9. LANDSCAPE AND VISUAL IMPACT

9.1 Introduction

9.1.1 This Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment is prepared to predict and judge the significance of the effect of the proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay.

9.1.2 This project comprises infrastructure and property development at reclaimed Yau Tong Bay and construction of waterfront promenade. The overall project site area is formed from existing marine lots and the reclaimed land at Yau Tong Bay. The EIA Study for reclamation and decommissioning of ship building and repairing facilities at Yau Tong Bay are covered under separate EIA report.

9.1.3 The proposed comprehensive development included the followings:-

i) Provision of services and utilities

ii) Provision of driveways and carparks

iii) Provision of open space and landscaped garden

iv) Provision of community facilities

v) High rise residential tower blocks

vi) High rise office tower and retail space

vii) Schools

viii) Waterfront Promenade

9.1.4 This study will assess the nature and extent of landscape and visual impact arising from the construction and operation of the aforesaid development at Yau Tong Bay and its effect on the surrounding sensitive receivers and the environment. The visual impact assessments are based on the planning parameters and Master Layout Plan of Rezoning Request for Yau Tong Bay which was agreed by Metro Planning Committee of Town Planning Board on 11 December 1998. (see Figure 9.4B). The population of the proposed development on the CDA site is about 39,000 persons.

9.1.5 The Master Layout Plan of the aforesaid re-zoning request submission was prepared based on the coastal alignment of the proposed Western Coast Road (WCR). However, recently the proposed alignment of Western Coast Road is under reviewed by Territory Development Department (TDD) and there are two different options for the WCR, one is the original Coastal Option and the other is the Tunnel Option. As advised by TDD, the exact alignment will be confirmed by year 2002, and it will affect the reclamation boundary of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation. For Tunnel Option, the extent of reclamation is reduced as the reclaimed land for construction of WCR is no longer required. The environmental impacts of these two different options of reclamation boundary were already covered in the EIA report for Reclamation of Yau Tong Bay.

9.1.6 The proposed comprehensive development based the aforesaid two different reclamation boundaries will be assessed in this report. The development option of Yau Tong Bay CDA based on WCR tunnel alignment is named as Development Option 1 - Minimised Reclamation (Figure 9.4A), while the development option of Yau Tong Bay CDA based on WCR coastal alignment is named as Development Option 2 - Full Reclamation (Figure 9.4B).

9.1.7 At present, the owners of lot no. 1, 2-4, 25 to 27, 73 and 74 have not yet join the Joint Venture on redevelopment of Yau Tong Bay and there may be a possible scenario that the current industrial operations at these Dissenting Lots might continue their operations and their buildings will be remained at these lots. As these lots are operated as shipyard, sawmill and industrial building currently, the continuous operations will cause environmental nuisance and alternative Master Layout Plan (Figures 9.4C and 9.4D) are prepared to mitigate these Industrial / Residential (I/R) Interface problem.

9.1.8 Based on the above reason, different options for WCR alignment and I/R interface, four different development options are generated and assessed in this EIA study:

· WCR Tunnel Options:

Development Option 1A - Minimized Reclamation without I/R Interface (Figure 9.4A)

Development Option 1B - Minimized Reclamation with I/R Interface (Figure 9.4C)

· WCR Coastal Options:

Development Option 2A - Full Reclamation without I/R Interface (Figure 9.4B)

Development Option 2B - Full Reclamation with I/R Interface (Figure 9.4D)

9.1.9 Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment are not an objective science but are based upon a structured and systematic evaluation of the predicted impacts advised by professional judgment and experience.

9.1.10 Landscape impacts are impacts on the intrinsic fabric (i.e. natural landform, vegetation, geology, drainage…etc) and indirectly upon the character of the landscape, that is, upon the combination of natural and man-made components that go together to give a landscape its specific identity.

9.1.11 Visual Impacts are impacts upon the views of the landscape of individual viewers (receivers), and it involves the identification of receivers who will be affected by change to a given view (be they be resident, those working in the landscape, those travelling through it or using it as a recreational resource) and an assessment of the impacts of that change.

9.1.12 As reviewed from the proposed Master Layout Plan for the different development options, the visual and landscape impact would be similar as the layout of the dominant elements like office tower, residential towers and schools are more less similar, hence, the worst scenario based on Options 1A and 2A would be assessed in the following report.

9.1.13 In the course of preparation of this assessment report, alternative design options were prepared and reviewed to minimize the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development, and the details are shown on Appendices 9B and 9C. Only the preferred building height profile option will be presented and assessed in this report.

9.2 Government Legislation, Guidelines and Planning Policy

9.2.1 The followings are the relevant documents which related to this landscape and visual impact assessment:-

a) Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap 479).

b) Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process Annex 10 and Annex 18.

c) Environmental Impact Assessment Study Brief No. ESB-0028/1999 issued by EPD for the captioned project.

d) Central and East Kowloon Development Statement (CEKDS)

e) Draft Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun - Outline Zoning Plan (Plan no. S/K/15/13).

f) Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment.

9.2.2 The requirement for and approach to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) are specified under the Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO).

9.2.3 The Technical Memorandum on Environmental Impact Assessment Process, which is issued under Section 16 of EIAO, has set out the principles, procedures, guidelines, requirement and criteria for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The approach to landscape and visual impact assessment is laid out in Annex 18 of the aforesaid Technical Memorandum.

9.2.4 The EIA Study Brief further sets out the purposes and objectives of the EIA Study, the scope of key environmental issues which shall be addressed, and the requirements that the EIA Study shall be fulfilled.

9.2.5 The planning policy for Yau Tong Bay is contained in the "Central and East Kowloon Development Statement" (CEKDS), Draft Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun - Outline Zoning Plan and Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment, and these documents will be reviewed and discussed in the later section.

9.3 Assessment Methodology and Criteria

9.3.1 The assessment methodology and criteria for landscape and visual impact are based on Annexes 10 and 18 of the Technical Memorandum, and they include the following items:

Baseline Review

a) The baseline review describes the existing landscape and visual character of the study area and provides a benchmark against which the significance of change to landscape and visual resources can be assessed. This has been carried out by desktop study as well as site investigation.

b) The landscape character of the study area is based on a review of the existing key landscape features such as topography, landform, vegetation cover and land use. From this, the overall landscape character is established and its sensitivity to change is being assessed.

c) The visual baseline review is defined by a visual envelope which in turn defines the scope of the visual impact assessment. The visual impact assessment mainly focus on visual sensitive receivers and agreed key viewpoints around the study area. The highest visual sensitive receivers are usually considered to be the existing and future committed residential developments.

d) A review of the planning and development control framework has also been undertaken in order to appreciate the role of the study area within a larger context.

Landscape and Visual Impacts

a) An assessment of impacts during construction and on completion has been made including an indication of their significance and magnitude.

b) Landscape impact assessment concentrates on the level of disturbance to the landscape resources and landscape character within the study area balanced against their sensitivity to change. The magnitude and significance of the impact has been predicted in this report.

c) Visual impact assessment will be mainly focused on visual compatibility and visual obstruction. Views from the visual sensitive receivers are indicated and impacts from key viewpoints are illustrated by photomontages. A key map is provided to identify the location and direction of these view points.

Recommendation on Mitigation Measures

a) Mitigation measures are proposed to reduce and attenuate the landscape and visual impacts if necessary.

b) Proposal on enhancement or improvement of landscape resource and visual quality.

In general, inherent mitigation measures, which incorporated into the proposed work through careful design and consideration of all the possible impacts, are the most significant in reducing landscape and visual impacts, while additional mitigation measures, such as screen and hoarding are only effective to those viewing the site from a very close distance.

9.3.2 Criteria for Assessment of Landscape and Visual Impact

The significance of an impact depends primarily on the sensitivity of the receiver and the magnitude of the impact itself.

a) Sensitivity

The potential sensitivity of a landscape element as a receptor depends on several factors including:

· Whether the element is rare or common.

· Whether the element constitutes an area of particular landscape interest e.g. a prominent ridgeline or woodland.

· Whether the element is of statutory importance e.g. landscaped green belt;

· Whether the element is of cultural interest e.g. fung shui woodland;

· Whether the element is associated with sensitive landscape designation;

· Whether the element is associated with cultural and heritage significance;

· Maturity and quality of the element; and

· The ability of landscape to accommodate change and significace of the change in local and regional context

The potential sensitivity of a visual receiver is primarily related to whether a person is at work, at play or at rest. Visual receivers may be boardly classified into 4 groups as follow:

· Those who view the impact from their homes are considered highly sensitive as the attractiveness or otherwise the outlook from their home will greatly affect their perception of the quality and acceptability of their home environment and their general quality of life;

· Those who view the impact from their workplace are considered only medium sensitive as the attractiveness or otherwise the outlook will have a less important, although still materially affect their perception of their quality of work. The degree to which this applies depends on whether the workplace is industrial, retail or commercial. In general, for industrial work place, the sensitivity is considered as low;

· Those who view the impact whilst taking place in an outdoor leisure activity may display varying sensitivity depending on the type of leisure activity. In general, the football/basketball players are less concerned on the quality of their surrounding than hill walkers, and their sensitivitives are considered as low;

· Those who view the impact whilst travelling on a public thoroughfare will also display varying sensitivity depend on the speed of travel and whether the views are continuous or occasional.

In addition to above, the rating of the sensitivity of visual receiver would also be affected by the quality of existing view, visibility of the project, availability of alternative view of the receiver and population size of the receiver group.

b) Magnitude

The magnitude of a landscape or visual impact will depend on several factors including:

· The nature of the development;

· The size and scale of the development / project;

· The physical area of impact, both in absolute term and relative to its landscape and visual context;

· The duration of the impact;

· The distance of the impact from the viewer;

· The landscape context of the impact;

· Potential blockage of view;

· The visual context of the impact, and

· Compatibility and reversibity of the project.

In general, the significant impacts are assessed as high, moderate or low (these may be positive or negative impacts), and their relationship with the magnitude of change and sensitivity of the receptor can be summarized in the following paragraph.

c) Matrix for assessment of significance of Landscape and Visual Impact

		Sensitivity of Landscape / Visual Receivers
		High	Medium	Low
Magnitude of Change	High	High	High to Moderate	Moderate
	Moderate	High to Moderate	Moderate	Moderate to Low
	Low	Moderate	Moderate to Low	Low
	Negligible	Low to Negligible	Low to Negligible	Negligible

Both positive and negative impact will be addressed in this assessment report.

d) The evaluation of landscape and visual impact may then be classified into five levels of significance based on the type and extent of the effects concluded in the EIA study:

· The impact is beneficial if the project will complement the landscape and visual character of its setting, will follow the relevant planning objectives and will improve overall and visual quality.

· The impact is acceptable if the assessment indicates that there will be no significant effects on the landscape, no significant visual effects caused by the appearance of the project, or no interference with key views.

· The impact is acceptable with mitigation measures if there will be some adverse effects, but these can be eliminated, reduced or offset to large extent by specific measures.

· The impact is unacceptable if adverse effects are considered too excessive and are unable to mitigate practically.

· The impact is undetermined if significant adverse effects are likely, but the extent to which they may occur or may be mitigated cannot be determined from the study. Further detailed study will be required for the specific effects in question.

9.4 Baseline Review

Background

9.4.1 The background and site context of Yau Tong Bay are briefly discussed as follows:-

a) Landscape Resource

Location (Figures 9.1A and 9.1B)

The site is located at the southern portion of east Kowloon, and it is bounded by the Eastern Harbour Crossing to the north, future Yau Tong MTR Station and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment at the east and the Yau Tong Industrial Area to the south. The future new seawall after reclamation will bound the western side of the site.

