Town Planning Practice: Context, Procedures and Statistics for Hong Kong

10. OPEN STORAGE ZONES

yj OPE N STORAGE ZONES GENERAL BACKGROUN D The 'Ope n Storage ' (OS ) zonin g i s designate d wit h th e plannin g 'intention ' t o provide area s fo r meetin g th e deman d fo r ope n storag e an d regularizin g existing ope n storag e use s withi n th e are a zoned . Thi s zonin g i s sai d t o provide fo r th e rationa l locatio n fo r ope n storag e o f good s whic h canno t b e accommodated i n conventional godow n premises . Table 10. 1 show s a n exampl e o f use s unde r Colum n 1 an d Colum n 2 within a n 'Ope n Storage ' zone . I t ca n b e see n tha t thos e use s wit h n o undesirable environmenta l impac t o n the surroundin g environmen t ar e foun d in Colum n 1 . The y ar e 'alway s permitted' . O n th e contrary , specifie d ope n storage use s woul d requir e plannin g permission . I n orde r t o ge t a n approval , the applican t fo r thi s typ e o f us e mus t convinc e th e Tow n Plannin g Boar d that th e approva l o f hi s o r he r applicatio n woul d no t adversel y affec t th e environment, drainag e an d traffic i n the surroundin g area . Table฀10. 1฀A n฀exampl e฀o f฀Colum n฀1 ฀and฀Column฀2 ฀use s฀in฀an฀Open฀Storag e฀zon e฀ Column฀1 ฀uses฀always฀permitte d฀ agricultural฀us e฀ on-farm฀domestic฀structur e฀ open฀storage฀(not฀elsewhere฀specified )฀ public฀convenienc e฀ public฀utilit y฀installatio n฀ shrine฀ utility฀installation฀for฀privat e฀projec t฀ Column฀2฀uses฀that฀may฀be฀permitted฀wit h฀ or฀without฀condition s฀on฀application฀to฀th e฀ Town฀Planning฀Boar d฀ canteen฀ container฀storage/repair฀yar d฀ container฀trailer/tractor฀par k฀ government฀refus e฀collection฀poin t฀ government฀us e฀(not฀elsewhere฀specified )฀ public฀car฀park/cycle฀park/lorry฀par k฀ refreshment฀kios k฀ 122฀ Analysis฀of฀Planning฀Application฀Statistic s฀by฀Zone:฀1975-199 8฀ storage฀of฀cement/sand฀ storage฀of฀chemical฀product s฀ storage฀of฀dangerous฀good s฀ storage฀of฀scrap฀meta l฀ storage฀of฀vehicles฀for฀sale฀or฀disposa l฀ storage฀of฀vehicles฀for฀stripping/breaking฀o r฀ repair฀ vehicle฀depo t฀ warehouse฀ weighing฀statio n฀ workshop฀ Source:฀Note s฀to฀the฀draft฀Kau ฀Lung฀Hang ฀Outline ฀Zoning ฀Plan ฀No.฀S/NE-KLH/1฀gazetted฀o n฀24฀ June฀1994 .฀ In ou r research , 19 5 case s o f s . 1 6 application s wer e identified . Onl y 8 applications wer e reviewe d b y th e Tow n Plannin g Boar d unde r th e s . 17(1 ) procedure. No appeal applicatio n wa s noted. Details ar e show n in Table 10.2 . Table฀10. 2฀Numbe r฀o f฀application s฀b y฀status฀b y฀area฀(O S฀zones )฀ Status฀ s.฀1 6฀applicatio n฀ s.฀17(1 )฀applicatio n฀ Rural฀ 168฀ 6฀ DPA฀ 27฀ 2฀ Number฀o f฀ applications฀ 195฀ 8฀ The proportio n o f this typ e o f applications t o the application s i n al l zone s wa s of a very small percentage. From Table 10.3 , it can be seen that th e proportio n in al l years was below 5%. However, a growing trend seeme d t o occur . Table฀10. 3฀Proportio n฀o f฀application s฀i n฀O S฀zone s฀t o฀application s฀i n฀al l฀zone s฀b y฀ number฀o f฀application s฀b y฀yea r฀ Year฀o f฀ meeting฀date s฀ 1990฀ 1991฀ 1992฀ 1993฀ 1994฀ 1995฀ 1996฀ 1997฀ Number฀o f฀ s.฀1 6฀application s฀ 0฀ 2฀ 10฀ 7฀ 16฀ 28฀ 33฀ 50฀ Total฀numbe r฀o f฀ s.฀1 6฀application s฀ 267฀ 398฀ 618฀ 736฀ 1005฀ 747฀ 870฀ 1052฀ Proportion฀ (%)฀ 0฀ 0.5฀ 1.6฀ 1฀ 1.6฀ 3.7฀ 3.8฀ 4.8฀ Open฀Storage฀Zones฀ 123 AVERAGE SUCCES S RATE S The succes s rate s...