock items were available. She would remind the officers concerned to pick out the damaged books and would reflect to the Department Members’ request for provision of more mobile libraries.

34. Mr KAM Nai-wai considered that the Department’s suggestion of encouraging the public to use the City Hall Public Library did not meet the need of the public because accessibility of the library was very important. He said that once the Department had decided to relocate the Technical Processing Unit, consideration must be given to setting up a library at the vacated venue. He proposed writing to the Secretary for Home Affairs (SHA) to express Members’ unanimous request over the years for providing a permanent public library in Sheung Wan. He did not consider it necessary for the Technical Processing Unit to carry out its work in Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building.

35. The Chairman agreed with Members’ request for relocating the Technical Processing Unit. He opined that the guidelines set out in HKPSG regarding the provision of public libraries should move with the times. He hoped to include in the letter that public demand for library services had increased.

36. Mr CHAN Choi-hi recommended inclusion of the request for increase in mobile libraries in the proposed letter.

37. The Vice-chairman summarised the discussion. The Committee endorsed the proposal to write a letter to SHA, requesting for provision of a permanent library in Sheung Wan. The Committee also requested for relocation of the Technical Processing Unit of HKPL from the 9th floor of Sheung Wan Municipal Services

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Building and setting up the Sheung Wan Public Library at the vacated venue, as well as increase in the number of mobile libraries.

Item 8 - Concern over difficulty in hiring the community venues in the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park and the Central and Western District

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 66/2017) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (4:41 pm – 5:04 pm)

38. This agenda item was chaired by the Vice-chairman.

39. The Vice-chairman invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr LEE Chi-hang said that many members of the public had been questioning on the fairness of the mechanism for booking of LCSD leisure and sports facilities and venues. In some cases, people failed to book the desired venues even if they had started queuing for booking at 5:00 am. He considered that the Department should review the mechanism of according priority in booking venues under the existing “Booking Procedure for Recreation and Sports Facilities”. He suggested that consideration should be given to lower the priority accorded to schools, sports associations and organisations for booking venues so that sports organisations and the general public in the district could book venues in personal capacity easier. He also requested the Department to closely monitor the problem of using the copies of the Hong Kong Identity Cards of other persons for booking venues by some individuals and combat touting activities of leisure and sports facilities and venues vigorously.

(ii) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming said that it was good to have a high utilisation rate of such venues in the district but LCSD had to implement measures to eliminate touting activity for protecting the genuine users of the venues. As the venues of Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre were available for booking by organisations in other districts, he suggested that the Department should consider according priority to residents in the district for using such venues.

(iii) Mr CHAN Choi-hi said that such kind of touting activities were nothing new and the most important thing was how the Department could solve the problem. As the existing booking system accepted applications on a first-come-first-served basis, he asked whether the Department would consider using other systems, such as balloting, to replace the existing one. He suggested making use of balloting method in individual venues in the short term as a trial run, and also looking into reserving some places for priority booking by residents in the district.

(iv) Mr CHAN Hok-fung said he understood LCSD had devoted much effort in the venue booking system but considered that efforts should also be made to eliminate the “business of venue touting”. In his opinion, difficulties in booking venues had reflected the inadequacy in providing recreation and

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sports facilities and venues in Central and Western District. The Department should review whether the existing recreation and sports facilities were adequately provided in the district while under-provision of these facilities would adversely affect the promotion of sports at district level. As pointed out, the inadequate provision of basketball courts and badminton facilities was more serious, and the Department should try to strike a balance between the demand and supply of these facilities from planning as early as possible.

(v) Mr NG Siu-hong said that he had encountered difficulties in booking venues in the district. He asked how the Department combat the touting activities at present, how many cases of venue touting were detected in the past year, and whether it would consider employing a more stringent approach to combat touting activity. He supported studying the adoption of “priority to locals” policy. In the long run, the adequacy of recreation and sports facilities in the district should also be examined.

(vi) The Chairman agreed with Members’ proposal of according priority to locals as there were limited venues in the district. He also pointed out that provision of recreation and sports facilities was planned in the light of the population size in each district. He opined that the Department should review the existing booking system and suggested that, when reviewing the system, the Department should consider ways to enable people at work to make bookings for peak-hour slots easier.

