Town Planning Board announces amendments to Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan for public housing and private residential developments.

Approved Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan amended

The Town Planning Board today (July 12) announced amendments to the approved Nam Sang Wai Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

The amendments mainly involve (i) rezoning an area to the north of Ho Chau Road from "Residential (Group D)" ("R(D)") to "Residential (Group A)1" ,"Residential (Group A)2" and "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Pumping Station" to facilitate public housing and private residential developments under a Land Sharing Pilot Scheme application; (ii) rezoning a strip of land to the north of Ho Chau Road from "R(D)" to "Village Type Development" ("V") as an extension of the adjacent "V" zone, with the remaining knoll from "R(D)" to "Green Belt" to reflect the existing condition; and (iii) rezoning a site at Wing Kei Tsuen from "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Comprehensive Development to Include Wetland Restoration Area" ("OU(CDWRA)") to "OU(CDWRA)1" for a private comprehensive residential development.

The Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP are amended to take into account the above amendments. Opportunity is also taken to update the general information of various land use zones and the planning scheme area, where appropriate.

The draft Nam Sang Wai OZP No. S/YL-NSW/9, incorporating the amendments, is available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Town Planning Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Fanling, Sheung Shui and Yuen Long East District Planning Office, (iv) the Yuen Long District Office, (v) the San Tin Rural Committee, and (vi) the Shap Pat Heung Rural Committee.

Any person may make written representations in respect of the amendments to the Secretary of the Town Planning Board on or before September 12. Any person who intends to make a representation is advised to read the Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 29C on "Submission and Processing of Representations and Further Representations" (TPB PG-No. 29C).

Submission of a representation should comply with the requirements set out in TPB PG-No. 29C. In particular, the representer should take note of the following:

* If the representer fails to provide his or her full name and the first four alphanumeric characters of his or her Hong Kong identity card or passport number as required under TPB PG-No. 29C, the representation submitted shall be treated as not having been made; and

* The Secretariat of the Town Planning Board reserves the right to require the representer to provide identity proof for verification.

The Guidelines and the submission form are available at the above locations (i) and (ii) as well as the Town Planning Board's website (www.tpb.gov.hk).

Copies of the draft Nam Sang Wai OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed on the Town Planning Board's website (www.tpb.gov.hk).

Source: AI-generated images

Consultation conclusions on review of three-tier banking system

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (August 5) the conclusions on the public consultation relating to the review of the three-tier banking system (the Conclusions Paper). The Conclusions Paper sets out the key comments received in the consultation, the HKMA's responses to these comments, and the HKMA's proposal on implementing the new two-tier banking system.

The HKMA launched a three-month public consultation on June 26, 2023. In the consultation, the HKMA proposed to merge deposit-taking companies (DTCs) into the second-tier institutions, i.e. restricted licence banks (RLBs), with a transition period of five years, with the current requirements on RLBs in respect of minimum capital (i.e. HK$100 million) and minimum deposit size (i.e. HK$500,000) applied.

The HKMA received a total of seven submissions from the banking industry, professional bodies and relevant organisations in the consultation. The respondents were broadly supportive of the proposal. Having considered the feedback, the HKMA has introduced new parameters to the proposal with a view to streamlining the transition and minimising impact on existing customers of the DTCs, as follows:

the HKMA intends to adopt an arrangement whereby, without a need for them to submit fresh licence applications, existing DTCs will be converted to be an RLB, upon demonstrating to the satisfaction of the HKMA that they have met the minimum capital requirement of an RLB before the end of the five-year transition period; and

it is intended that the converted RLBs may continue to hold and renew or roll over outstanding deposit taken before the upgrade, up to the end of the five-year transition period, subject to the pre-existing deposit size and maturity requirements of DTCs of HK$100,000 and threemonths respectively.

"We are pleased to note the broad support of the respondents of the proposed simplification of the three-tier banking system into two-tier. We have carefully considered the suggestions received and adopted them as appropriate. The HKMA will provide guidance to the DTCs in their transition. Following the issuance of the consultation conclusions, the HKMA will work with the relevant parties to prepare the proposed legislative amendments to implement the proposal," said the Chief Executive of the HKMA, Mr Eddie Yue.

The Conclusions Paper is available on the HKMA website.

Source: AI-generated images