'Northern Metropolis bill won't be further expanded'

Permanent Secretary for Development (Planning and Lands) Doris Ho on Wednesday said officials have not considered expanding the proposed Northern Metropolis bill to cover more parts of Hong Kong, as she stressed that the legislation would only apply to designated areas. Her remarks came after authorities on Tuesday unveiled plans for legislation to speed up the mega-project's development. A key element of the bill is streamlining land-use approval procedures and shortening town planning procedures in non-conservation zones, from typically nine months to around two. On a radio programme, Ho stressed that protected green areas would not be affected by the changes. "For those areas, if anyone wishes to change the land use, they would need to use the current nine-month process," she said. "The streamlining of the town planning procedures would not touch the green areas." Ho also stressed that authorities would "strike a balance" between public engagement and the speed of development. "Even for a simple planning application, thorough traffic, noise and environmental technical assessments must be conducted, and it must be submitted to the government department before being referred to the Town Planning Board for review," she said. "There would also be a three-week public consultation before the reviews by the board," she added. Ho also said authorities have so far not considered expanding the law to cover more areas in the SAR, reiterating that the legislation would be "exclusively applicable" to the Northern Metropolis, to remove bottlenecks in the large-scale development scheme. Edited by Thomas McAlinden