(vii) The Vice-chairman asked whether there were records regarding cases of illegal booking of venues detected during pro-active inspection conducted by LCSD.

40. Ms CHAN Suk-fan , Deputy District Leisure Manager (District Support) Central and Western of LCSD, replied that the Department had always actively promoted the “Healthy Exercise for All Campaign” and encouraged individuals and organisations to continuously participate in and organise recreation and sports activities. To balance the demand for recreation and sports facilities from members of the public and organisations, the Department had prepared the “Booking Procedure for Recreation and Sports Facilities” for use and compliance in all the eighteen districts. The Department would make arrangement for sports associations and district sports associations by category to reserve in advance recreation and sports facilities for organising competitions. LCSD also encouraged schools to make bookings for non-peak slots. Generally speaking, the total number of hours arising from block booking by organisations could not exceed one third of the monthly aggregate peak hours. LCSD would also make timely improvement to the arrangement of booking venues and facilities, such as imposing penalties on organisations which contravened the rules. Moreover, LCSD would require the hirer of facility to be one of the users of such facility while venue staff would strictly enforce the verification of hirers’ identities and step up inspection. She said that Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park Sports Centre was a sports centre larger in scale under the management of LCSD and was thus more suitable for holding large-scale competitions. In regard to the proposals of according priority to locals and booking venues by balloting, the Department

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would continue to study the improvement measures to the booking procedure as the existing “Booking Procedure for Recreation and Sports Facilities” had not covered the above proposals yet.

41. Mr LEE Chi-hang asked how LCSD would tackle the problem of touting venues under it management at present. He suggested that the Committee should write to SHA, recommending implementation of a system which would give priority to local residents and organisations for booking recreation and sports facilities and venues in the district and requesting for review of the existing system for booking LCSD venues and facilities.

42. Mr NG Siu-hong thought that the law enforcement departments should collaborate with LCSD to curb the touting activities. He said that recreation and sports facilities were provided in accordance with HKPSG and the calculation was based on the population size in the district. However, the facilities so provided were available for use by all members of the public in the territory and such arrangement was apparently unfair to residents in the district.

43. Ms CHAN Suk-fan of LCSD said that touting of LCSD venues was an unlawful activity. When the Department planned for the provision of recreation and sports facilities for the eighteen districts, the quantities required were calculated in the light of the population size in each district to facilitate the use of these facilities by people residing or working in the respective district. Furthermore, the Department had also set a standard quota of block booking for organisations to book the recreation and sports venues and facilities in all districts. Therefore, the criteria of booking facilities in various districts were identical.

44. The Vice-chairman summarised the discussion. The Committee endorsed the proposal of writing to SHA, with a view to reflect the inadequate provision of recreation and sports facilities in Central and Western District; request the Bureau to review the existing system for booking LCSD venues and facilities; as well as recommend giving priority to local residents and organisations for booking recreation and sports venues in the district.

Item 9 - Grave concern over the removal of more than 10 meters of the masonry parapet wall, which was built with granite in 1851 during the construction of Robinson Road, next to No. 80 Robinson Road without reason, causing damage to monument. It was requested that the Antiquities and Monuments Office should conduct a grading assessment for the ancient masonry parapet wall at Robinson Road to conserve genuine monument

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 67/2017) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (5:04 pm – 5:46 pm)

45. Ms CHENG Lai-king said that part of the masonry parapet wall on Robinson Road was found to have been removed earlier and some red and white water-filled barriers were installed as a temporary parapet wall. Some residents reflected to her that they were very concerned about the removal. She had proposed to widen the road section concerned many years ago for construction of a footpath to protect students’ safety. However, the government department

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concerned finally constructed an access trail as a substitute in order to preserve the above wall, which was a monument. Until commencement of the Ying Wa Girls’ School (YWGS) redevelopment works, some parts of the parapet wall were removed then. She pointed out that in the past, the Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) usually conducted grading assessment for building, but seldom for a monument on the street. She was very concerned about the removal of some parts of the parapet wall and had earlier asked AMO about this. As AMO replied that reinstatement of the parapet wall was possible, she brought the agenda item up for discussion at the meeting.

