At its meeting today (October 15), the Land and Development Advisory Committee (LDAC) was briefed by the Development Bureau (DEVB) on two applications in Admiralty and Causeway Bay under the Facilitation Scheme for Provision of Pedestrian Links by the Private Sector (the Scheme).  
      
     The Scheme was introduced in 2017 to put in place an evaluation mechanism to assess the benefits of pedestrian links proposed by the private sector, which will in turn facilitate consideration of whether land premium chargeable on the lease modification of the relevant lot(s) is justified to be waived.
      
     The Admiralty application involves the provision, in the context of a commercial building under redevelopment, of a dedicated public passageway, an elevated covered walkway and two accessible lifts, thereby providing an all-weather and round-the-clock public passageway with barrier-free access. Through the proposed pedestrian link to be created in the said commercial building, there will be improved connectivity and walkability between the elevated pedestrian network in the hinterland of Admiralty to the harbourfront area (location plan at Annex A).
      
     The Causeway Bay application involves the provision of a covered walkway on existing pavement, a network of five footbridges and dedicated public passageways inside various existing buildings, thereby allowing pedestrians to travel between the Causeway Bay MTR Station and future developments at Caroline Hill Road (CHR) in an all-weather and barrier-free manner round-the-clock (location plan at Annex B). Members noted that to preserve maximum flexibility to improve the walkability between the MTR Station and future CHR developments, the successful tenderer of the future land sale site at CHR will be required to make provision to receive an elevated pedestrian connection to the development when that connection is available in future. 
      
     Taking into account the assessment results based on the Scheme's established evaluation mechanism, Members considered that the proposed pedestrian links could benefit the community by improving the walkability in Admiralty and Causeway Bay and providing pedestrians with a direct, safe and comfortable walking environment. Overall, Members supported DEVB's proposal to waive the premium payable for lease modifications arising from the two applications. On the Admiralty application, Members provided comments on issues such as the management and maintenance of the proposed link, as well as the implementation and monitoring arrangements. As for the Causeway Bay application, Members proposed that the part of the pedestrian link involving the covered walkway should be carefully designed to make it visually less intrusive and minimise obstruction to the existing pedestrian pavement. Members also considered that the remaining features of the proposal involving footbridges and public passageways, and the premium waiver for lease modifications covering these features, are worthy of support on their own.  
      
     The DEVB will take into account the views of Members and further liaise with the applicants in taking forward their proposals.

Ends/Thursday, October 15, 2020
Issued at HKT 22:09

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