The Town Planning Board today (April 30) announced amendments to the draft Kennedy Town & Mount Davis Outline Zoning Plan (OZP).

     The Board's decisions on a representation were subject of judicial reviews (JRs). According to the Court's rulings on the JRs, the Board's decisions on the representation to the draft Kennedy Town & Mount Davis OZP No. S/H1/18, together with the comments thereon, had to be remitted to the Board for consideration. The Board has reviewed the development restrictions taking into account the implications of various building and design guidelines, permissible development intensity and land use, air ventilation and urban design aspects for all "Residential (Group A)" (and its subzones), "Residential (Group B)" ("R(B)"), "R(B)1", "Residential (Group E)" and "Other Specified Uses" annotated "Commercial, Leisure and Tourism Related Uses" zones on the OZP. The review also includes the non-building area and building gap requirements on the OZP to provide flexibility for future redevelopment.
 
     The Board has now made amendments to the OZP as outlined in the Schedule of Amendments. The amendments mainly involve the revision of building height restrictions for four residential sites, rezoning of two sites on Mount Davis Road from "Residential (Group C)2" to "R(B)1" zone, and deletion of two building gap requirements. Opportunity has also been taken to amend the Notes and Explanatory Statement of the OZP to reflect the above amendments and to update the general information of various land use zonings and the planning circumstances, where appropriate.

     The draft Kennedy Town & Mount Davis OZP No. S/H1/21, incorporating the amendments, is now available for public inspection during office hours at (i) the Secretariat of the Board, (ii) the Planning Enquiry Counters, (iii) the Hong Kong District Planning Office, and (iv) the Central and Western Home Affairs Enquiry Centre.
     
     Any person may make written representation in respect of the amendments to the Secretary of the Board on or before June 30. Any person who intends to make a representation is advised to read the revised Town Planning Board Guidelines No. 29B on "Submission and Publication of Representations, Comments on Representations and Further Representations under the Town Planning Ordinance" (TPB PG-No. 29B).

     Submission of a representation should comply with the requirements set out in TPB PG-No. 29B. In particular, the representer should take note of the following:
 
* If the representer fails to provide his or her full name and the first four alphanumeric characters of his or her Hong Kong identity card or passport number as required under TPB PG-No. 29B, the representation submitted shall be treated as not having been made; and
* The Secretariat of the Board reserves the right to require the representer to provide identity proof for verification.
 
     The Guidelines and the submission form are available at locations (i) and (ii) above and the Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     Copies of the draft Kennedy Town & Mount Davis OZP are available for sale at the Map Publications Centres in North Point and Yau Ma Tei. The electronic version of the OZP can be viewed at the Board's website (www.info.gov.hk/tpb).

     The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) today (April 30) released the latest grading of water quality for 38 gazetted beaches (see Note 1) and one non-gazetted beach (i.e. Discovery Bay, see Note 2).     
 
     Thirty-two beaches were rated as Good (Grade 1), six as Fair (Grade 2) and one as Poor (Grade 3).
 
Grade 1 beaches are:         

 
Grade 2 beaches are:

 
Grade 3 beach is:

 
     Compared with the grading released last week, Discovery Bay has been changed from Grade 1 to Grade 2, and Anglers' Beach from Grade 2 to Grade 3.
 
     "The changes are generally within the normal range of fluctuation of the bacteriological water quality of the beaches," an EPD spokesman said.
 
     Under the present grading system, beaches are classified into four grades, namely Good (Grade 1), Fair (Grade 2), Poor (Grade 3) and Very Poor (Grade 4), according to the level of E. coli in the water. Grades are calculated on the basis of the geometric mean of the E. coli counts on the five most recent sampling occasions.
 
     A summary of beach grades is published weekly before the weekend. The latest beach grades based on the most current data may be obtained from the EPD's website on Beach Water Quality (www.epd.gov.hk/epd/beach) or the beach hotline, 2511 6666.
 
Note 1: The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has resumed lifeguard services at 16 gazetted beaches, marked with an asterisk above, from April 16.
 
Note 2: Discovery Bay is a non-gazetted beach without lifeguard service.

     The Advisory Committee on Post-office Employment for Former Chief Executives and Politically Appointed Officials has advised on the proposed employment of Ms Jade Lai, former Political Assistant to the Secretary for Home Affairs, after her departure from the Government on January 20, 2021. 

     The Advisory Committee considers that, subject to the observance of certain restrictions it has advised, Ms Lai's proposed employment would not give rise to any potential conflict of interest. The Advisory Committee also does not anticipate adverse public perception to arise from the proposed employment.
 