46. Mr KAM Nai-wai estimated that it was not likely for the parapet wall to restore to its original appearance because he had witnessed how the parapet wall was demolished. As recalled, C&WDC learnt that some parts of the parapet wall would be removed from its original location to make way for the entrance to the new school premises during discussion on the redevelopment project of YWGS at that time. The consultant had undertaken to relocate the parapet wall at an appropriate location. However, pneumatic pick was used to demolish the walls in the end. He requested the departments, architect or contractor concerned to explain why it was so. He said that railings had been installed at No. 80 Robinson Road, indicating that the removed part of parapet wall could actually be retained instead of demolished. He did not want to waste the time and efforts that C&WDC had put into retaining the parapet wall at that time.

47. The Chairman invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Ms CHEUNG Kai-yin said that, being a graduate of YWGS, the parapet wall was part of the memories of many students and also served the purpose of safeguarding students. She thought that even if it was impossible to reinstate the parapet wall, she still hoped that the removed granite rubble could still be used as fringe of the remaining parapet wall because the existing concrete fringe was incompatible with the parapet wall. She said that C&WDC had installed an information plate for the parapet wall, and asked whether the relevant department would consider setting a higher conservation standard for this kind of monuments and requesting the contractor to consult more departments before demolition of such monuments. She also asked whether adequate consultation had been conducted prior to demolition of the wall.

(ii) Mr NG Siu-hong said that, as shown in the redevelopment location plan, an area about 10 metres long in the east was outside the area of the vehicular entrance but the parapet wall along this road section was removed. He asked why this part of parapet wall was removed. In addition, he asked whether demolition works of the parapet wall had been completed. If no, he opined that they should stop damaging the parapet wall. He hoped that more information on the works could be disclosed and requested for conducting more consultation. He also requested AMO to explain why it did not grade the parapet wall.

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(iii) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming said that according to the written reply, the school concerned had consulted AMO about the redevelopment project in 2012. However, he did not understand why AMO did not conduct an in-depth study and grading assessment on the parapet wall then. He agreed that AMO should conduct grading assessment not only for buildings but also for monuments of historic value on the streets. He thought that AMO had an unshirkable responsibility and requested the Department to provide guidelines and proposed remedies to the school and government departments concerned.

(iv) Mr LEE Chi-hang did not understand why the contractor used a poor method to damage a parapet wall of historic value instead of cutting the granite intact with the advanced cutting techniques available nowadays. He said that the incident had revealed an error in the project because the department concerned did not oppose the removal and reprovisioning plans of the parapet wall at the beginning. He asked why the consultant had permitted the contractor to use such method for dealing with the parapet wall and whether there was any department responsible for monitoring the demolition of the above wall. He thought that it was an unfortunate incident and the relevant persons had to explain or even apologise to the public because reinstatement of the parapet wall was no longer possible.

(v) Mr CHAN Hok-fung opined that AMO should send representative to attend this meeting. If AMO had graded the parapet wall at the very beginning, the contractor would have reprovisioned the parapet wall in accordance with the established standards and the current situation would not have occurred. He did not understand why AMO still had not conducted a grading assessment for the parapet wall so far. He suggested that the Committee should request AMO in writing for an explanation about this because the grading accorded by AMO would directly affect the conservation of the monument.

(vi) The Chairman declared himself as a member of the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB). He said that the written reply of AMO had explained the procedures required for grading an item. He considered that the parapet wall was of historic value and thus worthy of being considered by AMO for grading. He said that C&WDC was not formally consulted before the parapet wall had been demolished, reflecting inadequate consultation of the project at the beginning.

48. Ms Florence L.K. Chan , Associate of P&T Architects and Engineers Ltd, explained that in order to construct a new vehicular ingress/egress, some parts of the parapet wall were removed due to obstruction of motorists’ sightline. The consultant had install railings thereat afterwards according to the Department’s recommendations. She pointed out that after a section of the parapet wall which was about 27 metres long was removed, the access trail was widened to 1.1 metres wide to facilitate better pedestrian flow. She continued to explain that the removed granite rubble had been placed in the construction site of YWGS and would be used to build the parapet walls at both sides of the entrance of the new school premises. She said that the contractor CR Construction Company Limited

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might have to hammer at the bottom of the parapet wall and the concrete surface of the existing pavement during removal of some stones. The information plate was currently placed beside the bus stop at No. 76 Robinson Road, and the design plan of the redevelopment project had been approved by AMO, TD and Highways Department (HyD).

