Major Speeches

Speech by the Financial Secretary John C. Tsang at the 1st Quarterly General Meeting of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects (English only)

Ronald (Lu), Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great pleasure to join you all once again as a guest speaker of the Hong Kong Institute of Architects. It has been quite some time since I last attended this august forum as Secretary for Planning and Lands, and I am glad to see that there are still so many familiar faces who remind me of those good old days.

As a student of architecture myself some decades ago, I am always proud of my affiliation with this very special profession. Throughout history, architects have made invaluable contributions to the remarkable development and success of humanity. Nowadays, architects continue to play an important role in designing our buildings, our infrastructure and facilities which are intended to meet not only our functional needs but also our ever increasing aesthetics and cultural aspirations.

Today, I would like to talk about a topic that is close to my heart. Heritage conservation is an issue that interests architects in a profound way. It is not only about preserving our built heritage, it is also about making the best use of our historic buildings and ensuring that they will continue to sustain a rich, useful and meaningful life. I hope to take this opportunity to share with you some of my thoughts and to seek your support for the Government’s efforts in promoting heritage conservation.

As part of the re-organisation of the Government Secretariat in July 2007, the Development Bureau was created to better coordinate major infrastructure projects that are essential in consolidating Hong Kong’s position as a global city, in boosting our economy and in creating jobs. As part of the re-organisation, the built-heritage conservation policy was transferred from the Secretary for Home Affairs to the Secretary for Development. The new Development Bureau oversees the planning, lands as well as the works group of departments under one roof. One of the important missions of this Bureau is to take forward an action-oriented package of measures in a coordinated manner to ensure that we are better prepared in preserving Hong Kong’s built heritage.

As Hong Kong developed from a fishing village into today’s metropolitan city over two centuries, this city of ours produced a collection of elegant and stylish historical buildings that represent a wide range of architectural styles from traditional Chinese temples and ancestral halls to westernised government and religious buildings. Indeed, heritage conservation is such an interesting multi-disciplinary subject that it cuts across a wide range of inter-related issues, including not only the historical, the architectural, the social and cultural values of the buildings themselves, but also the planning, lands, financial and economic perspectives of preservation and development.

Under our new heritage conservation policy, as announced by the Chief Executive in his 2007-08 Policy Address, we recognise that revitalisation, rather than preservation alone, should be pursued to maximise the economic and social benefits of our historic buildings. We also recognise the need to provide economic incentives for private owners in order to encourage and facilitate their desire to better preserve their historic buildings.

As some of you may recall, back in December 2001, I came to the Annual General Meeting of the HKIA and talked about my thinking, in my then capacity as Secretary for Planning and Lands, on the concept of Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). In simple terms, the scheme aims to enable private owners to protect their historic buildings against future development, and to transfer the unused development rights to other sites of the same land use category in the same or a contiguous statutory town plan area.

I cautioned at that time that, in order to implement such a scheme, we would require amendments to the existing legislation on density control, thereby giving Government the power to designate heritage areas and transfer credits in terms of Gross Floor Area from a sending site to a receiving site that is not contiguous, and to relax the maximum plot ratio and site coverage permissible under the Building (Planning) Regulations and the relevant statutory town plans. As you would appreciate, the whole matter is rather complex, and it would take time and effort to work out the details as well as to reach consensus in the community. Nonetheless, while we have yet to be able to implement the TDR Scheme in full, the Government does recognise the immediate need of providing economic incentives to private owners of historic buildings, as set out in our policy statement on heritage conservation.

Let me first assure you that our new policy statement is not just mere rhetoric. It is action-oriented. I shall quote a few examples to demonstrate how we are taking forward the idea of economic incentives in the policy statement.

The beautiful mansion of King Yin Lei, which was constructed in “Chinese Renaissance” style, has been the subject of great public concern since its recent transfer of ownership accompanied by the untimely demolition works in September last year. To protect this important historic building from the immediate threat of further damages, the Secretary for Development, in her capacity as the Antiquities Authority, took prompt action, within some 48 hours, to declare it a proposed monument on 15 September 2007. The proposed monument declaration allows a period of up to 12 months for the Authority to consider in a comprehensive manner whether the building should be declared as a monument or not, and to discuss with the owner feasible options for preservation of the building.

