Minutes of the 12th Meeting of the Focus Group on MTR South

19 Pages·2011·0.12 MB·English

Minutes of the 12th Meeting of
the Focus Group on MTR South Island Line Scheme,
Southern District Council (2008-2011)

Date : 16 December 2010
Time : 10:00 a.m.
Venue : SDC Conference Room

Present:
Mr CHU Ching-hong, JP (Chairman)
Ms MAR Yuet-har, BBS, MH (Chairlady of SDC)
Mr AU Lap-sing
Mr CHAI Man-hon
Mr CHAN Fu-ming
Mrs CHAN LEE Pui-ying
Ms CHEUNG Sik-yung
Mr CHEUNG Siu-keung
Mr FUNG Se-goun, Fergus
Mr LAM Kai-fai, MH
Ms LAM Yuk-chun, MH
Mr LEUNG Ho-kwan, MH
Mr MAK Chi-yan
Mrs MAK TSE How-ling, Ada
Mr TSUI Yuen-wa
Mr WONG Che-ngai
Mr WONG Ling-sun, Vincent
Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN
Mr CHOW Seung-man
Mr CHEUNG Hon-fan
Dr MUI Heung-fu, Dennis
Mr PANG Siu-kei
Mr PUK Kwan-kin

Absent with Apologies:
Ir CHAN Lee-shing William, JP
Mr FUNG Wai-kwong
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Dr YANG Mo, PhD
Dr TANG Chi-wai, Sydney

Secretary:
Mr CHENG Wai-man, Raymond Executive Assistant (District Council)1,
Southern District Office, Home Affairs Department

In Attendance:
Mr WONG Yin-fun, Alex, JP District Officer (Southern), Home Affairs Department
Miss LEUNG Tsz-ying, Almaz Assistant District Officer (Southern), Home Affairs Department
Miss LIN Ming Senior Executive Officer (District Council),
Southern District Office, Home Affairs Department
Mr HO Kwok-fai, Godfrey Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport) 7C,
Transport and Housing Bureau
Mr NG Tak-wing Chief Engineer/Railway Development 1-1,
Highways Department
Mr Vitus NG Senior Engineer/South Island Line 1, Highways Department
Mr CHAN Gin-wing, David Senior Engineer/Priority Railway, Transport Department
Ms LEE Yim-fong, Stella Chief Transport Officer/Bus & Railway, Transport Department
Mr WONG Kin-wai, Ken Construction Manager - SIL Civil, MTR Corporation Limited
Mr Bernard WONG Senior Liaison Engineer, MTR Corporation Limited
Mr Jimmy POON Senior Construction Engineer - Civil, MTR Corporation Limited
Ms TAM Zi-yuen, Jennifer Assistant Public Relations Manager - Projects & Property,
MTR Corporation Limited

Opening Remarks:

The Chairman welcomed Members and representatives of the following
government departments and MTR Corporation Limited (MTR) to the 12th meeting of
the Focus Group on South Island Line Scheme (Focus Group) under the Southern
District Council (SDC):

(a) Mr HO Kwok-fai, Assistant Secretary for Transport and Housing (Transport)
7C, Transport and Housing Bureau;
(b) Mr NG Tak-wing, Chief Engineer/Railway Development 1-1, Highways
Department;
(c) Mr Vitus NG, Senior Engineer/South Island Line 1, Highways Department;
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(d) Mr CHAN Gin-wing, Senior Engineer/Priority Railway, Transport
Department;
(e) Ms LEE Yim-fong, Chief Transport Officer/Bus & Railway, Transport
Department;
(f) Mr Ken WONG, Construction Manager - South Island Line Civil, MTR
Corporation Limited;
(g) Mr Bernard WONG, Senior Liaison Engineer, MTR Corporation Limited;
(h) Mr Jimmy POON, Senior Construction Engineer - Civil, MTR Corporation
Limited; and
(i) Ms Jennifer TAM, Assistant Public Relations Manager - Projects & Property,
MTR Corporation Limited.

2. The Chairman also welcomed representatives of the local and residents’
organisations in attendance. The Chairman advised that prior to the meeting, Dr
YANG Mo, PhD had notified the Secretariat of his absence because of other
engagement.

(Ir CHAN Lee-shing, JP, Mr FUNG Wai-kwong and Dr TANG Chi-wai were absent
from the meeting but the Secretariat had not been notified beforehand.)