49. Ms Uson Chung , Chairperson of School Redevelopment Subcommittee under School Redevelopment Steering Committee of YWGS, said that the School Redevelopment Steering Committee was committed to the conservation works of the school premises. The Chairman of the School Redevelopment Steering Committee was also a member of AAB. When the school consulted C&WDC in 2012 on the redevelopment project of YWGS, they understood that Members attached great importance to conservation and the local community had strong feelings towards the parapet wall. Therefore, it was specifically required in the tender that the contractor had to retain and reuse the stones removed from the parapet wall and conserve the former kindergarten structure built in 1926. The consultant had ensured that the existing design concerning the width, curvature and motorists’ sightline of the ingress/egress were compliant with standards required by the relevant government departments, so as to safeguard pedestrian and student safety. The school hoped that the design of the new ingress/egress would minimise the damages caused to the monument and improve the footpath along Robinson Road for enhanced safety to various kinds of road users. The school undertook to supervise the contractor to properly retain and reuse the removed granite rubble and would listen to the views of C&WDC for proper implementation of the conservation works.

50. The Chairman commenced the second round of discussion. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr LEE Chi-hang said that the government departments were responsible for ensuring the compliance of the design with the relevant standards, while C&WDC was concerned about how much efforts the consultant had made to protect the parapet wall and whether it could provide a reprovisioning proposal of complete conservation. He hoped that after the meeting, the consultant would provide the works process and guidelines for demolition of the parapet wall given to the contractor previously and provide photographs of the stones removed.

(ii) Ms CHENG Lai-king was disappointed by the explanation provided by the school. She considered that the parapet wall was of historic value, which was built in 1851 during the construction of Robinson Road and was installed with an information plate by C&WDC subsequently. She recalled that HyD and C&WDC had endeavoured to protect the parapet wall during construction of the access trail many years ago. She hoped that a letter would be sent to AMO on behalf of C&WDC, requesting a grading assessment for the masonry parapet wall on Robinson Road. She also suggested that a new information plate might be produced in future, explaining to the public that the removed part of the parapet wall had become part of the new school entrance. Lastly, she enquired whether HyD

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knew that the contractor was demolishing the parapet wall at the time.

(iii) Mr KAM Nai-wai asked whether the demolition works had been completed and why the consultant had damaged the parapet wall with pneumatic pick instead of cutting the stone into pieces. He also asked why the parapet wall at No. 80 Robinson Road had been removed and replaced with railings. He agreed to remove some parts of the parapet wall for construction of the ingress/egress but absolutely did not agree to remove the entire parapet wall on the section from No. 80 Robinson Road to the vehicular ingress/egress because he considered that adequate drivers’ sightline was available at the location. He enquired about the length of the remaining parapet wall and requested the consultant to provide the relevant photographs. He requested to arrange for a site visit after the meeting and asked the Secretariat to invite TD to attend.

51. Mr CHAN Chak-wing , District Engineer/West of HyD, said that the consultant was required to apply to the Department for an excavation permit before carrying out any excavation works. However, the Department did not know the exact commencement date of the demolition works of the parapet wall. As shown in the relevant records, the consultant had consulted AMO on the works in 2012 and had obtained the works permit. As the works were implemented according to the original plans, HyD did not object to the contractor carrying out the works. He also believed that the consultant should have consulted TD regarding drivers’ sightline issues.

52. Ms Florence L.K. Chan , Associate of P&T Architects and Engineers Ltd, said that the consultant on the one hand wanted to keep the parapet wall at No. 80 Robinson Road as far as possible and on the other, the design should take into consideration the comments raised by the departments concerned and comply with the appropriate construction standards. She said that the demolition works of the parapet wall were completed by the end of August 2017. She explained that the contractor had chosen the most suitable method of demolition having regard to the project and surrounding environment at that time. She reiterated that the contractor did not crush the parapet wall and some intact stones would be reprovisioned on both sides of the new entrance. The consultant would provide the relevant photographs after the meeting.

53. The Chairman added that the “authenticity” of a monument would affect the grading of such monument. The Committee endorsed the proposal of writing to AMO to request for conducting a grading assessment for the masonry parapet wall on Robinson Road. The Committee also agreed to conduct a site visit to the parapet wall of YWGS after the meeting.