Land Use (Figure 9.2)

The existing marine lots are being used as shipyards, timber yards, sawmills, car repair workshop, concrete batching plant, godown and open storage and there are a lot of barges and vessels occupied the bay for anchorage. All these features will be removed upon completion of Yau Tong Bay reclamation work (however, since some of the owners of YTML have not reached an agreement with the Joint Ventures at present, the existing buildings at YTML 1, 2-4, 25-27, 73 and 74 might remain). To the north of the site is EHC site for residential development, to the east is future Yau Tong MTR station and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, while to the south of the site, Yau Tong Industrial Area, there are medium-rise industrial buildings. Due to the recent re-zoning of land use at Yau Tong Industrial Area from industrial to commercial and residential uses, 3 nos. of lots at Sze Shan Street and Cho Yuen Street have already obtained the Town Planning Board's approval to be redeveloped to commercial / residential development with 35 storeys to 45 storeys high. Hence, the land use at Yau Tong Industrial Area will be changed to commercial / residential use in future.

Drainage

There are two stormwater drainage outfalls discharged into the bay. One is 2440 mm x 2440 mm stormwater box culvert discharged from the east and a 1500 mm diameter stormwater drain discharged from the south. These stormwater drains will be connected to the new box culvert constructed within the site upon completion of reclamation work.

Existing Site Conditions

The existing marine lots are formed from previously reclaimed land and at present are occupied by low-rise buildings, such as shipyard, timber yards, sawmills, … etc. Most of these buildings are in poor conditions and converted into godowns and open storage. There are only a few trees found within these marine lots beside the road. There are many barges and vessels occupied most part of the bay. Upon commencement of reclamation work, all the barges and vessels will be removed and the existing buildings will be demolished. A flat piece of reclaimed land will be formed at previous bay and it will be surrounded by hoarding and covered walkway.

Construction works for Yau Tong MTR Station and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment at eastern side of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation are in progress and will be completed at year 2002 and 2006 respectively. While site formation work for EHC site at northern side of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation has also commenced and the residential towers, which are being developed under 3 phases, will be completed at year 2004 and 2006 respectively.

Landscape

9.4.2 Landscape impacts are assessed against both landscape resources and landscape character, and the baseline conditions for both of these issues are listed out below:

a) Landscape Resources

Topography

The site is a natural U-shape bay recessed from the Victoria Harbour with sloped hill to its north and eastern side and with previously reclaimed land to its south. Both the existing marine lots and Yau Tong Industrial Areas are reclaimed land, and the existing hill near the Eastern Harbour Crossing physically separates Yau Tong Bay from Kwun Tong and Cha Kwo Ling. The existing marine lots are generally levelled ground, while the seabed is generally at -2mPD at the head of Yau Tong Bay and drops to a maximum of -11.39mPD at the mouth of Yau Tong Bay. Upon completion of reclamation work, the existing bay will be replaced by a flat piece of reclaimed land. The sensitivity of topography to the proposed changes is considered low.

Coastline and Waterfront

The existing coastline at Yau Tong Bay was formed by reclamation in 1960s, and the waterfront was occupied by the marine lots. The vertical seawalls constructed at the waterfront, together with jetties/slipways at some of the marine lots for marine access, it formed an irregular waterfront. Since these marine lots are all fenced off by wall or metal fence, the waterfront is invisible and inaccessible by the public, moreover, the seawall is in degraded condition. Upon completion of reclamation work, a sloped linear seawall will be formed facing Victoria Harbour and joining Yau Tong with Cha Kwo Ling. The sensitivity of the newly formed coastline and waterfront is considered medium.

Bay

Yau Tong Bay is recessed from the Victoria Harbour with bay area about 13 hectares and most of the bay is being occupied by vessels and barges as sheltered anchorage at present moment, while the remained area is left as marine access to various marine lots. Upon completion of reclamation work, the existing bay will be replaced by a flat piece of reclaimed land. The sensitivity of the reclaimed land is considered low.

Vegetation

The site is only sparsely vegetated, most of the marine lots are hard paved with concrete and occupied by metal shed or low-rise concrete buildings. Only a few number of mature trees (about 30 nos.) are found within these marine lots at Ko Fai Road and Cha Kwo Ling Road, while some shrubs and weeds are found in the vacant marine lots. The existing mature trees and the remaining trees preserved on site will be maintained, however, for those trees which would be affected by the construction work, they will then be relocated to nursery for future transplantation before commencement of foundation / superstructure construction work. The sensitivity of existing vegetation is considered low.

b) Landscape Character (Figures 9.6A and 9.7)

Yau Tong Bay is located at the urban fringe of East Kowloon which is characterized as an industrial area with shipyards and factories built along the waterfront, while some public housing estates are located at the hill side above Yau Tong Bay at Lei Yue Mun Road and Ko Chiu Road. On a wider scale, it is at the transition from the urban landscape areas of Kwun Tong and Cha Kwo Ling at its north to the industrial landscape character area of Yau Tong and village type landscape character area of Lei Yue Mun to its south, while the Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan with public housing estates at Lam Tin and Ko Chiu Road at its east formed the backdrop to Yau Tong Bay. The various landscape character areas are briefly discussed as follows:-

Kwun Tong

Kwun Tong is a well established urban landscape character area in East Kowloon, and most of the buildings were built in 70's to 80's. This area is characterized as a mixed industrial and residential area, most of the factories are medium rise buildings built along the waterfront formed from previously reclaimed land (Kwun Tong Industrial Area), while medium rise residential buildings with ground floor shops are located at the center. Residential buildings and high rise public housing estates are built at the hill side. Due to the previous height restriction in the vicinity of the former Kai Tak Airport, the existing buildings at waterfront and Kwun Tong centre are medium rise building of similar height. Recently, some of the factories buildings at Kwun Tong Industrial Area near Kwun Tong Road are being demolished and redeveloped into high-rise commercial/office buildings in order to suit the changes in market demand, and Kwun Tong Industrial Area is transforming from an obsolate industrial area to a business centre with modern commercial / office buildings. This area is densely populated and there are only a few public open space within Kwun Tong. The waterfront area is mainly used as cargo handling area, and the elevated Kwun Tong Bypass, which raised above the sea along the waterfront, forms a dominant feature at the waterfront. The scenic value for this area is low and its sensitivity to change is considered low.

Cha Kwo Ling

Cha Kwo Ling is a recently developed urban landscape character area in East Kowloon. It is separated from Kwun Tong by an open nullah at its north and from Yau Tong Bay by the existing hill (Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine) and Eastern Harbour Crossing Tunnel to its south. This area is characterized by squatter areas at foot of Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine along Cha Kwo Ling Road and residential area by the recently built medium rise private housing development Laguna City (which was built in early 90's on the previously reclaimed land). In addition to Laguna City, the former Sai Tso Wan landfill site with dense vegetation and the Cha Kwo Ling quary site (which currently used as a temporary LCSD depot) formed the public open space within this area, while the waterfront beside Cha Kwo Ling Road is used as public cargo working area which prevents public access to the waterfront. Numerous barges anchored along the waterfront from Cha Kwo Ling up to the vent building of Eastern Harbour Crossing. The scenic value of this area is generally low and its sensitivity to change is considered medium.

Yau Tong Bay and Yau Tong

Yau Tong Bay is characterized as an industrial landscape area while Yau Tong is a mixed industrial and residential landscape area. Yau Tong Bay is flat and industrial area in character and of low scenic value. Low rise industrial buildings, steel and timber sheds were built within these marine lots around Yau Tong Bay. With exception of a few mature trees (about 30 nos.) found at Ko Fai Road and Cha Kwo Ling Road and some shrubs and weeds found at the vacant lots, there is virtually no vegetation within the existing marine lots, and most of the land is hard paved with concrete. The bay area is presently used by barges for loading, unloading, anchorage and with some areas for marine access. The waterfront is mostly degraded and there is no public access to the waterfront. Upon completion of reclamation work, a piece of bare flat land will be formed to replace the bay and all the existing buildings within the site will be demolished. Hydroseeding will be provided to the reclaimed land if the lapse time between commencement of comprehensive development and the completion of reclamation is over one year.

Yau Tong Industrial Area to the south of Yau Tong Bay is mainly an industrial area formed on previously reclaimed flat land, and due to the previous height restriction in the vicinity of Kai Tak Airport, all these buildings are medium rise buildings and of similar height. With exception of Yau Tong Centre, which is a medium size residential development, all the other buildings are industrial buildings. Sam Ka Tsuen Recreational Playground is the only public open space within Yau Tong Industrial Area.

Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment Area to the east of Yau Tong Bay is mainly an residential area. The previous Yau Tong Estate was a public housing estate built on the slope above Yau Tong Bay. At present, all the housing estates were demolished and construction activities are being carried out on site for Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment. The whole development comprises 5 phases and is targeted to be completed from year 2000 to 2004. These new residential buildings are all high rise buildings with 40 storeys, behind the future Yau Tong MTR Station which are being constructed near Cha Kwo Ling Road on the eastern side of Yau Tong Bay.

The EHC site at northern side of Yau Tong Bay is previously a small hill with dense vegetation. Recently, site formation work has been carried out and the whole site will be developed for Home Ownership Scheme development. The whole development is divided into 3 phases, with phase 1 and 2 to be completed in year 2005 while phase 3 to be completed in year 2006. In addition, 3 nos. of schools will be built at EHC site near Cha Kwo Ling Road.

In general , the landscape of Yau Tong Bay and Yau Tong changes rapidly and its scenic value at present is considered low due to dominance of barges/vessels and steel/timber sheds at Yau Tong Bay marine lots, factories and industrial buildings at Yau Tong Industrial Areas, large scale construction activities at Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment Area, Yau Tong MTR Station site and EHC site, and their sensitivitives to change are considered low.

Lei Yue Mun

Lei Yue Mun is characterized as a village type landscape area. Low rise village type buildings were built at the foot of Devil's Peak to form the Lei Yue Mun Village while the Sam Ka Tsuen typhoon shelter is located at the waterfront and is occupied by fish boats. Lei Yue Mun is a tourist attraction place which is famous for its seafood restaurants. The Sam Ka Tsuen typhoon shelter is at present being actively used by the fishermen. The scenic value of this area is moderate and its sensitivity to change is considered medium.

Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan

Lam Tin and Ko Chiu Road, at mid level of hill above Yau Tong, are recently being developed into densely populated residential area. Many public housing estates were recently built which include Lam Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Pak Court, Hong Nga Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Court and Ko Yee Estate, most of these new residential buildings are about 40 storeys high and they virtually form a wall of buildings surrounding Yau Tong Bay. The slope between Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment Area is densely covered with vegetation and it formes the green belt in between the aforesaid areas.

Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan with a height of 305 mPD and 248 mPD respectively form the major hill behind Yau Tong Bay. The ridgeline raises from Lam Tin toward Black Hill and then drops down toward south (between Hong Pak Court and Ko Chun Court) to form a gap. It raises again at Chiu Keng Wan Shan, drops down toward south and then raises again to Devil's Peak on eastern side of Lei Yue Mun village. The ridge is naturally wooded except at the gap between Hong Pak Court and Ko Chun Court where site formation works are being carried out to form the access road to a private residential development (Ocean Shores) at Tiu Keng Leng. The view of the ridgeline was partially breached by the public housing estates of Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court and Hong Pak Court. Recently, the construction of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Housing Development further worsen the existing condiiton and breached the ridgeline.