     The Advisory Committee considers and advises on the post-office employment or appointments for former politically appointed officials. In considering each case, the Advisory Committee has regard to the information provided by the former politically appointed official concerned, the assessments by relevant government bureaux or offices, and the criteria for advice as stipulated in the guidance notes on post-office employment for politically appointed officials.

     Details of the above-mentioned case are available at the Advisory Committee's website (www.ceo.gov.hk/poo/eng/index.htm).

     The membership of the Advisory Committee is as follows:
 
Professor Liu Pak-wai (Chairman) 
Ms Susanna Chiu Lai-kuen
Mr Simon Ip Sik-on
Mrs Margaret Leung Ko May-yee
Mr Thomas Brian Stevenson

     In the light of the latest epidemic situation, and the premise of maintaining reduction of social contact and carrying out infection-preventive measures, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) announced today (April 30) that a restricted visiting arrangement for residential care homes for the elderly and residential care homes for persons with disabilities will be implemented from May 10. Institutions and visitors shall observe the following arrangements:
 

• Visitors (except official visitors) should make appointments with the institutions prior to their visits;
   
• Visitors who have completed two doses of COVID-19 vaccination for 14 days, apart from presenting their vaccination records, are required to either present a negative COVID-19 test (see Note 1) result obtained within 72 hours before the scheduled visit or provide a negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test result within 24 hours before the visit. Regarding the COVID-19 rapid antigen tests, visitors have to purchase one of the COVID-19 rapid antigen test products designated by the Government (see Note 2) and conduct the test at home on their own. They need to bring along a photo of the person being tested (namely the visitor) with the negative result and the date and time of the test shown in it, together with the product insert and packing of the rapid antigen test kit used, to give to the staff members of the institutions for checking;
       
• Visitors who have not been vaccinated or only received their first dose or completed two-dose vaccination for less than 14 days before the visit are required to present a negative COVID-19 test result obtained within 72 hours before the visit;
       
• Visitors who have not been vaccinated, have not completed two-dose vaccination or do not possess a negative COVID-19 test result obtained within 72 hours before the visit (except official visitors) but need to pay urgent visits to institutions for compassionate reasons must provide a negative COVID-19 test result within two days after the visit;
       
• Institutions must take prudent and effective measures to reduce infection risks, including confining the number of visitors per resident to not more than one each time (except official visits) to avoid crowds gathering, ensuring visitors maintain an appropriate social distance from each other, arranging visits to be conducted at a designated place with proper segregation and frequent sanitisation, conducting checking to ensure that visitors have met the relevant requirements and keeping visitor records accordingly; and
       
• Visitors before entering an institution should have their body temperature checked, perform hand hygiene and wear surgical masks. During visits, visitors should wear surgical masks at all times. Also, residents should wear surgical masks and eye protection (goggles/face shields) as far as practicable.

     Institutions should continue to enhance their communication with the residents and their relatives on the visiting arrangement and relevant measures. They should also visit the dedicated webpage on COVID-19 (www.coronavirus.gov.hk/eng/index.html) from time to time to keep a close watch on the Government's latest public health information.  
      
Note 1: Refers to the polymerase chain reaction-based nucleic acid test for coronavirus disease 2019.
      
Note 2: As at April 29, 2021, according to information provided by the Food and Health Bureau (FHB), the designated COVID-19 rapid antigen test products are: (1) INDICAID COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test (Phase Scientific International Limited); (2) SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test Nasal (Roche Diagnostics (Hong Kong) Limited); and (3) Panbio COVID-19 Ag Rapid Test Device (Abbott Laboratories Limited). The SWD will update the designated product list based on the FHB's recommendation and make announcements through the SWD's webpage, if needed. 

     Police today (April 30) appealed to the public for information on a man who went missing in Sau Mau Ping.

     Pang Fu-on, aged 42, went missing after he was last seen in Lok Wah South Estate on April 6 afternoon. His family made a report to Police on April 13.

     He is about 1.6 metres tall, 81 kilograms in weight and of medium build. He has a pointed face with yellow complexion and short black hair. He was last seen wearing a red cap, white short-sleeved shirt, grey shorts and black shoes.

     Anyone who knows the whereabouts of the missing man or may have seen him is urged to contact the Regional Missing Persons Unit of Kowloon East on 3661 0321 or 9020 2746 or email to rmpu-ke-2@police.gov.hk, or contact any police station.