3. The Chairman stated that according to the established arrangement, each
Member be allotted a maximum of two three-minute slots to speak in respect of each
agenda item.

(Mr WONG Ling-sun, Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN and Mr FUNG Se-goun joined the
meeting at 10:10 a.m., 10:10 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. respectively.)

Agenda Item 1: Confirmation of the Draft Minutes of the 11th SIL Focus
Group Meeting Held on 8 September 2010

4. The Chairman said that the draft minutes of the 11th meeting had been faxed
to Members for perusal and hitherto no proposals for amendments had been received.
The Focus Group confirmed the minutes of the 11th meeting.

5. Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN commented that since he had just received the
English version of the draft minutes, he would like to reserve the right to propose
amendments.
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6. The Chairman advised Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN to contact the Secretariat
after the meeting for any amendment proposals. He continued that if Members
agreed to confirm the Chinese version of the draft minutes first.

7. The Focus Group confirmed the Chinese version of the draft minutes.

(Post-meeting Note: Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN proposed some amendments on the
English version of the draft minutes.)

(Mr CHAN Fu-ming, Mr TSUI Yuen-wa and Mrs CHAN LEE Pui-ying joined the
meeting at 10:20 a.m., 10:20 a.m. and 10:35 a.m. respectively.)

Agenda Item 2: Latest Development of the South Island Line (East) Scheme

8. The Chairman said that Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN had submitted enquiries to
the Transport and Housing Bureau (THB), MTR and the Focus Group through the
Secretariat. The reply of THB was tabled for Members’ reference.

9. The Chairman advised that, the Executive Council (ExCo) authorised, under
the Railways Ordinance, the implementation of the South Island Line (East) Scheme
(SIL (East)) in November 2010.

10. The Chairman invited Mr HO Kwok-fai to brief Members on the latest
developments of SIL (East).

11. Mr HO Kwok-fai advised that the Chief Executive (CE) in Council had
authorised the SIL (East) on 30 November 2010. With the support of SDC, the
Government would seek funding approval from the Finance Committee (FC) under
the Legislative Council (LegCo) for the Essential Public Infrastructure Works (EPIW)
of the SIL (East), so that the project could commence as soon as possible to meet the
expectation of the public. With the ExCo’s authorization, the next step would be to
confirm its financial arrangement and property development. After the consultation
of SDC in mid-2010, the statutory procedure for the application to rezone the
ex-Wong Chuk Hang Estate site commenced. It was expected that the Town
Planning Board (TPB), having consulted the public, would make a decision on the
review of the related application in early 2011. Upon the approval of TPB, the
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construction works of the railway project would commence.

12. The Chairman asked whether Members had any enquiries on the latest
developments of the SIL (East).

13. Mr CHAI Man-hon requested to know whether only parts of the project
items were required to submit to FC while the some other parts were not, and what
were the parts needed to submit to FC. He also wanted to know when the
non-railway items (such as construction of footbridge) would be submitted to FC for
approval.

14. Mr HO Kwok-fai gave a reply as follows:

(a) The Government would seek support from the Subcommittee on Matters
Relating to Railways of the Panel on Transport (the Subcommittee) under
the LegCo on the EPIW in the afternoon on the meeting day (16 December).
It was expected the funding application of EPIW would be submitted to the
Public Works Subcommittee (PWSC) for vetting in January 2011, and
funding approval from FC would be sought in February 2011;
(b) When the CE in Council decided to proceed with further planning and
design of the SIL (East) in 2007, the Wong Chuk Hang Estate site was
reserved for the railway depot with above-depot private property
development, and the site to the north of the Ocean Park Station was
reserved for private property development with associated park and ride
facilities, both subject to rezoning approval. However, considering that the
vicinity of Ocean Park Station mainly comprised low to medium density
residential development and tourism facilities, the Government, after
discussion with MTR, subsequently proposed that the property development
should be concentrated in the ex-Wong Chuk Hang Estate site; and
(c) In May 2010, SDC supported the proposal to concentrate property
development in the ex-Wong Chuk Hang Estate site. TPB started vetting
the application for rezoning the said site from “Residential” to
“Comprehensive Development Area” in mid-2010, and the result was
expected to be available in early 2011. If the result was positive, the
application would then be submitted to the CE in Council for authorization
under the Town Planning Ordinance. In other words, the construction
works of the SIL (East) could be commenced after the funding application of
the EPIW of the SIL (East) was approved by the FC and the rezoning
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application was vetted by the TPB and authorized by the CE in Council.