On a wider scale, Yau Tong Bay is surrounded by Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine to the north, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan (with public housing estates) to the east and Yau Tong Industrial Area to the south. The combined skyline of the surrounding land form and buildings creates a sense of enclosure within the bay area.

Although Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan form a green drop to the east of Yau Tong Bay, the landscape is in general of moderate scenic value due to the dominance of dense high rise public housing estates built at the mid level, and its sensitivity to change is considered medium.

Visual Baseline

9.4.3 The project's visual baseline is established by reference to the extent of its visibility, to its visual amenity, the character of key views and by the views of visual receivers at various locations.

a. Visual Envelope

The visual envelope of the development is defined by that area from which any part of the development can be seen in various place. In general, the human eye can distinguish significant detail within 5km radius, while beyond this distance, the detail became blurred.

The construction of the proposed comprehensive development at reclaimed Yau Tong Bay can generally be visible from the following locations:-

· Sceneway Garden - upper storeys only, as the hill on southern side of Eastern Harbour Crossing blocks part of the view. In future, all these views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the residential development at EHC site in year 2006.

· Lam Tin Estate and Tak Tin Estate - middle to upper storeys for those units with a view toward south. All these views will be blocked by the future residential development at EHC site in year 2006.

· Kwong Tin Estate - upper storeys only and for those units facing southwest. Most of the views toward Yau Tong Bay are blocked by Hong Pak Court and these views will be fully blocked by the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2004.

· Ping Tin Estate - middle to upper storeys for those units with a view toward south. The future residential development at EHC site will block most of the views toward Yau Tong Bay in year 2006.

· Hong Nga Court - middle to upper storeys only for those units facing south. Most of the views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC site residential development in year 2006.

· Hong Pak Court and Hong Shui Court - upper storeys only for those units facing southwest. Most of the view toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC site residential development in year 2006.

· Ko Chun Court - upper storeys only for those units facing west. All the views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2002.

· Ko Yee Estate - upper storeys only for those units facing west. All the views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2002.

· Yau Tong Service Reservoir Playground. All the views toward Yau Tong Bay will be fully blocked in near future by Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment which is already under construction.

· Industrial Building facing Ko Fai Road.

· Future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment - those units facing west.

· Future residential development at EHC Site - those units facing south.

· 3 nos. future schools at EHC site and 1 no. future school at Yau Tong Estate.

· Future Yau Tong MTR station.

· Po Chiu College and St. Antonius Primary School. The view from St.Antonious Primary School toward Yau Tong Bay will be fully blocked by residential development at EHC Site.

· Future Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment - upper storeys only for those units facing west. Most of the views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2002.

· Future Lei Yue Mun Estate - upper storeys only for those units facing west. The view toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment.

· Future residential development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site - those units with a view toward south.

· School village at Cha Kwo Ling on north of Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine.

· Yau Tong Centre and Sam Ka Tsuen Recreation Ground. The views toward Yau Tong Bay are completely blocked by the existing industrial buildings at Ko Fai Road and Cha Kwo Ling Road, only the top portion of the highrise residential towers will be visible in future.

· Future Residential Redevelopment and CDA Redevelopment at Yau Tong Industrial Areas – upper storeys only and for those units facing north.

· Quarry Bay Park at Hong Kong Island

The visual envelope and the location of visual sensitive receivers are shown on Figure 9.8.

Key Views (Figures 9.9 to 9.19 and 9.21)

9.4.4 The key views of the site can be summarized into the following groups:-

i) Views at high level from residential buildings on north and eastern side of the site which include Sceneway Garden, Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Park Court, Ko Chun Court, Ko Yee Estate and Yau Tong Service Reservoir Playground. These views are about 500m from the site. In these views toward Victoria Harbour, the foreground is composed by the construction site of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, EHC site and Yau Tong MTR Station, the middle distance by the industrial buildings at Ko Fai Road and bare flat piece of reclaimed land at Yau Tong Bay, while Victoria Harbour and eastern part of Hong Kong Island form the background. The construction activities at the construction site of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, EHC site and Yau Tong MTR station and the bare reclaimed land will form the visual distracters to these views. The visual amenity of these views is low. Upon completion of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC site development in year 2006, the views toward reclaimed Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the residential towers of these developments, and only a glimpse of the site will be seen between the gap of these future residential tower blocks. (see Figure 9.20)

ii) Views from industrial buildings along Ko Fai Road at south eastern side of the site. The existing buildings at marine lots together with the barges and vessels formed the visual distracters for the views toward Yau Tong Bay, will be disappeared and replaced by reclaimed land with colourful hoarding and covered walkway along Ko Fai Road. The bare flat piece of reclaimed land with surcharging mound will form the visual distracters for these views, and the visual amenity of these views is considered low.

iii) Views from Cha Kwo Ling Road at eastern side of the site which include future residential development at EHC site, future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, relocated Po Chiu College and St. Antonius Primary School, and future Yau Tong MTR Station. The dilapidated buildings and fence wall at Yau Tong Bay will be demolished and replaced by colourful hoarding and covered walkway surrounding the future reclaimed land, while the future elevated Western Coast Road (WCR Coastal Option) at the far end near Victoria Harbour will form the background of this view. The visual quality of these views is considered low.

iv) Views from Hong Kong Island across Victoria Harbour which include Quarry Bay Park and Shau Kei Wan. These views are about 1500m from the site. Due to the fact that Yau Tong Bay is recessed from the Victoria Harbour, the reclaimed land is not obvious. However, the barges and vessels at mouth of Yau Tong Bay are replaced by an elevated Western Coast Road which (WCR - Coastal Option) forms a dominant element along the waterfront of East Kowloon Peninsula, while the future residential development at EHC site, future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, future Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment, future Lei Yue Mun Housing Development, together with Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan form the background of this view. The ridgeline of Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan will be breached by the residential towers of EHC site, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Housing Development in year 2006 upon completion of these development (Figure 9.21). The visual quality of these views is considered low. In future, high rise residential development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine site, residential development and CDA redevelopment at Yau Tong Industrial Area will be built and it will completely change Yau Tong to an urban area.

9.5 Review of the Planning and Development Framework

9.5.1 The following plans and planning studies are considered to be related to the Yau Tong Bay Comprehensive Development:-

a) "Central and East Kowloon Development Statement" 1998 (CEKDS)

b) "Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun - Outline Zoning Plan" (OZP)

c) "Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment" 1992

9.5.2 The above documents have been reviewed so as to identify the design guidelines and control on urban design concepts on Yau Tong Bay and its adjacent areas, and the main points are summarized below.

"Central and East Kowloon Development Statement" 1998

1) The CEKDS stated that under the Outline Master Development Plan (OMDP), Yau Tong/Cha Kwo Ling has been identified as a potential development node on account of the following considerations:-

· The proposed siting of a high capacity MTR interchange station as part of the proposed new Tseung Kwan O Line Extension connecting with the existing Kwun Tong Line;

· The opportunity to redevelop obsolete sites in the area, including Yau Tong Bay and the site east of the Eastern Harbour Crossing (EHC) portal; and

· The proposed road infrastructure in the area, namely the Western Coast Road (WCR).

2) The proposed redevelopment of Yau Tong Bay would achieve the following:-

· Utilize the existing obsolete sites for residential development in response to the need for additional housing in the Territory;

· Remove air, noise and water pollution emitters within the site; and

· Environmental upgrading of the waterfront by provision of public access to the waterfront.

3) Yau Tong Bay is fall within recommended board height band of 125m. The purpose of the recommended height band is to preserve the views of ridgeline and distinctive peaks of the Kowloon Hills. Such opportunities have to be weighed however against the need for additional housing development and on-going studies to plan residential development in response to specific housing production targets. The building height at the committed developments around the study area should also be taken into account in consideration of the proposed building height. Although the ridgeline behind Yau Tong Bay will be breached by Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment, Lei Yue Mun Estate Development and residential development at EHC Site, alternative building height profile proposed for the comprehensive development were reviewed and compared with the recommended height band of 125m, and the result are summarized in Appendice 9B and 9C. The preferred building height profile option which has minimized the visual impact is presented in this report.

Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun - Outline Zoning Plan (OZP) (Figure 9.3)

1) Yau Tong Bay is included within the draft Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun - Outline Zoning Plan (Plan no.: S/K/15/13). The proposed site is covered by the zonings 'CDA', 'I' and 'GIC'. Following the approval of rezoning request for Yau Tong Bay Development by Town Planning Board on 11 December 1998, supplementary information was submitted to Town Planning Board to apply for incorporation of the proposed reclamation boundary into the draft OZP. Having considered the changing planning circumstances and the uncertainty in provision of transport infrastructure in the East Kowloon, the Board agreed that it is premature to incorporate amendments to the Yau Tong Bay “Comprehensive Development Area” zone into the Outline Zoning Plan for public inspection for the reasons that :

• additional information is required to substantiate that the public benefits arising from the proposed extension of reclamation limit would outweigh the preservation of this part of the harbour for the purpose of complying with the “presumption against reclamation principle” in the Protection of the Harbour Ordinance; and

• further discussion with concerned Government departments is required to address the interface of the development for the Yau Tong Bay “CDA” with the proposed WCR and to establish a level of development which is sustainable in planning, urban design, traffic and environmental terms; and that sufficient public facilities would be provided as part of the proposed development.

2) The OZP specified that the Yau Tong Bay Marine Lots together with the adjoining proposed reclamation area and Yau Tong Industrial Area are proposed to be developed in a comprehensive manner for residential, commercial and community uses.

3) The Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine (CKL site) and a site to the east of Eastern Harbour Crossing Portal (EHC Site) are zoned as "Residential (Group A) 4" and "Residential (Group A) 5" respectively for public housing development in future. Both of these sites are located at north of Yau Tong Bay. The proposed completion year of EHC site development is by year 2004 to 2006, and site formation work has already commenced on site, while the design and construction programme for the Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine (CKL site) is still not yet confirmed.

4) The Yau Tong Estate Site to the east of Yau Tong Bay is zoned as "Residential (Group A)" for public housing redevelopment. The construction work of Yau Tong Estate redevelopment are in progress at present and it is expected to be completed by end of year 2001 to 2002 for the residential towers, and mid of year 2004 for the commercial complex.

5) The industrial lots at Yau Tong Industrial Area at south of Yau Tong Bay are recently re-zoned to "Commercial", “Comprehensive Development Area” and "Residential (Group E)" to encourage future redevelopment of these lots from industrial use to commercial / residential uses. 3 nos. of industrial lots at Yau Tong Industrial Area have already obtained the Town Planning Board's approval to be redeveloped to commercial / residential development. The lot at 15 Sze Shan Street will be developed to a 45 storeys commercial / residential building, the lot at 19 Sze Shan Street will be redeveloped to a 40 storeys residential building, while the lot at 6 Cho Yuen Street will be redeveloped to 39 storeys commercial / residential building. It will help to upgrade the environmental quality of Yau Tong as a whole.

Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment - 1992

1) The Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment prepared in 1992 is intended for the “CDA” zone currently shown on the OZP.

2) The planning brief has set out the planning parameters including environmental, engineering and other factors that developers have to consider in the detailed planning and implementation of Yau Tong Bay redevelopment.

3) Although the “CDA” boundary of this EIA study is based on the re-zoning boundary which agreed by Town Planning Board at its meeting on 11 December 1998, and the reclamation boundary is larger than the original “CDA” zone of this planning brief. However, the planning intention of this planning brief is still valid and are discussed below.

