Minutes of the 7th Meeting of
Food, Environment, Hygiene & Works Committee (2016-2017)
Central and Western District Council
Date / : /9 February 2017 (Thursday)
Time / : / 2:30 pmVenue / : / Conference Room
14/F, Harbour Building
38 Pier Road, Central, Hong Kong
Present:
Chairlady
Ms SIU Ka-yi*
Vice-chairman
Mr YEUNG Hok-ming (Beginning of the meeting – 5:57 pm)
Members
Mr CHAN Chit-kwai, Stephen, BBS, JP / (2:35 pm - end of the meeting)Mr CHAN Choi-hi, MH*
Mr CHAN Ho-lim, Joseph / (Beginning of the meeting – 3:00 pm)
Mr CHAN Hok-fung, MH*
Ms CHENG Lai-king / (2:33 pm - end of the meeting)
Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan, JP / (Beginning of the meeting – 3:00 pm)
Mr HUI Chi-fung / (2:57 pm - 4:58 pm)
Mr KAM Nai-wai, MH*
Mr LEE Chi-hang, Sidney, MH / (Beginning of the meeting – 3:35 pm)
Miss LO Yee-hang / (Beginning of the meeting – 5:54 pm)
Mr NG Siu-hong*
Mr YEUNG Hoi-wing*
Mr YIP Wing-shing, BBS, MH, JP*
Co-opted Members
Mr CHENG Chi-shing, David*
Mr HO Chi-wong*
Mr LAU Kam-sing, Dickie / (2:53 pm - 4:00 pm)
Mr LEE Wai-keung / (Beginning of the meeting – 5:10 pm)
Mr WONG Sai-kit*
Remarks: * Members who attended the whole meeting
( ) Time of attendance of Members
Guests
Item 5
Mr AU Chun-ho, Wilfred / Urban Renewal Authority / General Manager (Planning & Design)Ms YUN Sin-wah, Sarah / Urban Renewal Authority / Senior Manager (Community Development)
Item 6
Miss CHOW Sze-yan, Cilian / Environmental Protection Department / Environmental Protection Officer (Waste Transfer and Development)12Item 7
Mr Larry CHU / Development Bureau / Assistant Secretary (Harbour) 1Mr JJ AUSTIN / Planning Department / Senior Town Planner/Hong Kong 4
Mr Gary YIU / Lands Department / Estate Surveyor/Western & Harbourfront (District Lands Office, Hong Kong West and South)
Item 8
Mr Derek Armstrong CHAN / Fire Services Department / Divisional Commander, Hong Kong Central DivisionMr LAM Yiu-sun / Fire Services Department / Assistant Divisional Officer (Policy)1
Mr YAN Man-kit / Electrical and Mechanical Services Department / Senior Electrical and Mechanical Engineer/Consumer Installations
Ms WONG Kam-ling, Candy / Buildings Department / Building Surveyor/A3-SD
Mr WONG Ka-fai, Simon / Home Affairs Department / Senior Division Officer (Licensing Authority)
Mr HUNG Tak-shing / Home Affairs Department / Assistant Division Officer (Licensing Authority)
Item 9
Mr CHOI Yiu-kwok, Kent / Leisure and Cultural Services Department / Deputy District Leisure Manager (Central and Western) 2Mr CHAN Chak-wing, Esmond / Highways Department / District Engineer/West
Item 10
Mr HUI Kar-nung / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Chief Health Inspector 1Item 11
Mr HUI Kar-nung / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Chief Health Inspector 1Item 12
Mr CHAN Chak-wing, Esmond / Highways Department / District Engineer/WestMr HUI Kar-nung / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Chief Health Inspector 1
Item 13
Mr HUI Kar-nung / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Chief Health Inspector 1Mr LI Ming-cham, Gordon / Buildings Department / Senior Professional Officer/Joint Office 1
Ms LEUNG Wai-nor, Cherry / Buildings Department / Professional Officer 4/Joint Office 1
Item 14
Mr LAM Chi-hang, Augustine / Highways Department / Landscape Architect/Vegetation MaintenanceMr LAM Ding, Brian / Highways Department / Landscape Architect/Vegetation Maintenance (Technical Secretary)
In Attendance
Mrs WONG HO Wing-sze, Susanne, JP / Central and Western District Office / District Officer (Central and Western)Ms WONG Suet-yi, Penny / Central and Western District Office / Assistant District Officer (Central and Western)
Ms YEUNG Wing-shan, Grace / Central and Western District Office / Senior Executive Officer (District Council)
Miss YU Yan-yan, Rosanna / Central and Western District Office / Senior Executive Officer (District Management)
Ms WONG Kam-ling, Candy / Buildings Department / Building Surveyor/A3-SD
Mr CHAN Chak-wing, Esmond / Highways Department / District Engineer/West
MrLEUNG Yin-man, Kevin / Hong Kong Police Force / Police Community Relations Officer (Central District)
Mr CHAN Chun-ping / Hong Kong Police Force / Neighborhood Police Co-ordinator (Central District)
Mr CHAN Wai-man / Hong Kong Police Force / Assistant Police Community Relations Officer (Western District)