(Post-meeting note: The Secretariat had arranged a site inspection to No. 80 Robinson Road for Members on 14 December 2017 and all participants had entered the construction site to inspect the removed granite rubble. Representatives from EDB, YWGS, the consultant, HyD and TD also attended the site visit.)

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Item 10 - Lumieres Hong Kong Festival (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 68/2017) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (4:21 pm – 4:41 pm)

54. Dr Andrew Stephen Yuen , Chairman of Lumieres Hong Kong, said that “Lumieres Hong Kong” festival was a new programme and organised in Hong Kong for the first time. It would be held in the evenings (i.e. 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm) from 23 to 25 November 2017. Inspired by one of the world’s oldest light festival “Fete des Lumieres” and fully supported by the Government of Lyon in France, the organiser would work closely with LCSD to hold the event in celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. The event would cover 16 iconic buildings and sites in Hong Kong, including the Man Mo Temple, PMQ, Duddell Street Gas Lamps, Former French Mission Building, Chater Garden, Hong Kong City Hall and General Post Office, etc. He said that the light installations of this event were prepared by 9 local and 5 foreign light artists; and introduced the exhibits to be displayed at the various iconic sites. Moreover, workshops, guided tours and various programmes incorporating educational and participative contents were especially developed in partnership with specialised organisations such as the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Arts with the Disabled Association Hong Kong and Project We Can, etc.

55. The Chairman said that C&WDC had earlier agreed to become a supporting organisation of the event by circulation of paper. He invited discussion on the paper. Questions and comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr CHAN Choi-hi asked whether the organiser would consider including the iconic sites in Western District in future and whether it would consider extending the period of the event. He also asked how the proceeds from sale of food would be used and the expenditure involved for the entire event.

(ii) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming was concerned whether the event would cause light pollution to residents in the vicinity and whether the light bulbs used in the event were compact fluorescent lamps. He also asked whether the organisers would consider inviting schools in the district to participate in the event.

(iii) Mr SHAM Chi-hang suggested that the organiser should consider extending the duration of the event next year and covering iconic sites farther away from residential areas to attract greater participation by tourists.

(iv) The Chairman supported the event because he thought that it would help promote the tourism industry in Hong Kong.

56. Dr Andrew Stephen Yuen of Lumieres Hong Kong responded as follows:

(i) He hoped that the event would be held every year. The organiser would consider adding more iconic sites, including those in Western District, to extend the coverage of the event next year. He welcomed suggestions from

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Members and said that the organiser would conduct feasibility study and then select the iconic sites according to the study findings.

(ii) He explained that support from various government departments was needed in selecting a period to hold the event because the venues were often fully booked. He said that the dates for holding this year’s event were fixed with assistance from the Hong Kong Government and Hong Kong Tourism Board. To extend the duration of the event next year, the organiser would need to consider the expenditure and sponsorship of the event. The organiser would conduct a review upon completion of the event this year.

(iii) He said that the proceeds of food stalls operating in Chater Garden would go to the stall operators, and the rental of each stall would be $15,000 for three days.

(iv) He said that most of the light bulbs used were LED bulbs. The organiser had discussed with the French experts on electricity saving, minimisation of light pollution and nuisance caused to residents in surrounding areas.

(v) He said that the element of interaction with students had been considered when formulating the programmes. Therefore, students were invited to participate in the programme “Lumieres Village” this year. He hoped that more students could participate in the event next year. Lastly, he welcomed all Members to attend the opening ceremony to be held on 23 November 2017.

Item 11 - Review of the arrangements of “Culture in the District” (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 69/2017) 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 (5:46 pm – 6:05 pm)

57. The Chairman said that CLSAC, together with the large and high-standard art groups in the territory, provided a series of quality arts and cultural programmes under the “Culture in the District” initiative since 2002. As “Culture in the District” had been implemented for many years and Members had raised some comments on fund allocation of these programmes, it was appropriate to review the arrangement and introduce improvements . It was proposed in the paper that the arrangement of inviting organisations to submit applications for the following three kinds of arts and cultural performances/activities should continue: (1) provide high standard cultural and arts performances cum exchanges and workshops for needy groups; (2) provide cultural and arts ambassador training for residents or youths of the Central and Western District; and (3) promotion of arts (especially the nearly disappearing arts) with Central and Western District characteristics.