4) According to the endorsed Metroplan Selected Strategy, the site is designated as a comprehensive development area mainly for private sector commercial/residential and associated community uses.

5) The site is envisaged to play four important roles:-

· To meet new demand for private housing in the Metropolitan area;

· To serve as a 'solution space' for redressing the shortfalls of district open space and community facilities in its hinterland;

· To create a community focus for the Yau Tong and Lei Yue Mun area; and

· To provide land for an additional road access to Tseung Kwan O, i.e., the proposed Western Coast Road (WCR) - Coastal Option.

6) The Planning Brief has also specified that an urban design and landscape framework should be formulated with due regard to the principles and concept set out in the Metroplan Urban Design Statement and with a view to:

· Creating a community focus for the Yau Tong Area;

· Promoting strong visual and functional integration of the site and its adjoining areas;

· Promoting high quality and high standard residential layout and building design;

· Addressing the industrial/residential and road/residential interface problems;

· Ensuring visually prominent developments are of approximate scale and treatment in relation to the harbour;

· Enhancing physical and visual access to the water's edge;

· Providing a coherent pedestrian circulation system;

· Providing an integrated open space system and high quality landscape treatment; and

· Provide a 20m wide waterfront promenade.

9.5.3 Yau Tong is a strategic growth area within urban fringe of East Kowloon, and it has great development potential for urban growth to meet the market demand of housing supply within urban area.

9.5.4 The proposed comprehensive development at reclaimed Yau Tong Bay is generally in line with Government's intention to upgrade the environmental quality of Yau Tong by replacing the dilapidated buildings of the marine lots with good quality residential buildings, office, schools, community facilities and retail area. The provision of residential flats will also help to satisfy the acute territorial demand for housing.

9.5.5 The proposed high rise office tower with its proximity to the future Yau Tong MTR station is a strategic nodal point and its height will form the landmark for the Yau Tong and Lei Yue Mun Area, and it serves to create the focal point for the local district. This, in general, follows the concept stated in CEKDS and Metroplan.

9.5.6 The landscaped area provided within the proposed comprehensive development and the waterfront promenade serves as a public open space for the resident and public to enjoy the harbour view and recreational use, and it addresses the shortage of open space in Yau Tong.

9.5.7 The proposed landscaped podium deck with associated footbridge link to Yau Tong MTR station and walkway link to the waterfront promenade would promote a strong visual and functional integration of the site and its adjoining areas, and enhance both physical and visual access to the water's edge. Moreover, the integrated podium deck helps to separate the pedestrian from vehicular traffic, which will be located at ground floor, and it also prevents the vehicular noise an air pollutant from reaching the residential towers.

9.5.8 The proposed set back of residential towers at Cha Kwo Ling Road and along Ko Fai Road together with the landscape garden help to provide a buffer zone with the residential towers of future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC site development near Cha Kwo Ling Road and the existing industrial buildings at Ko Fai Road. It also helps to maintain visual corridor toward Victoria Harbour.

9.5.9 The provision of community facilities including a community centre, GIC areas, 5 primary schools and 3 secondary schools will serve the future residents as well as to satisfy the shortfall of community facilities in Yau Tong and adjacent areas.

9.5.10 The proposed stepped building height concept for residential towers / office near the waterfront area are in general follow Planning Department’s recent study on “Urban Design Guidelines for the Hong Kong”. Lower blocks will be placed along the waterfront and higher blocks will be located inland, it create a stepped building height profile. The proposed height profile will be reviewed in the later section.

9.5.11 The proposed comprehensive development will eventually form the starting point for redevelopment of Yau Tong area, and become the new town centre. In general, it follows the objectives of Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment 1992, and it will faster the pace of urban renewal at Yau Tong.

9.6 Prediction of Sources of Impact

9.6.1 The potential sources of landscape and visual impact during the construction and operational phases of the proposed comprehensive development are identified below:

a) Construction Phase

· Site access and haul routes, including traffic movements.

· Cut and fill, including excavation and temporary storage existing soil for backfilling work.

· Materials stockpiling, construction plant and equipment.

· Temporary site offices, parking and working areas.

· Utilities, including water, drainage, power and lighting.

· Cranes and hoists.

· Concrete falsework.

· Combined effect of construction activities in the adjacent sites.

b) Operational Phase

· New access road and widening of Cha Kwo Ling Road.

· 39 nos. high-rise residential towers and 1 no. highrise office tower.

· 8 nos. new schools.

· Landscaped garden and open space.

· Linked footbridge across Cha Kwo Ling Road with Yau Tong MTR Station.

· Boundary fencing and erection of 5m high noise barriers at Cha Kwo Ling Road and Ko Fai Road.

· 8m high noise barrier which address the potential industrial / residential interface

· Roadwork connection with Western Coast Road. (Coastal Option only).

· Waterfront promenade (the area and extent of waterfront promenade will be 20m wide for Development Option 1, while the waterfront promenade for Development Option 2 would be much larger in scale (about 50m wide) and could be linked up waterfront of Cha Kwo Ling with Yau Tong).

· Reprovision of existing WSD Cha Kwo Ling Saltwater Pumping Station to waterfront (Development Option 2 only) if necessary.

9.6.2 The proposed high rise office tower and residential towers will create high negative impacts to the adjacent sensitive receivers, and their impacts are reduced by the following measures incorporated in the Master Layout Plan:

· The number of residential towers have been minimized by increasing the height of these residential towers so that more open space with landscape planting and recreation facilities can be provided at ground floor and podium floor.

· The residential towers are arranged in rows perpendicular to the waterfront so as to improve the visual permeability of the harbour view to the space and building away from the seafront.

· The residential towers facing Ko Fai Road are setback by 30m, while low rise school buildings are located around Cha Kwo Ling Road so that it will create visual corridor to the harbour and increase the spatial distance of these residential towers from the adjacent development.

· The disposition of office tower and residential towers have minimize the blocking of view to the adjacent future residential development at Cho Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site, EHC Site and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment.

9.6.3 Despite the fact that the proposed building height of the residential towers and office tower will be beyond the recommended height band of 125m as stated in CEKDS, the effect has been minimized by varying the building height of these residential towers. Those residential towers nearest to the waterfront are within 125m high, while those away from the waterfront are of increasing height so as to create a stepping effect toward the waterfront. This layout will reduce the visual impact of the residential towers at waterfront while still maintain the proposed numbers of residential units to meet the high market demand at urban area and maximize the development potential of the site. Due to the difference in ground floor level, the proposed building height of the highest residential towers near Cha Kwo Ling Road is still lower than the future residential towers of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC Site, and such an arrangement together with above measures (paragraph 9.6.2) will help to minimize the visual impact to the adjacent sensitive receivers.

9.6.4 The proposed waterfront promenade, landscaped garden and open space at operation phase will improve the landscape and visual quality of the environment, and induce position impact to the adjacent sensitive receiver.

9.7 Landscape Impact Assessment

9.7.1 The landscape of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation is flat and open, and the project site is bounded by Victoria Harbour on the west, Cha Kwo Ling Road on the north and east, and Ko Fai Road on the south.

9.7.2 For Western Coast Road - Coastal Option, the elevated Western Coast Road visually divides the Yau Tong Bay Reclamation into east and west portion, the commercial / residential development with community facilities on the east and the future waterfront promenade on the west. For Western Coast Road - Tunnel Option, the residential towers with waterfront promenade will directly face to Victoria Harbour.

9.7.3 According to the current information, the status of the various development around Yau Tong Bay are as follows:-

a) Residential Development at EHC Site

· This development consists of 3 phases.

· Phase 1 and 2 of the development are targeted to be completed in year 2004, and the estimated population intake is about 15,600.

· Phase 3 of the development is targeted to be completed in year 2006, and the estimated population intake is about 9,100.

· The site formation work has already been commenced on site, and the existing vegetation within the site have all been removed.

b) Yau Tong MTR Station

· Construction work is in progress and it will be completed by end of year 2002.

c) Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment

· This redevelopment consists of 5 phases.

· Phase 1 of the development has been completed and some of the resident has just moved in. The estimated population intake is about 4,800.

· Phases 2, 3 and 5 of the development are under construction and will be completed by mid 2002. The estimated population intake is about 18,000.

· Phase 4 of the development consists of commercial complex only and is targeted to be completed in year 2004.

· Construction work for phases 2 to 5 are in progress on site.

d) Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment

· This development consists of 5 phases, phases 1, 2 and 4 have already been completed.

· Construction work for phase 3 and 5 of the development is in progress and it is targeted to be completed in year 2002. The estimated population intakes are about 3,200 and 5,760 respectively.

e) Lei Yue Mun Development

· This development consists of 2 phases.

· Phase 1 of the development is targeted to be completed in year 2002, and the estimated population intake is about 7,720.

· Phase 2 of the development is targeted to be completed in year 2005, and the estimated population intake is about 2,000.

f) Residential Development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site

· This development is under planning stage and is target to be completed between year 2004 to 2006.

g) Residential Redevelopment and CDA Redevelopment at Yau Tong Industrial Area

· The proposed programme is unknown at present moment.

9.7.4 The estimated programme for construction work of the proposed comprehensive development are as follows (refer to Figure 2.3 of Section 2) :-

a) Utilities and Roadworks

· Construction of utilities and roadworks will commence at year 2002 after the completion of surcharge period for Phase 1a reclamation work and it is targeted to be completed by year 2007.

b) Residential Towers

· Construction of residential towers are sub-divided into several phases to follow the construction programme of reclamation work.

· First phase of construction work for residential towers is targeted to commence in year 2005 after completion of surcharge period for Phase 1a reclamation and to be completed by end of year 2007.

· The latest phase of construction work for residential towers is targeted to commence in year 2012 and to be completed in year 2015.

c) Commercial Tower and Retail Centre

· The construction work is targeted to commence in year 2009 and to be completed in year 2012.

d) Schools

· The construction works for schools are sub-divided into 3 phases to suit the reclamation work programme and the completion date of various phases of residential towers.

- Construction work for phase 1 schools is targeted to commence in year 2007 and to be completed in year 2008.

- Construction work for phase 2 schools is targeted to commence in year 2009 and to be completed in year 2011.

- Construction work for phase 3 schools is targeted to commence in year 2010 and to be completed in year 2012.

e) Waterfront Promenade

· The construction work for waterfront promenade is targeted to commence in year 2007 and to be complete in year 2011.

f) Western Coast Road

· The construction work is targeted to commence in year 2007 and to be completed in year 2011. Whether Tunnel Option or Coast Option to be adopted is under review by Territory Development Department and will be confirmed in year 2002.

9.7.5 By year 2005, the residential development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site and EHC site (Phase 3) at the north of Yau Tong Bay are still under construction, while EHC site (Phases 1 and 2), 3 nos. schools at EHC site, the Yau Tong MTR station and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment at eastern side of the site will be completed. The existing medium rise factories are likely to be remained at Ko Fai Road, while some highrise residential buildings will be built at Sze Shan Street and Cho Yuen Street within centre of Yau Tong Industrial Area.

9.7.6 On a wider landscape, Yau Tong Bay Reclamation lies to the east of Kowloon Peninsula and is visually enclosed to the north by the hill of EHC site, to the east by distant hill of Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan, and to the south by medium rise Yau Tong Industrial Area. To the western side of the reclamation is open to the Victoria Harbour with distant views of Hong Kong Island.

9.7.7 There is virtually no existing vegetation within Yau Tong Bay Reclamation, only a few preserved mature trees and remaining trees found at existing Yau Tong Bay marine lots, green planting is found at the hill at EHC site and mid of Chiu Keng Wan Shan between Lei Yue Mun Road and Pik Wan Road.

