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The Chief Executive in Council has approved the draft Kam Tin North Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).
"The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment within the Kam Tin North area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (November 10).
The Planning Scheme Area covers about 599 hectares of land. It is bounded by the Lam Tsuen Country Park in the north and the east, the New Territories Circular Road in the west and Kam Tin Road in the south.
The general planning intention of the area is to channel suburban type developments to appropriate areas. Good quality agricultural land will be retained whereas workshops in temporary structures will be encouraged to be rebuilt for upgrading of the environment.
Two areas located in Sha Po and Long Ha, totalling about 40.4 hectares, are zoned "Comprehensive Development Area" for comprehensive development/redevelopment of the areas for residential use with the provision of commercial, open space and any other supporting facilities.
Some 18.3 hectares of land is zoned "Residential (Group C)" for low-rise, low-density residential developments. An area of about 5.8 hectares covering the Pang Ka Tsuen and Shek Kong San Tsuen is zoned "Residential (Group D)" to encourage residential upgrading of the existing temporary domestic accommodation therein.
The existing villages and areas suitable for village expansion and reprovisioning of village houses affected by Government projects, with about 80.2 hectares in total, are zoned "Village Type Development".
To serve local and district needs, about 4.6 hectares of land is zoned "Government, Institution or Community" while 4.5 hectares of land is zoned "Open Space". An area of about 1.5 hectares is zoned "Commercial" to provide commercial and shopping facilities.
Some 228.9 hectares of land is zoned "Agriculture" to safeguard good quality agricultural land/farm/fish ponds and to retain fallow arable land with good potential for rehabilitation for cultivation and other agricultural purposes.
Provision is also made for about 37.2 hectares of "Industrial (Group D)" zone to provide land for industrial uses that cannot be accommodated in conventional flatted factories and for the redevelopment of existing informal industrial uses to properly designed permanent industrial buildings.
A number of sites are zoned "Other Specified Uses" ("OU"). They include the "OU" annotated "Comprehensive Development and Wetland Enhancement Area" zone (about 2.4 hectares) which serves to conserve and enhance the ecological value and functions of the existing wetland. Another "OU" zone is earmarked for the railway reserve for the proposed Northern Link (about 16.8 hectares).
About 59.9 hectares of land is zoned "Conservation Area" to protect and retain the existing natural landscape, ecological or topographical features of the area. In addition, some 7.5 hectares of wetland reprovisioned for the loss of ecological sensitive areas arising from the West Rail and Kam Tin Bypass projects is zoned "Conservation Area (1)", while some 10.5 hectares of land is zoned the "Green Belt" zone.
The approved Kam Tin North OZP No. S/YL-KTN/7 is now available for public inspection during office hours at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, the Planning Enquiry Counters of Planning Department in North Point and Sha Tin, the Tuen Mun and Yuen Long District Planning Office, the Yuen Long District Office, the Kam Tin Rural Committee, the Pat Heung Rural Committee and the San Tin Rural Committee.
Copies of the approved plan are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan can be viewed on the Town Planning Board's website at http://www.info.gov.hk/tpb/.
Ends/Friday, November 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 14:45
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