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The Chief Executive in Council approved the draft Aberdeen & Ap Lei Chau Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).
"The approved OZP provides a statutory land use planning framework to guide the development and redevelopment in the Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau area," a spokesman for the Town Planning Board said today (January 19).
The Planning Scheme Area, covering about 784 hectares, is located at the southern part of Hong Kong Island. It is characterised by a mixture of land uses with Tin Wan and Aberdeen areas mainly for commercial/residential uses, the Wong Chuk Hang area for business uses, and Ap Lei Chau and the area along Nam Long Shan Road mainly for residential uses and other specified uses such as the Ocean Park.
The Wong Chuk Hang area has been undergoing gradual transformation since its rezoning from "Industrial" to "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Business" in 2001 towards less polluted and cleaner business uses. A set of building height controls has been incorporated into the plan to ensure that the transformation would not result in negative impacts on the visual quality of the area. The principal objective is to reinforce the intrinsic character and natural attributes of Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau as a whole, while enabling flexibility in building design to achieve the permissible non-domestic plot ratio under the Building (Planning) Regulations.
About 31% of the total area is zoned "Green Belt" (210.7 hectares), "Coastal Protection Area" (28.4 hectares) and "Site of Specific Scientific Interest" (two hectares) to conserve the natural environment and features of special scientific interest. An area of 101.7 hectares is zoned "Country Park" covering the southern part of the Aberdeen Country Park.
A total of 103.4 hectares of land is zoned "Other Specified Uses" to reserve sites for special uses. These include the Wong Chuk Hang Business Area, the Ocean Park, the Chinese Permanent Cemetery, a number of private sports and recreation clubs, sites reserved for cargo-handling areas, the Hongkong Electric Company Ap Lei Chau Headquarters Complex, a transit depot for liquefied petroleum gas and oil products and various petrol filling stations.
Most of the residential developments in the area are zoned "Residential (Group A)" (58.6 hectares) for public and private residential developments. An area south of Shouson Hill fronting the Deep Water Bay is zoned "Residential (Group C)" (0.4 hectare) for low-rise low-density residential developments. Four sites in Tin Wan, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau area are zoned "Residential (Group E)" (3.5 hectares) for phasing out of the existing industrial uses in these areas through redevelopment or conversion for residential use.
About 1.5 hectares of land is zoned "Commercial" covering two shopping centres in the South Horizons to serve the local population. Some 10.8 hectares of land is zoned "Commercial/Residential" including existing commercial/residential areas of a local character with shops, restaurants, offices and entertainment facilities. Some 10.3 hectares of land is zoned "Industrial" covering industrial land at Tin Wan, the south-western part of Ap Lei Chau, the east of Ap Lei Chau Praya Road and west of Shum Wan Road.
To serve the local and district needs, a total of 99.9 hectares of land is zoned "Government, Institution or Community", and 15.2 hectares of land is zoned "Open Space".
The approved Aberdeen & Ap Lei Chau OZP No. S/H15/24 is now available for public inspection during office hours at the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, the Planning Enquiry Counters in North Point and Sha Tin, the Hong Kong District Planning Office, and the Southern District Office.
Copies of the approved OZP are available for sale at Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the plan is viewable from the Town Planning Board's website (http://www.info.gov.hk/tpb).
Ends/Friday, January 19, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:45
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