58. The Chairman invited discussion on the paper. Comments raised by Members were as follows:

(i) Mr YEUNG Hok-ming concurred with the direction of review stated in the paper and proposed to include guidelines to regulate the presentation

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approach, such as prohibiting the use of abusive language and spreading improper messages, so that the general public could enjoy the performances.

(ii) The Chairman said that the relevant restrictions were not specifically mentioned in the guidelines in the past. He said Members might consider pointing out such factors in assessment meetings or specifying them in the guidelines.

(iii) Mr LEE Chi-hang considered it necessary to set a wide range of standards so that applicants and Members could have better understanding of the relevant criteria. Moreover, he proposed to specify the amount of funds available for application in order to give organisations a clearer concept when formulating performance programmes and completing application forms. He also proposed to set up an ad hoc group to carefully discuss on the details of fund allocation for “Culture in the District”.

(iv) Mr CHAN Hok-fung agreed with Mr YEUNG Hok-ming’s view. He opined that C&WDC subsidised these arts and cultural activities with public funds, therefore basic standards should be laid down to prohibit the use of abusive language and obscene performances, so as to ensure all the relevant activities organised would be acceptable to the general public.

(v) The Vice-chairman said that the funding criteria for applications submitted under “Culture in the District” were different from those for applications submitted by other district art groups. He asked whether the applicants under “Culture in the District” would be required to complete the application form used for applying C&WDC funds and provided with clearer guidelines, including the amount of funds available for application, the ceiling for every individual expenditure item and provision of timetable for co-ordination of activities, etc.

(vi) The Chairman said that in the past, “Culture in the District” adopted the approach of inviting professional and high-standard art groups to submit programme proposals for consideration. From this year, the practice was changed to make open invitation to all art groups for fund application. He agreed that some basic criteria should be developed but a certain degree of flexibility in fund allocation should also be allowed.

59. Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze , District Officer (Central and Western), said that when compared with funding for other district arts and cultural activities, funding for “Culture in the District” programmes focused more on encouraging collaboration between large art groups and the district. Apart from recommending continuation of the prevailing practice of “Culture in the District”, the paper also proposed measures to address the ticket purchase issue which Members had raised earlier, and the kinds of arts which C&WDC hoped to promote, such as the nearly disappearing arts activities. She pointed out that if larger art groups wanted to stage large-scale performances like those organised in the “Culture in the District” series, it actually would be more difficult for them to meet the requirements of fund allocation for the general district arts and cultural activities.

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Currently, organisations staging performances under “Culture in the District” were not required to submit applications by completing the form used for applying C&WDC funds. However, if Members thought that it would be easier for them to examine the breakdowns if the same application form was used, she thought that it was feasible to do so. In regard to Members’ proposal of incorporating additional guidelines to prohibit funded performances from involving abusive language and obscene contents, she provided relevant information and pointed out that there was less restriction imposed on the contents of performances staged in the general performance venues of the Government (such as venues under the management of LCSD). Instead, suggestion of or restriction on age of audience was introduced according to the nature of individual performances. Understanding Members’ concerns, she thought that the proposed restrictions might be included subject to the decision of the Committee.

60. Mr CHAN Hok-fung said that “Culture in the District” aimed to provide the general public with an enhanced exposure to more diversified arts and cultural activities. Therefore, the applicants should be encouraged to organise the activities in public spaces or schools to attract wider participation of the public. As for activities that had to be held in specific arts and cultural venues, he suggested that these organisations should apply for other kinds of C&WDC funds.

61. The Chairman responded that the issue on venue for staging performance had been discussed previously. He opined that activities staged in arts and cultural venues were consistent with the aims of “Culture in the District”, and could introduce arts and cultural activities to the residents and the grassroots. He suggested holding an informal meeting later to facilitate further discussion on the details of fund allocation regarding “Culture in the District” by Members, with a view to retaining the flexibility of fund allocation without compromising the principle of making good use of public funds.

Item 12 - C&WDC Fund Application – Promotion of Civic Education (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 70/2017) (6:05 pm – 6:06 pm)

62. Paper No. 70/2017: “Show More Love to Family” applied for funding of $5,625. The application was submitted by Caritas Jockey Club Integrated Service for Young People - Shek Tong Tsui.

