Bureau boosts plot ratios at Anderson Road Quarry site
Bureau lifts plot ratios of Anderson Road site to create homes for an extra 2,000 people, with 80pc of the flats for the private market
The government will increase the development density of a quarry site earmarked for new housing in East Kowloon, making room for an extra 760 flats.
The Development Bureau said yesterday the move was in line with Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address a month ago. Leung said the bureau was working with the Planning Department to increase the development density of unleased or unallocated residential sites to boost the supply of land for housing in the short to medium term.
The Anderson Road Quarry, located in Sau Mau Ping, will be handed back to the government in 2016 when the operator's contract expires.
The site will be made available for development from 2019.
Under the original plan, 8,650 flats were to be built on the hilltop quarry site.
That was to include 1,730 flats under the government-subsidised Home Ownership Scheme (HOS), and another 6,920 flats in private housing estates.
Now the bureau plans to increase the number of flats by 760, for a total of 9,410. The proportion of private to subsidised housing would remain at 8:2.
The first batch of apartments - including 1,880 HOS and 2,730 private flats - will be completed by 2022-23 at the earliest, a bureau spokesman said.
The flats will be 50 to 60 square metres on average.
With more flats built at the site, that would take the number of residents from about 23,000 to 25,000. To achieve this, the subsidised housing site will be enlarged from 1.44 to 1.49 hectares, with the plot ratio increasing from 6 to 6.3.
And for the private estates, the plot ratio will be slightly increased by lifting the maximum building height by five metres. The plot ratio would then range from 3 to 5.5.
The Planning Department had finished its stage-two consultation with the community on the draft development plan for the site before the bureau announced the change in density.
"If we increase the density too much it would go against the consultation," he said, adding that the original planning and design principles had been maintained under the new density plan.
The development blueprint also includes a 17-hectare park, with sport and recreational facilities such as a rock climbing centre. And the government is exploring the feasibility of creating a quarry exhibition area in a rock cavern, which would be accessed via lifts.
Lookouts from the rock face would also be built, affording views of East Kowloon and Victoria Harbour, as well as restaurants located in rock caverns.
Wine cellars and spa facilities built into caverns have also been suggested.
Hiking paths from the site will connect to the Wilson Trail Stage Three in Sai Kung.
