Open spaces in private developments criticised for 'poor access and being badly maintained'
Private developments ‘not living up to requirements’ they maintain open areas for general use
Some public open spaces in private developments are difficult to access, poorly maintained and have opening hours that are shorter than required, the Audit Commission found.
Of the 36 sites surveyed, 22 of them had patronage of 10 or more visitors during a two-hour survey period, while eight of them had fewer than 10 visitors. The most visited ones - mainly located in commercial developments - attracted more than 100 people.
According to the commission, the low patronage at some of the sites might be linked to a poorly enforced policy requiring private developments under certain lease conditions to build and run the spaces for the "uninterrupted use" of the public.
The commission cited irregularities such as locked gates, closure of passenger lifts leading to podium levels and access obstruction as factors that might "adversely affect" the attraction of these facilities and public enjoyment of them.
It highlighted one case in which the site required members of the public to climb 200 steps to reach the podium level. The commission said such a situation should have been avoided at the planning stage.
"The government should refrain as far as practicable from recommending the acceptance of development proposals [where] the public spaces [are] located in areas not easily accessible by the public," the report said.
Opening hours was another issue highlighted by the commission. At least six of the surveyed sites were open to the public for only six to 12 hours per day, falling short of the 13-hour requirement laid out by the government.
But the Lands Department said it could approve shorter opening hours if provided with a justification.
Even when visitors were aware of the open spaces and able to access them, some sites lacked notices, signboards or rubbish bins, or had barriers to certain facilities.
At least one of the sites was found to be in poor condition, with long grass, fallen tree branches and broken furniture and fittings.
The policy of incorporating public spaces into private developments was introduced in 1980, and in 2008 the government released for the first time a list of these sites - 62 as of now - on its website for public viewing.
The Audit Commission also dug deeper into the land leases and planning permissions for the private developments housing these public open spaces.
It found that conditions for development approval set by the Town Planning Board relating to the provision of the open spaces could not be enforced, because they had never been incorporated into the land leases. The commission said these failures were "unsatisfactory".
Apart from that, the commission also found, from an opinion survey carried out by its contractor, that most property owners were unaware of the guidelines on the design and maintenance of public spaces.
It also expressed concern that some district lands offices failed to fully inspect the public spaces to ensure compliance with leases.