Mr FAN Ka-yin / Hong Kong Police Force / Neighbourhood Police Co-ordinator (Western District)
Mr HUI Kar-nung / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department / Chief Health Inspector 1
Mr CHOI Yiu-kwok, Kent / Leisure and Cultural Services Department / Deputy District Leisure Manager (Central and Western) 2
Mr LAM Wai-chuen, Eddie / Civil Engineering and Development Department / Senior Engineer 7 (Hong Kong Island Division 1)
Dr WONG Chi-fai, Derek / Environmental Protection Department / Environmental Protection Officer (Regional South) 13
Mrs MAK LEUNG Suet-mui, Cherry / Lands Department / Senior Estate Surveyor/West (District Lands Office, Hong Kong West and South)
Secretary
Miss TAM Lok-yin, Jovita / Central and Western District Office / Executive Officer (District Council) 3Absent with Apologies:
/
Opening remarksThe Chairlady welcomed Members and representatives of government departments to the 7th meeting of the Food, Environment, Hygiene & Works Committee (FEHWC) (2016-17). On behalf of FEHWC, the Chairlady extended his welcome to Mrs MAK LEUNG Suet-mui, Senior Estate Surveyor/West (District Lands Office, Hong Kong West and South) of the Lands Department, who was replacing Mr CHAN Wai-kit; Mr CHAN Chak-wing, District Engineer/West of the Highways Department, who was replacing Ms LEUNG Yuen-hei; Mr LEUNG Yin-man, Police Community Relations Officer (Central District) of the Hong Kong Police Force, who was replacing Mr CHUNG Kin-yeung; and Dr WONG Chi-fai, Environmental Protection Officer (Regional South)13 of the Environmental Protection Department, who was replacing Mr LAW See-hon.
Item 1 - Adoption of the agenda
(2:30 pm)
1. Members had no comments on the agenda and the agenda was adopted.
Item 2 - Confirmation of the minutes of the sixth meeting of FEHWC on 27 October 2016
(2:31 pm – 2:32 pm)
2. The Chairlady said that proposed amendments to the minutes of meeting had been received before the meeting. The proposed amendments were forwarded to Members on 8 February along with the fourth batch of papers. Members had no comments on the said amendments. The Chairlady declared that the minutes of the meeting were confirmed.
Item 3 – Action checklist on matters arising from the last meeting
(C&W FEHWC Paper No. 6/2017)
(2:32 pm)
3. The Chairlady invited Members to note the contents of the paper.
Item 4 – Chairlady’s report and working group reports
(2:32 pm – 2:34 pm)
4. The Chairlady said that the Secretariat had already circulated the following information papers to Members for perusal earlier on:
No. / Title of Paper / Circulation Date
67/2016 / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department – Year-end Cleaning Operation in Central & Western District in 2017 / 23 November 2016
68/2016 / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department – First Phase of Anti-rodent Campaign 2017 in Central & Western District / 23 November 2016
69/2016 / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department – Progress Report on Small Scale District Works in Central/Western District / 5 December 2016
70/2016 / Civil Engineering and Development Department – Landslip Prevention and Mitigation Programme, Natural Terrain Hazard Mitigation Works at Natural Hillsides above Magazine Gap Road and May Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong / 20 December 2016
71/2016 / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department Anti-mosquito Campaign 2017 (Phase I) in Central & Western District / 20 December 2016
9/2017 / Demolition of Vacant School Building at Ka Wai Man Road, Kennedy Town / 10 January 2017
13/2017 / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department – Progress Report on Small Scale District Works in Central/Western District / 1 February 2017
5. The Chairlady said that the working group reports were forwarded to Members on 23 January along with the first batch of papers.
Item 5 – Proposal on beautification of the streets adjoining The Centre
(C&W FEHWC Paper No. 12/2017)
(2:34 pm – 3:08 pm)
6. The Chairlady said that at the District Council (DC) meeting held on 19 January, it was agreed that FEHWC would follow up with this matter. She invited representatives of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) to brief on the beautification works.