9.7.8 The land uses of the adjacent lots during the construction of proposed comprehensive development at year 2007 are generally residential development which include Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site and EHC site at the north and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment at the east, while some of the existing factories at the south of Yau Tong Industrial Areas may undergo redevelopment to change to commercial / residential use according to Cha Kwo Ling, Yau Tong, Lei Yue Mun Outline Zoning Plan. If Western Coast Road - Coastal Option is adopted as for Development Option 2, Western Coast Road, which is built on an elevated structure, will be under construction of the western side of the reclaimed land and the proposed waterfront promenade for recreational use is facing Victoria Harbour.

9.7.9 The scenic value of the reclaimed land at Yau Tong Bay is low, and the areas are characterized by progressive development like the new Yau Tong MTR station, residential development at EHC site and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment. The industrial areas at Yau Tong will also undergo changes in future, as the land use for these areas have been changed to “Residential”, “Commercial” and “CDA” development in the OZP.

Impact on Landscape Resource during Construction

9.7.10 Because of the large scale and extent of the works during construction stage, almost all of the site's landscape resources will be affected. The magnitude of change for Development Option 1 and Development Option 2 are similar in scale.

9.7.11 All the major construction activities for the proposed comprehensive development are confined to the reclaimed land and the previous marine lots, hence, it will not affect the newly formed seawall and coastline, however, the topography of the site will be affected..

9.7.12 Construction of the waterfront promenade will cause moderate magnitude of change to the coastline. The sensitivity of the new coastline and waterfront is generally medium and so the significance of impacts due to the construction activities is moderate negative. The construction work will cause high magnitude of change to the topography, however, the sensitivity of topography is generally low and so the significance of impacts is considered moderate negative.

9.7.13 Due to the absence of mature vegetation and landscape features within the reclaimed land, there will be no loss of mature vegetation or important landscape feature, and the construction of proposed development will not have any additional negative impact on the landscape resource of the reclaimed land. For those preserved mature trees and remaining trees maintained at existing Yau Tong Bay marine lots, these trees will be transplanted to nursery during the construction stage if so required.

Impact on Landscape Character During Construction Phase

9.7.14 The landscape of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation is flat and generally open, there is virtually no existing vegetation and feature within the site. The quality of the landscape of Yau Tong Bay Reclamation is considered to be low and is insensitive to change.

9.7.15 On a wider scale, Yau Tong Bay Reclamation is surrounded by sites of progressive changes. At present, construction activities are being carried out at the EHC site, Yau Tong MTR station site, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment site, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment site and Lei Yue Mun Development Site. By year 2004, Phase 1 and 2 of EHC site, Yau Tong MTR Station, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Phase 1 of Lei Yue Mun Housing Development will all be completed, while some of the factory buildings at Yau Tong Industrial Area may also undergo redevelopment in response to the revision of the OZP to encourage commercial and residential development at Yau Tong Industrial Area by the government. The sensitivity of Yau Tong landscape area to change is considered low.

9.7.16 The construction activities will result in worsening of the landscape quality at Yau Tong Bay Reclamation, and also affect the landscape character of Yau Tong. The magnitude of change of construction activities to landscape character is considered high to moderate. However, since the sensitivity of the landscape character of Yau Tong is generally low, hence, there will only be moderate to low negative impact on the local landscape character.

9.7.17 The impact of the construction activities of the proposed comprehensive development to the landscape character areas of Kwun Tong, Cha Kwo Ling, Lei Yue Mun, Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan varies and depends on its sensitivity and compatability to the proposed changes.

9.7.18 Kwun Tong is a densely developed urban area with low sensitivity to change, and it is relatively far away from Yau Tong Bay, hence, the magnitude of change of construction activities of proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay to Kwun Tong is considered low and it will only have negligible negative impact to its landscape character.

9.7.19 Cha Kwo Ling is a recently developed urban area with medium sensitivity to change. The construction activities for Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Development will be likely to commence in year 2002, and the combined effect with the construction activities of proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay will have moderate negative impact to its landscape character during the construction stage.

9.7.20 Lei Yue Mun is a village type landscape area with medium sensitivity to change. Due to the fact that the construction activities for the proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay is far away from Lei Yue Mun with Yau Tong Industrial Area lies in between these two areas, hence, it would only have moderate negative impact to its landscape character.

9.7.21 Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan are of medium sensitivity to change and they are quite far away from Yau Tong Bay, hence, the construction of proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay will only have moderate to low negative impact to their landscape characters.

Impact on Landscape Resource and Landscape Character during Operational Phase

9.7.22 The proposed Master Landscape Plan (Figure 9.26) indicates the design intention to integrate the waterfront promenade with the landscaped garden within the site according to the Planning Brief for Yau Tong Bay Redevelopment. Landscape features, recreational facilities and extensive planting will be provided at ground floor and podium floor, about 70,000m² open space and amenity areas will be provided within the site for Development Option 1, while there will be an additional waterfront promenade about 20,000m² for Development Option 2. The magnitude change due to provision of waterfront promenade and landscaped area are considered high, and the sensitivity of the waterfront and coastline is medium while the sensitivity of topography and vegetation is considered low. The provision of waterfront promenade, landscape garden, recreation and amenity areas at ground floor and podium floor with extensive planting and vegetation will increase and enhance the quality and quantity of the landscape resource and induce positive impact to the landscape character of Yau Tong Bay. Moreover, the integration of green element with the buildings will provide continuous greenery and help to cool the local ambient micro-climate. Hence, it will create moderate positive impact to the overall landscape resources.

9.7.23 The additional landscaped area for Development Option 2 will provide more positive impact to the landscape resource by provision of more planting areas, however, it could not compensate the negative impact due to loss of bay area and reduction in width of Victoria Harbour.

9.7.24 Integration of pedestrian route to link up the waterfront promenade and all the open space will provide a continuous landscape framework for enjoyment and recreational use by the future resident and public. It will enhance the quality of landscape area at Yau Tong Bay.

9.7.25 The sensitivity of Yau Tong landscape character area is low and the magnitude of change due to the presence of new highrise buildings, landscaped garden and waterfront promenade are considered high. The new buildings with well design landscaped garden will help to upgrade the landscape character of Yau Tong as a modern town center. Hence, it will have moderate positive impact to its landscape character. Considered the progressive development in the adjacent sites like the EHC site, Yau Tong MTR Station, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Development, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Development, the proposed Comprehensive Development at Yau Tong Bay will blend in well with its new context.

9.7.26 The impact of the proposed comprehensive development to the Landscape Character Areas of Kwun Tong, Cha Kwo Ling, Lei Yue Mun, Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan during the operational phase are varies and depends on its sensitivity, magnitude of change and compatability to the proposed changes.

9.7.27 In general, the presence of the new highrise buildings, extensively landscape garden and waterfront promenade, of the proposed comprehensive development will cause high magnitude of change to the adjacent environment, however, the magnitude of change will be moderate to low for those areas further away from Yau Tong Bay. The impact will be generally positive as these new development will improve the quality of existing environment.

9.7.28 Kwun Tong is a densely well developed urban area with low sensitivity to change, and it is relatively far away from Yau Tong Bay, hence, the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered low and it will only have low positive impact to its landscape character.

9.7.29 Cha Kwo Ling is a recently developed urban area with medium sensitivity to change. The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered moderate and it will have moderate positive impact to its landscape character as upgrading of Yau Tong Bay, provision of landscaped garden and waterfront promenade which link up with future waterfront promenade at Cha Kwo Ling, will enhance the landscape quality of Cha Kwo Ling.

9.7.30 Lei Yue Mun is a village type landscape character area with medium sensitivity to change. Due to the fact that Yau Tong Bay is far away from Lei Yue Mun with Yau Tong Industrial Area lie in between these two area, the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered low and the presence of these highrise buildings is not compatible with the landscape character of Lei Yue Mun, hence, it will have low negative impact to its landscape character due to presence of these new highrise buildings.

9.7.31 Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan are of medium sensitivity to change and it is quite far away from Yau Tong Bay, hence, the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is low. The intrusion of urban features and buildings into the urban fringe of East Kowloon Peninsula will have low negative impact to its landscape character.

9.7.32 In general, there will be an overall positive improvement in the landscape quality of Yau Tong due to the increase in extent of landscape area, linkage of waterfront promenade with landscaped garden, provision of recreation area, landscape features and trees within the proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay. The landscape impact to the landscape resource is moderate positive.

9.7.33 On a wider scale, upon completion of the proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay, EHC site, Yau Tong MTR Station, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Development, Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Development, the overall landscape character of Yau Tong and Cha Kwo Ling will change from an urban fringe area into a well developed urban area, the quality of its landscape character will be slightly improved and it will become part of the metropolitan area. The impacts for Development Option 1 and Development Option 2 on the landscape character of Yau Tong and adjacent areas are more or less similar (Figure 9.25) and are both moderate positive.

9.7.34 During the operation phase, the proposed comprehensive development will have slight positive impact to the landscape character of Kwun Tong and moderate positive impact to landscape charater of Cha Kwo Ling, while it will have minor negative impact to the landscape character of Lei Yue Mun, Lam Tin, Ko Chiu Road, Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan as it will involve intrusion of urban features and buildings into the urban fringe area of East Kowloon Peninsula. However, as the industrial buildings at Yau Tong Industrial Area will likely undergo progressive redevelopment to high rise commercial / residential buildings, the residual impact is less significant in future.

9.8 Visual Impact Assessment

9.8.1 Visual impacts are defined as a function of the sensitivity of a receiver and the magnitude of the change to that receiver's view. The assessment of visual impacts is structured by receiver's sensitivity.

9.8.2 The visual envelope for the proposed comprehensive development has been identified in baseline review, paragraph 9.4.3.

9.8.3 The character of the major key views have also been discussed in baseline review paragraph 9.4.4.

9.8.4 For the purpose of this study, visual receivers have been grouped into the following categories:-

Residential - who would view the scheme from their home.

Occupational - who would view the scheme from their workplace.

Travellers - who would view the scheme from vehicles or on foot.

Recreational - who would view the scheme while engaging in recreational activities.

9.8.5 The sensitivity of receivers to visual impacts is influenced by the immediate context of the viewers, the activity in which they are engaged and the value that they attach to this location in particular, the quality of existing view, availability of alternative view of the receivers and population size of the receiver group. Receivers are categorized as being of high, medium or low sensitivity to visual impacts (Please refer to paragraph 9.3.2).

9.8.6 The sensitivity for various visual sensitive receivers (VSRs) the proposed changes are assessed as follows:-

· The sensitivity of the resident of Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate and Sceneway Garden is considered medium as they are far away from the site (more than 500m), and Yau Tong Bay only constitutes a minor portion of their views toward Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour. These views will mostly be blocked by Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC Site Development in year 2006.

· The sensitivity of the resident of Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Court and Ko Yee Estate is considered medium as they are not far from the site, and Yau Tong Bay constitutes a part of their views toward Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbour. These views will be mostly be blocked by housing blocks of Yau Tong Redevelopment and EHC Site Development in year 2006.

· The sensitivity of the resident of future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC Site is considered high as they are close to Yau Tong Bay and it constitutes a major part of their view toward Hong Kong Island and Victoria harbour.

· The sensitivity of the resident of future Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment (Phases 3 and 5) and Lei Yue Mun Housing Development is considered medium as Yau Tong Bay constitutes part of their views toward west, and these views will mostly be blocked by Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2004.