15. Mr CHAI Man-hon said that the consultation on the EPIW of the railway
project (such as footbridge design) had yet to be completed, and it was only two
months to go for submission to the PWSC and the FC. He asked how the
Government would deal with it.

16. Mr HO Kwok-fai responded that THB had briefed Members on the seven
items of the EPIW at the SDC meeting dated 8 September 2010, and had gained the
support for their implementation to tie in with the commissioning of the SIL (East).

17. The Chairman said that the detailed design of the EPIW had been discussed
in the last meeting and the Focus Group was basically in support of the related
proposal. At that time, a Member had asked whether additional funding could be
applied for more ancillary facilities, but so far the Secretariat had not received any
new proposals. Therefore, the Government submitted the said EPIW proposal to the
Subcommittee on 16 December 2010, and then through PWSC to FC for funding
approval. If Members had further comments on the EPIW, they might raise it via the
Secretariat.

18. Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN asked about the present status of the Wong Chuk
Hang Master Layout Plan.

19. Mr HO Kwok-fai replied that further planning and design could not be
started until the Government had completed the application for rezoning the ex-Wong
Chuk Hang Estate site and handed over the site to MTR. MTR would then submit
its proposal to TPB. After the vetting by TPB had completed, the Government
would surrender the work site and property development right to MTR to fill the
funding gap of the railway project. Afterwards, MTR would carry out further
planning and design to complete the Wong Chuk Hang Master Layout Plan. The
Government would then consult SDC and the public on the Master Layout Plan.

20. The Chairman invited MTR representatives to brief Members on the latest
developments of the various aspects of the project and suggested Members to raise
enquiries on and discuss each item separately.

21. Mr Bernard WONG said that MTR had commissioned an independent
professional surveying company to conduct a survey to record the current condition of
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buildings in close proximity to the alignment of the railway before the project works
commenced. In the survey, visual inspection would be conducted on all common
areas and individual premises and photographs would be taken for record. The
professional surveyor company would notify the property owners concerned by mail
beforehand and to make appointments for the inspection with residents at their
convenience.

22. Ms Jennifer TAM briefed Members on the structure of Community Liaison
Groups (CLGs) by PowerPoint presentation (Supplementary Information). Details
were summarised as follows:

- The purposes of establishing CLGs were to provide a direct communication
channel between MTR and local residents to facilitate public understanding
on the progress of project works and traffic diversion arrangements during
the construction period, and to understand the concern of local community
on the project;
- It was suggested that six CLGs would be formed according to six
sub-districts, namely Admiralty, Ocean Park and Chung Hom Shan, Wong
Chuk Hang, Lei Tung, South Horizons and Telegraph Bay. Each CLG
would comprise DC Member(s) of local constituencies, the related
government department representatives and the representatives from
organisations and schools, owners’ corporations/owners’ committees and
management offices in the areas affected by the railway alignment;
- CLGs would convene meeting regularly, which would be scheduled
according to the progress of construction works. It was expected that the
CLGs would meet on a quarterly basis; and
- The issues addressed by the respective CLGs were as follows:

Admiralty
(a) The expansion of Admiralty Station; and
(b) The construction of a tunnel from Admiralty to Nam Fung Path.

Ocean Park and Chung Hom Shan
(a) The construction of a viaduct for the section of Nam Fung Path to
Ocean Park;
(b) The construction of Ocean Park Station; and
(c) Matters related to the temporary magazine site at Chung Hom Shan.

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Wong Chuk Hang
(a) The construction of a viaduct from Wong Chuk Hang Station to
Aberdeen Channel;
(b) The construction of Wong Chuk Hang Station; and
(c) The provision of Wong Chuk Hang Depot.

Lei Tung
(a) The construction of a tunnel in Ap Lei Chau; and
(b) The construction of Lei Tung Station.

South Horizons
(a) The construction of South Horizons Station; and
(b) Matters related to the temporary barging point at Lee Nam Road.

Telegraph Bay
(a) Matters related to the temporary barging point at Telegraph Bay.

23. Mr Jimmy POON briefed Members on the proposed Temporary Traffic
Management Schemes (TTMS) in Wong Chuk Hang area by PowerPoint presentation
(Supplementary Information). Locations included: (a) the vicinity of the access
points of Aberdeen Tunnel; (b) the vicinity of Heung Yip Road and Wong Chuk Hang
Road; (c) Ocean Park Road; (d) the vicinity of Nam Long Shan Road and Police
School Road; and (d) the area near Kwun Hoi Path. An overview on TTMS was
provided in the following paragraphs. MTR would submit the detailed arrangements,
such as the provision of road signage, to the Site Liaison Group for approval.