7. Mr AU Chun-ho, General Manager (Planning & Design) of URA, briefed the Committee on the proposal on beautification of the streets adjoining The Centre (“the Project”) and the estimated works schedule. He said that in addition to beautifying the streets adjoining The Centre, URA would also renovate the part at the ground level of The Centre designated for “Government, institution or community” use, so that members of the public could have access to six streets (Gilman’s Bazaar, Gilman’s Street, Wing On Street, Tung Man Street, Hing Lung Street and Tit Hong Lane) at the ground level of The Centre. The Project would enhance the accessibility and connectivity of the area, improve the existing surrounding environment for pedestrians and facilitate diversion of pedestrian flow at Des Voeux Road Central to alleviate congestion. To highlight the history of urban development in the district, the Project also planned to commemorate local historical heritage and coastlines of different years through repaving the streets; as well as erection of street signs with design details showing brief history of the streets, photos and coastlines of the old days. He also said that the Project would involve a number of streets managed by the Government, and there were hawkers under the management of FEHD operating business in some of those streets. Hence, prior to the commencement of the Project, URA had to discuss with many Government departments, such as the Lands Department, Highways Department (HyD) and FEHD, on the technical issues and obtain their approval beforehand, and it included securing support and permission from the management company of The Centre. As such, URA proposed to set up an inter-departmental working group with the Central and Western District Office (C&WDO) to solve the related technical issues. Regarding the estimated works schedule, if the vetting and approval work could be completed in June, the first phase of the Project (Gilman’s Street, Wing On Street, Tung Man Street, Hing Lung Street) could commence in July/August for completion around the first/second quarter of next year. For the second phase of the Project (Tit Hong Lane, Gilman’s Bazaar), the tentative completion date would be sometime in the mid-term of next year.
8. The Chairlady invited Members to express their views and raise questions on the issue. The main points of Members’ comments were as follows:
(a) / Mr NG Siu-hong wanted to know whether the areas shaded white and grey on some of the plans could also be used. He said hawker stalls were historical features of the district and opined that they should be preserved as long as the environment was not compromised. He also hoped that apart from the coastlines, the Project could also commemorate the history and culture of hawker stalls.
(b) / Mr CHEUNG Kwok-kwan said that the Project was worth supporting as it would facilitate the public by making the streets in the nearby areas highly accessible. He also welcomed and appreciated the design elements which commemorate the coastlines. However, as the Project would involve a number of technical departments, he wanted to know if C&WDO would be responsible for co-ordinating the work by setting up an inter-departmental working group to follow up and report work progress to FEHWC on a regular basis.
(c) / Ms CHENG Lai-king enquired whether the adjoining streets would be linked up east-west as well as north-south. She pointed out that the most important thing about the walkway was accessibility and public convenience. She also hoped that the Project would include barrier-free access facilities. In addition to using non-slip materials, the design of the paving blocks could also be multi-coloured to highlight the unique history of various streets. She also reminded URA to pay attention to illumination to ensure the streets were adequately illuminated.
(d) / Mr CHAN Choi-hi proposed that the year when various streets were named could be indicated to enhance the historical features. He also suggested URA to use different colour schemes and layouts so that pedestrians could easily distinguish different streets, and consider introducing a special night market in the Central District.
(e) / Mr CHAN Chit-kwai considered that MTRCL’s way of documenting historical background with pictures and texts was a good model. Furthermore, he wanted to know if the ground level of The Centre would be available for use by NGOs.
(f) / Mr CHAN Hok-fung supported the Project and hoped that the relevant departments could step up co-ordination in street management to enable early completion of the Project. He also hoped that the departments concerned would properly manage the public space upon completion of the Project.
(g) / Mr WONG Sai-kit wanted to know how the relevant departments would cope with the issue of eateries taking up street space. Besides, upon completion of the Project, whether free access would be allowed at all entrances and exits at the ground level of The Centre, and whether there would be a time limit for accessibility.
(h) / Mr CHAN Ho-lim acknowledged that the historical background of the above mentioned streets was worthy of sharing with the public and agreed to include the relevant elements.
(i) / Mr YEUNG Hok-ming supported the Project and asked if URA would consider providing a standardized power supply system to all the hawker stalls during beatification works so as to ensure safety. He also wanted to know whether cleaning work of the adjoining streets would be taken up by the management company under URA.
(j) / The Chairlady supported the Project and understood that it would involve many technical departments. She hoped the Project works could be started as soon as possible so as to provide accessible walkways for the public.
(k) / Mr YIP Wing-shing also supported the Project and hoped that the design in commemoration of the coastlines would be adopted. He pointed out that the location was a historical memory of the Central District and hoped that apart from the beautification works, various departments could also work together to solve other problems such as environmental hygiene.
(l) / Mr HUI Chi-fung also supported the Project. He hoped that the historical feature of the hawker stalls could be honoured and urged the departments concerned to properly manage the place and pay attention to street cleanliness in future.