********************************************************
The Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, in his first week in office, spared no time in learning about the progress of the public housing projects by paying a visit to two sites planned for the construction of public rental housing (PRH) and a New Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) project in Sha Tin this afternoon (July 6).
Covering about 4.1 hectares, the planned PRH site is currently an abandoned vehicle surrender centre of the Transport Department, as well as a temporary bus depot and a carpark. The Housing Authority (HA) plans to build six 27 to 37 storey PRH blocks there in two phases, providing about 4,200 flats for about 12,000 residents. Construction work is anticipated to start in 2015 and complete in 2021.
Permission has been obtained to increase the plot ratio of the site from 2.5 to 5 and relax the building height restriction from 20 floors to 37 floors.
Professor Cheung's next stop was a New HOS site in Wo Sheung Tun. Currently a temporary bus depot the site, which covers 0.87 hectares, is planned to provide two blocks of 30 storeys and 31 storeys respectively, with 520 flats accommodating about 1,660 residents by 2019.
Public consultation on the two projects has been conducted and the Sha Tin District Council supported the projects while requesting additional facilities on transportation and community services to cope with the increase in population. The HA will follow up with relevant government departments.
Before touring the sites, Professor Cheung visited a family of four in Mei Tin Estate. He was pleased to see that the family is living contentedly after moving into the two-bedroom flat via the PRH Waiting List in 2006.
Accompanying Professor Cheung during his visit today were the Deputy Director of Housing (Estate Management), Mr Albert Lee, and Deputy Director of Housing (Development and Construction), Ms Ada Fung.
Ends/Friday, July 6, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:13
NNNN