· The sensitivity of the future resident of Kaolin Mine site with a view facing Yau Tong Bay is considered high as it is quite close to Yau Tong Bay. However, Yau Tong Bay only forms part of their views toward south.

· The sensitivity of the workers at industrial buildings facing Ko Fai Road is considered low as they are mostly concentrated at their working environment of the factories.

· The sensitivity of the student and teachers at the relocated Po Chiu College and St. Antonius Primary School, and future adjacent schools at EHC site and at Yau Tong Estate is considered medium as most of the time they are concentrated at the internal environment of the school.

· The sensitivity of the public at Yau Tong Service Reservoir is considered low as Yau Tong Bay only constitutes a minor portion of their views. These views will be fully blocked by the housing block of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2002.

· The sensitivity of resident at Yau Tong Centre is considered low as their views are blocked by the existing industrial buildings at Cha Ko Ling Road.

· The sensitivity of recreation users at Sam Ka Tsuen Recreation Ground is considered low as their views are blocked by the existing industrial buildings at Ko Fai Road and Cha Kwo Ling Road.

· The sensitivity of future resident at residential redevelopment and CDA redevelopment at Yau Tong Industrial Area is considered medium at their main view would likely be toward Victoria Harbour, and the existing industrial buildings at Ko Fai Road form visual distracters to views toward Yau Tong Bay

· The sensitivity of the public at Quarry Bay Park is considered medium as the view of Yau Tong Bay constitutes a part of the overall view of East Kowloon Peninsula.

· The sensitivity of travellers at Yau Tong MTR Station, Eastern Harbour Crossing, Cha Kwo Ling Road, Pik Wan Road, Ko Chiu Road, Ko Fai Road and future Western Coast Road is considered low as the duration of their views toward Yau Tong Bay are short and intermittent.

9.8.7 The criteria used to determine the magnitude of change of a view are affected by the following factors:-

· The nature of the development / project.

· The size and scale of the development / project.

· The visibility of the project.

· The duration of the impact.

· Value of existing views.

· Degree of change to these views.

· Distance of receivers from the scheme.

· Availability and amenity of alternative views.

· Compatibility and reversibility of the impact.

9.8.8 Due to the fact that construction works for the proposed comprehensive development are quite large in scale, the magnitude of change to those sensitive receivers near to the site will be high, while it is moderate to low for those sensitive receivers far away from the site or have an alternative views.

9.8.9 The degree and extent of the visual impacts that will result from the construction of the proposed development is highly dependent upon the degree to which development of adjacent lots has progressed by that time.

9.8.10 According to the preliminary programme for the proposed comprehensive development, construction work for superstructure will start in year 2007 when the surcharge period for the reclaimed land has been completed.

9.8.11 Based on the present information, the status of development for adjacent lots at year 2007 are as follows:

a) Residential Development at EHC Site (Phases 1 to 3)

· Phase 1 and 2 of development will be completed in year 2004, while the remaining phase will be completed in year 2006.

b) Yau Tong MTR Station

· It will be completed by end of year 2002.

c) Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment (Phase 1 to 5)

· The residential blocks are targeted to be completed from year 2001 to 2002, while the remaining commercial development will be completed by year 2006.

d) Residential Development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site

· It is targeted to be completed by year 2006.

e) Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment (Phase 3 and 5)

· The residential blocks are targeted to be completed in year 2002.

f) Lei Yue Mun Estate Development (Phase 1 and 2)

· The residential blocks for Phase 1 will be completed in 2001, while phase 2 will be completed in 2005.

9.8.12 It is uncertain that whether the existing industrial buildings in Yau Tong will undergo redevelopment to commercial use during the construction phase.

Visual impact during construction phase (Figures 9.27A and 9.27B)

9.8.13 The visual quality of the Yau Tong Reclamation is considered to be low, however, the construction activities will result in worsening of the current visual environment due to the presence of construction machinery and construction activities. For both Development Option 1 and Development Option 2, the magnitude of change are similar in scale scale and are considered high for those sensitive receivers near the site and with a major view toward Yau Tong Bay, while the magnitude of change are considered moderate to low for those sensitive receivers far away from the site and / or with major views not directly toward Yau Tong Bay.

9.8.14 The magnitude of change due to the construction activities to the future resident at EHC site, Yau Tong Estate and Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site which have a view facing Yau Tong Bay is considered high as they will experience the construction works at a close distance, and they will also be affected by views of construction activities. The sensitivity of these future resident is high, hence, it will have high negative impact to these future resident. However, for those flats which are not directly facing Yau Tong Bay, the impact is only moderate negative to low negative as the magnitude of change due to the construction activities are moderate to low.

9.8.15 The magnitude of change due to the construction activities to the industrial workers at Ko Fai Road is considered high, and the sensitivity of these industrial workers is considered low as they are only low sensitive to the visual environment outside their work place. Hence, the impact to the industrial workers inside factories at Ko Fai Road will be moderate negative to low.

9.8.16 The magnitude of change to the student and teachers at St. Antonius Primary School and 1 no. of future school at Yau Tong Estate are considered low as their views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by residential towers of EHC site, while the magnitude of change to the student and teachers at Po Chiu College and 3 nos. future schools at EHC site are considered high as they are facing Yau Tong Bay. The sensitivity of the student and teachers are considered medium as most of the time they are concentrated at the internal environment of the school. Hence, the visual impact to these students and teachers are high to moderate negative for Po Chiu College and 3 nos. future school at EHC site and only low negative to negligible for St. Antonius Primary School and 1 no. future school at Yau Tong Estate.

9.8.17 The magnitude of change to the residents at Sceneway Garden, Lam Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Court, Ko Yee Estate, Ko Chiu Road Estate, Lei Yue Mun Development and recreational users at Yau Tong Service Reservoir is considered negligible due their far distance from the site, and most of their views toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by EHC site development and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment (Figure 9.20) in year 2004. Hence, the visual impact to these residents are considered low negative to negligible.

9.8.18 The magnitude of change to the traveling receivers at Yau Tong MTR Station will be low as the duration is very short. The magnitude of change to the travelling receivers at East Harbour Crossing, Cha Kwo Ling Road, Pik Wan Road, Ko Chiu Road, Ko Fai Road and Victoria Harbour are also considered low to negligible. The sensitivity of these travellers are generally low, hence, the visual impact to the these traveling receivers are considered low negative to negligible.

9.8.19 The magnitude of change due to the construction activities to the recreational users at Quarry Park at Hong Kong Island is considered low due to the far distance across the harbour, and the visibility is usually reduced by the hazy weather (Figure 9.21). The sensitivity of these recreational users are generally medium, hence, the visual impact to these sensitive receivers are low negative.

Visual Impact During Operational Phase (Figures 9.26A and 9.26B)

9.8.20 Upon completion of EHC Site Development, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Development and Lei Yue Mun Development in year 2006, the ridgeline of Kowloon Hill between Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan will be breached by the high rise residential towers of these development and they visually form a continuous wall behind Yau Tong Bay (Figure 9.21). It creates an adverse visual impact to the views from Hong Kong Island.

9.8.21 Upon completion of the proposed comprehensive development, the visual quality of the whole environment will be improved due to provision of good quality residential buildings, office tower, retail areas and landscape garden. However, the impact will vary and depend on the type and location of visual sensitive receivers. In general, the presence of new high rise buildings of residential towers and office tower will create negative visual to adjacent resident as these towers would block their views, while the landscape planting around the site will create positive visual impact.

9.8.22 Due to the fact that Sceneway Garden, Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Court and Ko Yee Estate are relatively far away from Yau Tong Bay, and the future residential towers of EHC site and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment will almost completely blocked the views toward Yau Tong Bay, hence, only the top portion of the high rise office tower could be seen by these residents in future (Figure 9.20). The magnitude of change is considered negligible, and the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development to the resident of the aforesaid housing estates is generally low to negligible negative.

9.8.23 The views from Ko Chiu Road Estate Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Development toward Yau Tong Bay will also be blocked by the future residential towers of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment. The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development to the resident of the aforesaid housing estates are considered low, as only the top portion of office tower could be seen by the residents at upper storeys. Hence, the visual impact to these resident are low negative.

9.8.24 The views from the future Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment are varies, the views from Yau Tong Phase 2 and 3 toward Yau Tong Bay will be blocked by the future residential towers of EHC phase 3, and the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered low, hence, it will only have moderate to negative impacts to these views. The views from Yau Tong Estate Phase 1 and 5 toward Yau Tong Bay are generally open and the proposed office tower and residential towers of Yau Tong Bay Comprehensive Development are close to the aforesaid housing estates, the magnitude of change is considered high to moderate and the visual impacts of proposed comprehensive development are generally moderate negative for future resident of Yau Tong Estate Phase 5 and high negative for future resident of Yau Tong Estate Phase 1 as it is closer to Yau Tong Bay.

9.8.25 For EHC site, the orientation of main façade of the residential towers for Phase 1 is not toward Yau Tong Bay and the magnitude of change is considered moderate to low, hence, the proposed comprehensive development will only have low negative impacts to these future residents. While the orientation of the residential towers for phase 2 and 3 are directly toward Yau Tong Bay, and the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered high, hence, it will create high negative impacts to the future resident of 4 nos. of residential towers at Phase 2 and 3 due to the height and proximity of the office tower and residential towers at Cha Kwo Ling Road. The impact to the future resident of remaining residential towers is considered moderate negative to low negative as the proposed office tower and residential towers of Yau Tong Bay comprehensive development are relatively far away (about 150m to 200m between these tower blocks) and the magnitude of change is moderate to low.

9.8.26 For Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site, the future residential towers are generally more than 200m away from the proposed residential towers of Yau Tong Bay comprehensive development, moreover, with exception of 2 nos. of residential towers, all the other residential towers at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site are not facing Yau Tong Bay. Hence, the magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development is considered moderate to low, it will cause moderate to low negative impact to the future resident of Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site.

9.8.27 The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development to the students and teachers of existing and future schools around Yau Tong Bay is generally considered moderate to low as the proposed office tower and residential towers are generally quite far away from these schools and the students and teachers are more concentrated on the internal environment of the school. Hence, the visual impact to these students and teachers is moderate to low negative.

9.8.28 The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development to the industrial workers inside factories at Ko Fai Road is considered as high to moderate as the proposed residential towers of Yau Tong Bay comprehensive development are set back more than 50m away from these factories. The sensitivity of the industrial workers is considered low as they are not sensitive to the visual environment outside their work place, hence the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development to these industrial workers are moderate to low negative. The magnitude of change to the future resident of high rise residential development at Yau Tong Industrial Area is considered low negative as their main views will be toward Victoria Harbour, and they are far away from the site, hence, the visual impact to these future resident will be low negative (see Figure 9.25).

9.8.29 The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development to the travelling receivers at Yau Tong MTR Station, East Harbour Crossing, Cha Kwo Ling Road and Ko Fai Road will be negligible as the duration of their views is short, and the new buildings with surrounding landscape planting will enhance the visual quality of their views. Hence, the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development to these traveling receivers is negligible.

9.8.30 The magnitude of change due to the proposed comprehensive development to the recreational users at Quarry Park at Hong Kong Island is considered low. The intrusion of numerous high rise residential towers and office tower has changed the visual quality of this part of East Kowloon Peninsula. However, the magnitude of change has been reduced by proper disposition of residential towers in rows perpendicular to the waterfront and stepping in the height of these residential towers toward the waterfront. Alternative options of varying the height of the residential towers are shown on Appendix 9B. On the other hand, the provision of waterfront promenade with landscape planting will help to enhance the visual quality of the waterfront at Yau Tong Bay. Hence, the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development to these sensitive receivers at Quarry Bay Park will be low negative.