63. Mr YEUNG Hok-ming declared that he was a member of the District Advisory Committee of Caritas Jockey Club Integrated Service for Young People - Shek Tong Tsui.

64. The Chairman opined that Mr YEUNG Hok-ming could continue to participate in the discussion on the paper.

65. The Committee endorsed the above application.

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Item 13 - C&WDC Fund Application – Applications from local arts organisations (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 71/2017) (6:06 pm –6:07 pm)

66. Paper No. 71/2017: “Central and Western District Arts Workshop” applied for funding of $5,410. The application was submitted by Caritas Jockey Club Integrated Service for Young People – Shek Tong Tsui.

67. The Chairman asked about the number of passengers to be carried by the coach for holding the workshop on outdoor drawing.

68. Ms CHAN Ka-yi , Assistant Social Worker of Caritas Jockey Club Integrated Service for Young People – Shek Tong Tsui, responded that the coach would carry 15 participants, 10 volunteers and staff.

69. The Committee endorsed the above application.

Item 14 - C&WDC Fund Application – New service programmes in the district (C&W CLSAC Paper No. 72/2017) (6:07 pm –6:32 pm)

70. Annex I: “‘Blooming‧Colours’ Art Experience Programme” applied for funding of $73,540. The application was submitted by Caritas Parents Resource Center.

71. Annex II: “Local Aces – Western District Cultural Festival” applied for funding of $199,562. The application was submitted by H.K.S.K.H. Western District Elderly Community Centre.

72. Annex III: “Technology and Environmental Promotion Programme” applied for funding of $166,880. The application was submitted by St. James Settlement Central and Western District Elderly Community Centre.

73. The Chairman hoped that the applicants could guide new organisations to apply for organising activities, and allow wider participation of residents in the Central and Western District.

74. Mr LEE Chi-hang asked about the contents and number of beneficiaries of the course on design of smart products for the elderly stated in Annex III, and who would have the ownership of the finished products in future.

75. Ms CHENG Miu-wing , Social Worker of St. James Settlement Central and Western District Elderly Community Centre, said that they would invite mentors to teach students to use the software and students would then become mentors of the elderly.

76. Ms CHUI Sze-yui , Panel Head of Technology and Living of Lok Sin Tong Leung Kau Kui College, expected that the finished products could be shared with the elderly centres in the district, and the total number of beneficiaries was

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anticipated to be 500 persons.

77. The Chairman asked about the division of labour between the applicant and co-organisers when organising activities.

78. Ms Catherine KWOK , Social Worker of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Western District Elderly Community Center, said that the Centre was mainly responsible for financial and staffing arrangements while Hau Saang Limited was responsible for activity design.

79. Ms CHENG Miu-wing , Social Worker of St. James Settlement Central and Western District Elderly Community Centre, said that the Centre was responsible for financial affairs while the school would provide support on the technical front.

80. Ms WONG Chui-chi , Social Worker of Caritas Parents Resource Center, said that the Centre was familiar with the funding procedures and rules of C&WDC and would strengthen its communication with the co-organisers.

81. The Committee endorsed the above three applications.

Item 15 - Report on the Free Entertainment Programmes and Arts and Cultural Activities in the Central and Western District Organised by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 64/2017) (6:33 pm)

82. Members noted the report and had no other comments.

Item 16 - Report on the Organisation of Recreation and Sports Programmes in the Central and Western District by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department

(C&W CLSAC Paper No. 65/2017) (6:33 pm – 6:35 pm)

83. The Chairman asked whether applicants of these activities were restricted to residents of Central and Western District.

84. Ms CHAN Suk-fan of LCSD responded that there was no restriction imposed on the applicants’ residing place for these activities.

Item 17 - Any other business (6:35 pm)

85. Members did not raise other matters for discussion.

Item 18 - Date of the next meeting (6:35 pm)

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86. The Chairman announced that the 1st meeting of CLSAC in 2018-19 would be held on 8 February 2018. The paper submission deadline would be 18 January 2018 for government departments and 24 January 2018 for Members.

87. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 pm.

The minutes were confirmed on 8 February 2018

Chairman: Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, BBS, JP

Secretary: Miss MAN Sum-yi, Annie

Central and Western District Council SecretariatJanuary 2018

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