As I have just mentioned, now that we have a formal policy for economic incentives to private owners under the umbrella of our heritage conservation policy, King Yin Lei has become the first test case of this new policy. The comprehensive heritage assessment conducted by our Antiquities and Monuments Office has confirmed the heritage value of King Yin Lei, and we intend to declare the building as a monument. In the meantime, after several rounds of discussion between Government and the owner, we have reached an understanding on a preservation option.

Under this option, the owner will restore King Yin Lei to the satisfaction of Government and then return it to us for subsequent revitalization. In turn, the Government will grant an adjacent site of a built up slope of roughly the same size to the owner for new residential developments. The existing and new lots have the same development parameters in terms of the permissible plot ratio and Gross Floor Area, and the proposed development will not adversely affect the density, traffic load, landscape, vista and greenery of the area. The proposed preservation option is, in fact, a form of transfer of development rights, in line with the concept that I advocated some years ago in my then-capacity.

We understand the public’s desire to have access into King Yin Lei to appreciate the space and history of this architectural built form. As such, we aim to put King Yin Lei to adaptive re-use and turn it into an attraction for local residents as well as tourists. We will conduct public engagement to solicit views on the adaptive re-use of this beautiful mansion, and we welcome input from the HKIA in this regard.

I believe that the King Yin Lei case is an important illustration of Government’s commitment to heritage conservation and in finding the right balance between conserving historic buildings and respecting private property rights. I am confident that this win-win solution can set a reference for our future efforts in heritage conservation.

Another example is the private residence located at 128 Pok Fu Lam Road and built in Italian Renaissance style with interesting Art Deco influences. This residence is more commonly known as Jessville. This private historic building was declared a proposed monument in April 2007.

While the comprehensive heritage assessment conducted by the Antiquities and Monuments Office has concluded that the building has not reached the threshold for declaration as a monument, and that the Antiquities Advisory Board has given it a Grade III status, the Government has discussed preservation options with the owner under our new heritage conservation policy. We are pleased to see that after several rounds of discussion, the owner has agreed to preserve the historic building and pursue a “preservation-cum-development” option. This is another successful example of our new heritage conservation policy coming into play.

Besides these two cases, Government is working on preservation and revitalisation proposals for a sizable collection of private and Government-owned historic buildings. Let me now move on to two interesting and important heritage conservation projects involving Government-owned historic buildings.

The first one is the Central Police Station Compound. As the Chief Executive announced in his 2007-08 Policy Address, the Government had accepted in principle the innovative $1.8 billion revitalisation proposal submitted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club. I know quite a few members of HKIA have rather strong views on the project, but I think you will agree that the Jockey Club proposal is quite attractive, and I think it is worth pursuing based on various considerations.

First, the Hong Kong Jockey Club has pledged to fully conform to the conservation requirements set by our Antiquities and Monuments Office. Secondly, an iconic structure will be constructed on the site, which will not only add value to the historic building but also provide the much-needed additional space for in-situ arts and cultural facilities. The form of the structure is controversial but all icons are. Thirdly, together with the arts and cultural elements, the proposal will also offer space for “high street” retailing and catering activities, thereby making the place a unique heritage and cultural landmark that will be able to sustain itself. It will also add vibrancy to the area and generate business opportunities for the neighbourhood. It will broaden Hong Kong’s offer in tourism attractions, particularly in cultural heritage tourism.

As I have mentioned earlier in my speech, we recognise that revitalisation, rather than preservation alone, would be a more desirable approach for heritage conservation. Since 2004, Government has been trying to find ways to preserve, restore and develop the CPS Compound, which is situated at such a prime site at the very heart of our central business district. The proposal by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to develop the Compound into an attraction for local people and tourists will inject new life into this historic building and create benefits for the entire community of Hong Kong. The adaptive re-use proposal for the Compound has struck a good balance between development and heritage conservation. We hope that this important flagship project in our revitalisation work will have the support of our architectural profession.