9.8.31 The ridgeline of Kowloon Hill between Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan will be further breached by the proposed office tower at Yau Tong Bay which serves as the visual focus of Yau Tong, while the proposed residential towers are visually of similar height with the residential towers of EHC site Development and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment. The negative effect would be reduced by integration of the residential towers, provision of roof features and stepped building height.

9.8.32 The existing WSD Cha Kwo Ling Saltwater Pumping Station will be remained at its presence location, landscape planting will be provided around the boundary of this pumping station to screen off the pumping station building. As this building is quite low and quite far away from the residential flat units, hence, it will have negligible impact to the adjacent visual sensitive receivers.

9.8.33 If it is the intention of WSD to relocate their existing saltwater pumping station to the new waterfront under Development Option 2, extensively landscape planting will be planted around the boundary of the potentially relocated saltwater pumping station, these planting will serve as buffer and visual screen to minimize the visual impact of the saltwater pumping station at the proposed waterfront promenade. Considering the low building height of the future pumping station, the visual impact will be low negative with implementation of the proposed mitigration measures.

9.8.34 The summary of visual impacts to various sensitive receivers during construction stage and operation stage are summarized in Table 9.1.

9.9 Recommended Mitigation Measures and Residual Impact

Mitigation Measures (Construction Phase)

9.9.1 Recommended mitigation measures for impacts caused during the construction process are as follows:-

· Control of night time lighting.

· Erection of decorative screen hoarding.

· Protection of preserved mature trees retained on site.

9.9.2 However, in view of the large scale of the project and the number of machinery to carry out the work, the ability of the above proposal to mitigate the landscape and visual impacts will be limited during the construction phase.

9.9.1 In addition to above mitigation measures to minimize the landscape and visual impacts, the following measures to be carried out during the planning and detailed design stage will help to enhance the visual and landscape quality of the comprehensive development:-

· Design to provide high quality landscape treatment and to create a distinctive character for the new development.

· Design of promenade to maximize the recreational use of the seafront and improve the interface between land and sea.

· Design of roadside landscape to create a comfortable pedestrian environment.

· Design of the setting and layout of buildings to define and create comfortable external space.

· Provision of convenient pedestrian linkages between all open spaces to provide a continuous landscape framework.

· Provision of convenient pedestrian linkages to existing and proposed urban framework adjoining the site to facilitate accessibility to the district open space and promenade.

· Provision of an uninterrupted continuous pedestrian link from the future Yau Tong MTR Station to the waterfront promenade so as to improve accessibility from inland to the waterfront.

· Use of landscape podium decks to improve pedestrian linkage e.g. connections to the proposed MTR station.

· Introduction of earth mounds planting area to introduce landscape interest in topography on the flat reclaimed land and to provide natural visual and/or noise barrier.

· Programming for advance planting to allow more time for plant establishment.

· Design of view corridors to the harbour to improve the visual permeability of the harbour view to the space and buildings away from the seafront.

· Provision of sky gardens to improve the visual permeability and to reduce walling effect of the built development

· Provision of set back of the building block from sensitive receivers as visual buffer.

· Location of landmark at strategic nodal point to enhance the view of the built form. Features to be added to breakdown the scale of the office towers.

· Careful selection in colour rendering and external finishes material of towers to minimize visual impacts

· Careful design of road and elevated structures to limit visual impacts

· Careful design and colour rendering of noise barriers to limit the visual impact, and these to be integrated with the fence wall / podium design

· Integration of the residential towers with well-designed roof feature stepping down from inland toward waterfront.

· Integrate design of the building element with landscape

Mitigation Measures (Operational Phase)

9.9.2 Recommended mitigation measures for the operational phases to minimize negative impacts and create the potential positive impacts are achieved largely by the careful location and design of the components of the development (e.g. tower blocks, access road alignment etc). These inherent mitigation measures are most significant in reducing landscape and visual impacts, and other additional mitigation measures are listed below:-

· Screen planting around the site to limit the impacts of elevated structures, particularly for those structures / building near waterfront promenade.

· Landscape buffers and planting in and around the development itself to screen partially close view of the site.

· Colour rendering of the towers to minimize visual impacts.

· Linkage of landscaped garden with waterfront promenade.

· Screen planting around the future potentially relocated saltwater pumping station at waterfront promenade Full Reclamation (if WCR – Coastal Option is adopted) if it is the intention of WSD to relocate the existing Cha Kwo Ling Saltwater Pumping Station.

9.9.3 Planting will take a number of years to establish and so full effect of the proposed mitigation measures could only be seen in 10 to 15 years from date of planting.

9.9.4 The residual impact after the application of above mitigation measures during the construction phase and operational phase are summarized as follows:

a) Residual Impact During Construction Phase

The mitigation measures will, to the maximum possible extent, reduce the potential negative visual impacts temporarily experienced by the nearby sensitive receivers. However, the residual impacts will remain substantial but only last for a short period during the construction phase.

b) Residual Impact During Operational Phase

The soft and hard landscape treatment around the buildings will reduce the visual impact of the buildings and should create visually attractive landscape features. The landscaped garden at podium with extensive planting and landscape facilities will provide attractive views to adjacent housing estates and industrial buildings. There will be a slight positive residual visual impact to these visual receptors. The proposed linkage of landscaped garden with waterfront promenade will improve the landscape environment and result in a positive residual landscape impact.

9.9.5 Since this is a private development project, all the aforesaid mitigration measures will be funded by the developer, with the design work to be carried out by the consultant, and actual implementation work by the contractors during construction state. Upon completion of the project, these mitigation measures will be maintained by the property management team of the project. An Environmental Team will also set up to monitor / check to ensure these mitigration measures are done properly.

9.10 Conclusion

9.10.1 The quality of the existing landscape and the reclaimed land is generally poor. There is insufficient open space within the area, and the access to waterfront is blocked by the previous shipyard, timberyard and open storage areas.

9.10.2 The proposed mitigation measures will minimize the potential visual and landscape impact, although, the effect during the construction phase is limited.

9.10.3 Due to the absence of mature vegetation and landscape features within the site. The construction activities will not cause an additional negative impact to the landscape resource and landscape character. Waterfront promenade will be provided along the waterfront for Development Option 1 and Option 2. However, for Development Option 2, the additional reclaimed land will increase the width of waterfront promenade from 20m to 50m and provide more landscape areas. The waterfront promenade will induce positive impact to the landscape resource.

9.10.4 The extent of visual impact to adjacent lots will depend on the construction programme of these lots. In general, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment will be completed and occupied by resident during construction phase of the project, while resident for EHC site and Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine site will move in during the construction phase of Yau Tong Bay CDA.

9.10.5 The construction activities will have significant negative visual impact to some residents of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and EHC site, while the impact to the industrial workers at Ko Fai Road will be moderate negative to low. The visual impact to the residents at Sceneway Garden, Lam Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Estate and Ko Yee Estate at mid level of Chiu Keng Wen Shan is considered as moderate to low as their views toward the site will mostly be blocked by future residential towers of EHC site and the Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment in year 2006. All these negative impacts are temporary during construction phase. The impacts are similar for both Development Option 1 and Development Option 2.

9.10.6 During the operational phase, the waterfront promenade and the landscaped garden of the comprehensive development will enhance the quality of landscape and environment of Yau Tong Bay. Together with the new residential buildings and office tower, a high quality waterfront urban landscape will be formed and it induce positive impact to the landscape character of Yau Tong.

9.10.7 With the urbanization of Yau Tong area for residential and commercial development and improvement of traffic by the new Yau Tong MTR Station, the proposed comprehensive development is considered compatible with the environment and will blend in well with its new context.

9.10.8 According to the Master Layout Plan of proposed Comprehensive Development at Yau Tong Bay, the visual impact of the proposed development to the visual sensitive receivers at the adjacent sites like Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site, EHC Site, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment has been minimized through careful disposition of residential towers and office tower so that these towers are spatially further away from these sensitive receivers.

9.10.9 Due to close proximity of the office tower at Cha Kwo Ling Road, it will still be high negative visual impact to some of the future residents of EHC Site Phase 2 and 3 whom have a view directly toward the office tower. While the visual impact to the other future residents of Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine site, EHC site and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment and industrial workers at Ko Fai Road will be generally low negative.

9.10.10 The ridgeline of Kowloon Hill between Black Hill and Chiu Keng Wan Shan will be breached by the highrise residential towers of Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site Development, EHC Site Development, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estate Development and Lei Yue Mun Housing Development in the near future (between year 2002 to year 2006), and these highrise residential towers will form a wall of building surrounding Yau Tong Bay. The proposed comprehensive development at Yau Tong Bay may have a negative impact as the office tower and part of the residential towers will breach the ridgeline, however, the negative impact have been minimized through careful consideration of the layout plans for the development to incorporate features such as view corridors, visual permeability and stepped building heights.

9.10.11 Based on the above study, it is noted that there will be some adverse landscape and visual impact due to the proposed development during construction and operational stages, however, such adverse effect can be reduced or offset to large extent by the specific measures, and the overall landscape and visual impact are considered acceptable with the implementation of mitigation measures.

Table 9.1 Summary of Visual Impact Assessment

Yau Tong Bay Development

Type & Location of Receiver	No. of Receiver	Source of Visual Impact	Distance to the Site	Duration & Direction of View	Mitigation Measures	Magniture of Change		Impact Significance
						During Construction	Upon operation Phase	During Construction	Upon operation Phase
A) Residential
* Lam Tin Estate, Tak Tin Estate (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities, presence of new building	700m	Constant - only those facing site	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Low negative to negligible	Negligible
* Sceneway Garden (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	900m	Constant - only those facing site	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Low negative to negligible	Negligible
* Ping Tin Estate, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court Hong Shui Court & Hong Shui Court Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	500m	Constant - only those facing site	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Low negative to negligible	Low negative to negligible
* Ko Chun Court & Ko YeeEstate (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	500m	Constant - only those facing site	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Low negative to negligible	Low negative to negligible
Future Yau Tong Estate Dedevelopment (High sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, presence of new buildings and access road	50m	Constant - only those facing site	Set back and colour treatment of towers	High to Moderate	High to Moderate	High negative to Moderate negative	High negative to Moderate negative
A) Residential (Cont’d)
* Future Residential Development at EHC Site (High sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, presence of new buildings and access road	100m	Constant - only those facing site	Set back and colour treatment of towers	High to Moderate	High to Moderate	High negative to Moderate negative	High negative to Moderate negative
Future Residential Development at Cha Kwo Ling Kaolin Mine Site (High Sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities, presence of new buildings and access road	150m	Constant - only those facing site	Set back and colour treatment of towers	Moderate	Moderate	High negative to Moderate negative	Moderate negative to Low negative
* Future Residential Redevelopment at Ko Chiu Road Estate (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities, presence of new building and access road	100m	Constant - only those facing site	Set back and colour treatment of towers	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative to negligible
* Future Residential Redevelopment at Lei Yue Mun Housing Development (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings and access road	150m	Constant - only those facing site	Set back and colour treatment of towers	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative

Note * The view toward Yau Tong Bay for existing resident of Lam Tin Estate, Ping Tin Estate, Sceneway Gardens, Kwong Tin Estate, Hong Nga Court, Hong Pak Court, Hong Shui Court, Ko Chun Court and Ko Yee Estate and recreational users at Yau Tong Service Reservoir will be fully blocked by the jousing blocks of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, EHC site Development and Ko Chiu Road Estate Revdevelopment (Phase 3 & 5) in year 2006.