24. Mr Ken WONG briefed Members on TTMS for the construction of South
Horizons Station and Lei Tung Station by PowerPoint presentation (Supplementary
Information).

25. The Chairman emphasized that the TTMS presented just then was only
overall framework. Members could give their views on the overall direction and the
detailed arrangements would be followed up by the Traffic and Transport Committee
(TTC).

26. The Chairman asked Members to comment on the various aspects of the
project separately.

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Pre-construction Condition Survey

27. Eight Members, namely the Chairman, Ms MAR Yuet-har, BBS, MH, Mr
CHEUNG Siu-keung, Ms CHEUNG Sik-yung, Mr LAM Kai-fai, MH, Mrs CHAN
LEE Pui-ying, Mr WONG Che-ngai, and Mr Paul ZIMMERMAN spoke and raised
enquiries on this item. Details were as follows:

(a) MTR should carry out survey on the estates near the exits of various stations.
Considering that some of the buildings in the district were built more than 50
years ago, some Members were concerned with the impact of construction
works on such buildings;
(b) In the earlier consultation, many residents expressed concern on the impact
of construction works on building structure. Therefore, MTR should
supply detailed information on the pre-construction condition survey,
including the criteria of survey coverage, the number of monitoring points,
the number of property owners to be notified, whether each unit would be
notified in writing individually, the progress of survey and timetable;
(c) It was requested to know the purpose for the pre-construction condition
survey and residents had grave concern about the impact of construction
works on building structure;
(d) It was doubtful that visual inspection was objective enough;
(e) A Member wished to know whether MTR would only carry out survey on
buildings in the proximity of the railway; and whether the rights of those
residents, whose premises had been surveyed, would be protected;
(f) It was necessary to carry out the survey and believed that it could relieve the
concern of residents and Members effectively;
(g) MTR should provide the detailed survey data, including the information on
individual premises and common area. MTR should also more closely
liaise with owners’ corporations and management offices so as to relieve
residents’ concern on the construction works. Since it was necessary to
enter private premises to conduct the survey, it should have a very good
reason or the residents might not be happy about it, which would cause
troubles in the course of the survey;
(h) It was suggested that a construction notice should be posted in the lobby area
and related locations of the premises concerned to let residents know that
MTR had already notified the owner’s committees and the management
companies. In doing so, residents would be more receptive to individual
notification afterwards and as a result, public concern or objection would be
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minimised;
(i) MTR should announce the timetable of the survey as soon as possible.
Moreover, Members should also be notified as early as possible so that they
could facilitate the communication with residents; and
(j) A Member opined that MTR should consult SDC first, so that DC Members
of local constituencies would have a proper understanding of the
arrangements before they wrote to the owners’ committees on the subject.

28. Mr Bernard WONG, Mr Ken WONG and Ms Jennifer TAM gave a
consolidated reply as follows:

(a) It was a common practice for major works to commission an independent
surveyor to carry out pre-construction condition survey. The surveyor and
his professional team would record the pre-construction condition of
buildings by visual inspection and photo-taking. MTR had already
assessed the impact of construction works on building structure, and the
survey mainly aimed at recording the pre-construction condition of buildings.
For the time being, some of the property owners had already received
notification by mail, and MTR would notify the owner of the premises and
management offices in writing in phases. It was expected that the survey
would be completed within two to three months;
(b) The survey on common area would be recorded by photo-taking. MTR
would also set up monitoring points during project period to safeguard the
rights of owners;
(c) MTR had assessed the impact on building structure and the areas affected
during project design stage. Since part of Lei Tung Estate was outside the
area of the construction works and was a bit far away from the work site,
there was no need to carry out the survey. As for the vicinity of Main Street,
Ap Lei Chau, apart from the two buildings near the slope which might be
affected and needed to be covered by the survey, the rest of the buildings
nearby would not be affected and so no survey would be needed. MTR
would determine the locations in the affected area where survey was needed,
and a list of buildings covered in the survey would be provided for
reference;
(d) MTR would provide measures to monitor the situation to make sure that the
impact of construction works on the neighborhood buildings would be
minimised;
(e) The survey of buildings did not cover only the area above the railway.
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