The second case is the original site of the Central School, and the former Police Married Quarters, at the junction of Hollywood Road and Aberdeen Street, a distinguished address that was the former place of residence of our current Chief Executive. As one of the heritage conservation initiatives, he announced in his 2007-08 Policy Address that the site would be removed from the List of Sites for Sale by Application for one year in order to invite proposals for its revitalisation. Perhaps you may assume that my primary concern, as Financial Secretary, would be the amount of land premium proceeds that would be forgone if Government were not to sell this prime site in land auction. Well, this is not exactly the case.

The Antiquities and Monuments Office considered that the remaining structures within and around the site carried certain heritage value in association with the former Central School, and that due regard should be given to the preservation of these remains in any revitalisation plan.

More importantly, the Government has heard the voice of the community that development of the site should contribute to the holistic planning for the area along and around Hollywood Road under the proposed approach for heritage conservation of “spot (點)”, “line (線)” and “area (面)”.

Doing so would create synergy between the site and other heritage destinations in its vicinity such as the Central Police Station Compound that I just mentioned, Man Mo Temple, Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum at Kom Tong Hall and the Historical Trail of Dr Sun, etc. Furthermore, the opportunity should be taken to promote heritage tourism in view of its proximity to popular tourist spots, such as Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo.

The Government is now collecting views and suggestions from the community on how the site should best be revitalised. We look forward to the professional input of HKIA in the public engagement process.

Heritage conservation also forms an integral part of our Urban Renewal Strategy, which was published by Government in November 2001 – also when I was the Secretary for Planning and Lands. The strategy sets out the broad policy guidelines for the work of the Urban Renewal Authority (URA).

As I emphasised at that time, the URA was mandated under this strategy to adopt a holistic approach to regenerating older urban areas. Apart from the traditional Redevelopment of dilapidated buildings, the URA also promotes Rehabilitation of buildings in need of Repair, preservation of buildings of historical, cultural and architectural interest, and Revitalisation of old districts. That is the “4R approach – redevelopment, rehabilitate, repair and revitalise” currently adopted by the URA.

Redevelopment has been effective in bringing about improvement to the living conditions of occupants in older districts. Nonetheless, in light of the increasing public demand for preservation of culture heritage and social network, as well as greater emphasis on building rehabilitation, it is necessary to revisit relevant parts of the broad policy guidelines, in particular how the 4R should be re-balanced.

Development Bureau will work with the URA to embark on a review of the Urban Renewal Strategy this year. We look forward to the active participation of the relevant stakeholders and the broader community in the discussion, including the HKIA.

Ladies and Gentlemen, heritage conservation is a priority area of work that has attracted the Government’s attention, as well as our energy and resources. We are implementing a comprehensive package of measures to support our new heritage conservation policy. We are now seeking Legislative Council approval to create the post of the Commissioner for Heritage to spearhead our efforts in heritage conservation and provide a focal point for local and international networking.

We have implemented the Heritage Impact Assessment mechanism, requiring all new capital works projects of Government to conduct an assessment on whether they will have impact on heritage sites.

Just in February, we launched a “Revitalising Historic Buildings Through Partnership Scheme” to put historic buildings into adaptive re-use for the best interest of the community. The scheme will initially cover seven Government-owned historic buildings, and we have earmarked $1 billion under the Capital Works Reserve Fund for the capital cost and another $100 million for supporting the operation of social enterprises under the Scheme.

I have also earmarked funding in the 2008-09 Budget to extend the financial assistance scheme (currently restricted to declared monuments) to private owners of graded historic buildings to carry out repairs and restoration.

In the implementation of our heritage conservation policy, we do need the strong support of our professional architects. We appreciate that the HKIA has been active in assisting the Government’s implementation of the new heritage conservation policy.

I am pleased to know that the Development Bureau has engaged the Hong Kong Architecture Centre, the HKIA’s charitable arm, in promoting public awareness of our local architecture. It will conduct a consultancy study on international benchmarking of building controls to facilitate adaptive re-use of historic buildings. The professional inputs of the study will form the basis of our policy formulation on the issue of compliance of historic buildings with our current building standards.

We look forward to the continued support of our architects in conserving our heritage, and in making Hong Kong a better place in which to work and to live.

Thank you very much.

March 26 , 2008