Type & Location of Receiver	No. of Receiver	Source of Visual Impact	Distance to the Site	Duration & Director of View	Mitigation Measures	Magnitude of Change		Impact Significance
						During Construction	Upon operation Phase	During Construction	Upon Operation Phase
B) Occupational
Industrial Building facing Ko Fai Road (Low sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, presence of new buildings and access road	50m	Daytime - only those facing site	Colour hoarding set back and colour treatment of towers	High to moderate	High to moderate	Moderate negative to low negative	Moderate negative to low negative
* St. Antonious Primary School and 1 no school at Yau Tong Estate (Medium sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	250m	Daytime - only those facing site	Screen planting around the road, and colour treatment of towers	Low to negligible	Low to negligible	Low negative to negligible	Low negative to negligible
Relocated Po Chiu College and 3 nos. schools at EHC site (Medium sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, presence of new buildings	50m	Daytime – only those facing site	Colour hoarding set back and colour treatment of buildings	High	Moderate	High negative to moderate negative	Moderate negative to low negative

Note *The view toward Yau Tong Bay for St. Antonious Primary School and 1 no. future school at Yau Tong Estate will be fully blocked by housing blocks of EHC site in year 2006.

Type & Location of Receiver	No. of Receiver	Source of Visual Impact	Distance to the Site	Duration & Director of View	Mitigation Measures	Magnitude of Change		Impact Significance
						During Construction	Upon operation Phase	During Construction	Upon Operation Phase
C) Recreational
* Yau Tong Service Reservoir (Low sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	400m	Daytime	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Quarry Bay Park (Medium sensitivity)	Many	Presence of new buildings	1500m	Daytime	Colour treatment of towers, stepped building height and landscape waterfront promenade	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative

Note *The view toward Yau Tong Bay from Yau Tong Service Reservior will be fully blocked by housing blocks of Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment site in year 2002.

Type & Location of Receiver	No. of Receiver	Source of Visual Impact	Distance to the Site	Duration & Director of View	Mitigation Measures	Magnitude of Change		Impact Significance
						During Construction	Upon operation Phase	During Construction	Upon Operation Phase
D) Travellers
Yau Tong MTR Station (Low sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, presence of new buildings and access road	50m	Intermittent	Decorative Hoarding screen, and screen planting around the road	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative
Easter Harbour Crossing and Cha Kwo Ling Raod (Low sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, and presence of new buildings	50m	Intermittent	Colour treatment of towers and screen planting around the site	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
West Coast Road – coastal option (Low sensitivity)	Many	Construction activities, and presence of new buildings	50m	Less than 1 min.	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Lei Yue Mun Road (Low sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities, and presence of new buildings	250m	Intermittent	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Pik Wan Road and Ko Chiu Road (Low sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	400m	Intermittent	Colour treatment of towers	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible	Negligible
Ko Fai Road (Low sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	50m	Intermittent	Colour hoarding	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative
Travellers at Victoria Harbour (Low sensitivity)	Few	Construction activities and presence of new buildings	400m	Varies	Creation of waterfront promenade with landscape planting. Stepped building height. Colour treatment of towers	Low	Low	Low negative	Low negative

Appendix 9A

Adjacent Development around Yau Tong Bay

Appendix 9B

Study on Alternative Building Height Profile

Appendix 9B Study on Alternative Building Height Profile

1. Introduction

According to “Central and East Kowloon Development Statement” (CEKDS), Yau Tong Bay is fall within the recommended board height band of 125m. The purpose of the recommended height band is to preserve the views of ridgeline and distinctive peaks of the Kowloon Hills. It also stated that landmark building with building height over 125m could be built at nodal location near Yau Tong MTR Station to lend a sense of place and serve as the focal point of Yau Tong.

Based on the proposed Master Layout Plan, the proposed highrise office tower, which located at north-eastern corner of Yau Tong Bay, is in general follow the planning intention of CEKDS and it will function as the focal point and landmark building for Yau Tong. The building height of this office tower is not subject to the recommended board height band of 125m.

However, for the residential towers, the proposed building height should make reference to the board height band of 125m to preserve the views of ridgeline as recommended by CEKDS, and to minimize the adverse visual impact due to the comprehensive development.

As reviewed from the information received from Housing Department (Appendix 9A) and the photograph taken from Quarry Bay Park recently (see Figure 9.21), it is noted that the ridgeline between Black Hill, Chiu Keng Wan Shan and Devil Hill will be breached by the new highrise housing blocks of EHC site, Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment, Ko Chiu Road Estae Redevelopment and Lei Yue Mun Housing Development. The proposed building height of these highrise housing blocks are range from +145.95mPD + 181.85mPD, and these housing blocks have create a wall of buildings surrounding Yau Tong Bay, they became a dominant background to the proposed comprehensive development, only a portion of ridgeline will be visible in near future.

2. Objective

This study will mainly focus on the proposed building height profile of the highrise residential towers of the proposed comprehensive development and their relationship with the ridgeline and adjacent public housing development, and to identify the preferred building profile so as to minimize the visual impact of these highrise residential towers. The preferred building profile will be adopted as the planning guideline for inclusion into the design so as to mitigate environmental impacts to acceptable levels.

3. Planning Parameter

According to the Master Layout Plan of Re-zoning Request for Yau Tong Bay which agreed by Metro Planning Committee of Town Planning Board on 11 December 1998, the planning parameters of the domestic portion of the comprehensive development are:-

Total Domestic GFA = 973,000m²

Average Flat Size = 70m²

Number of Flat Units = 13,900

4. Alternative Schemes

Based on the above planning parameters, alternative schemes were prepared by varying the building height and number of towers in order to identify the preferred scheme with minimum visual impact. The total domestic GFA to be remain unchange for these alternative schemes.

In general, increase in building height and number of towers will cause adverse visual impact to the adjacent visual sensitive receivers as it will block their views, create wall effect and reduce the landscape areas at podium and ground floor. Highrise buildings constructed near the waterfront will also induce adverse impact to the views from Hong Kong Island.

The proposed alternative schemes are summarized as follow:

(a) Scheme A - 39 nos. residential towers with 45 storeys, the building height is 143m (i.e. about +148mPD). It will provide 13,900 nos. flat units with average flat size 70m². (Figure 9B1 to 9B3)

(b) Scheme B - 43 nos. residential towers with 39 storeys, the building height is 125m (i.e. about +130mPD). It will provide 13,400 nos. flat units with average flat size 72.6m² or some towers to be with more than 8 unit/floor so as to provide 13,900 flat units. (Figure 9B4 to 9B6)

(c) Scheme C - 39 nos. residential towers with 39 to 48 storeys, the building height will range from 125m to 153m (i.e. from +130mPD to +158mPD). It will provide 13,500 nos. flat units with average flat size 72m² or some towers to be with more than 8 unit/floor so as to provide 13,900 units. (Figure 9B7 & 9B8)

(d) Scheme D - 39 nos. residential towers with 35 to 46 storeys, the building height will range from 114m to 146m (i.e. from +119mPD to 151mPD). It will provide 13,200 nos. flat units with average flat size about 73.7m² or some towers to be with more that 8 unit/floor so as to provide 13,900 units. (Figure 9B9 & 9B10)

Since the tower layout for Option 1A and 2A are more or less similar, for simplicity reason, the alternative schemes will be prepared based on Option 1A – Minimized Reclamation without I/R Interface, and the proposed master layout plan, elevation and perspective of above alternative schemes are shown on Figure 9B1 to 9B10.

5. Visual Impact Assessment

(a) Based on the Master Layout plan, provision of 43 nos. towers would make the site very congested and create wall effect, the number of residential towers should be minimize in order to provide more open space / landscape area and to avoid wall effect due to the crowd towers.

(b) By comparison of Scheme A with Scheme B, provision of highrise residential towers with height above 125m will further breach the ridgeline and create adverse visual impact to the views from Hong Kong Island. The building near the waterfront should be within 125m if possible.

(c) Highrise residential towers built at inland will have less visual impact to the views from Hong Kong Island, however, it will induce negative visual impact to the visual sensitive receivers at the adjacent housing development. The residential towers of proposed comprehensive development near Cha Kwo Ling Road should be of similar height as EHC site and Yau Tong Estate Redevelopment (i.e. within +160mPD) so as to minimize the negative impact.

(d) By stepping of building height from inland toward waterfront, these residential towers will have better relationship with the waterfront, and add visual interest to views from Hong Kong Island / Victoria Harbour.

(e) Scheme D create a better visual effect than Scheme C as the stepped building height profile are more prominent and the visual impact are minimized by reducing the height of residential towers near the waterfront to 35 storeys.

6. Conclusion

Based on the above assessment, the building height profile of Scheme D is the preferred scheme as it has minimized the visual impact of the proposed comprehensive development, and this stepped building height profile is selected for Visual Impact Assessment of the EIA Report. The proposed building height for the residential towers to be range from 115m near the waterfront to about 150m at the inland area. This mitigation measure will form the design guideline and incorporated into the Master Layout Plan for Planning Application to Town Planning Board in the near future.

Appendix 9C

Refined Scheme

Appendix 9C Refined Scheme

The prime objective of the Engineering Feasibility Study for the Comprehensive Development at Yau Tong Bay is to formulate an optimum Master Layout Plan, and it will form the base for preliminary design of the infrastructure, civil engineerings, buildings and associated landscape works.

During the preparation of this EIA Report, alternative layout are proposed and reviewed in order to identify the design parameters and to alleviate the impact to the environment. The Master Layout Plans of the development options (option 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B) in this EIA Report study are modified from the Master Layout Plan which agreed by Metro Planning Committee of Town Planning Board on 11 December 1998. They are only indicative plan developed to demonstrate that the proposed development options are environmentally feasible and acceptable under the requirements of the EIAO. The layout will be modified and refined during the design development and subsequent statutory submission.

Two development options called “Refined Scheme for Minimised Reclamation” and “Refined Scheme for Full Reclamation” are produced from the on-going process of design refinement in the EIA study (see Appendix 2B), and it is used to demonstrate that the Master Layout Plan could be further improved during design development stage.

For simplicity reason, the “Refined Scheme for Minimized Reclamation” with the preferred building height profile is adopted for comparison of the landscape and visual impact with Option 1A – Minimized Reclamation without I/R Interface (see Figure 9C1 to 9C3), and it is noted that the Refined Scheme has the following advantages:-

(a) Better use of waterfront

By removing the schools from the waterfront, a more unique design concept and theme could be create for the entire promenade, and it synchronizes with the government’s aim to promote the waterfront development and features. More space will be allocated along the waterfront for passive or active recreational facilities, and it enhance the landscape and visual quality of waterfront promenade.

(b) Better view corridors

By slight relocation of schools and residential towers, visual corridor could be created within the development to maximize the visual quality of the residential units. With the lower blocks located near the waterfront and taller blocks toward inland, the resident of adjacent housing estates could still enjoy a substantial open view.

(c) More breezeways

The view corridor also serves as breezeway along the northeast to southeast direction. It will enhance the air flow circulation and micro-climate condition.

Based on above assessment, the Refined Scheme will further improve the landscape and visual quality of the proposed comprehensive development, and it will induce positive impact to the adjacent sensitive receivers. The proposed layout plan will be refined and submitted to Town Planning Board for approval during Section 16 Planning Application.