Appendices
Statistics of Enforcement and Prosecution action undertaken in 2009
In 2009, the Central Enforcement and Prosecution Section of the Department investigated a total of 1 249 suspected unauthorised developments (UDs) in the New Territories. Among these, 391 were confirmed to be UDs. After taking enforcement and prosecution actions, 237 UDs (covering about 57 hectares of land) were discontinued. Moreover, a total of 134 UD cases (covering about 55 hectares of land) were regularised through the planning application system. Table 1 indicates the number of UDs discontinued or regularised with land areas involved.
Table 1 Number of Unauthorised Developments Discontinued or Regularised in 2009 after Enforcement Actions by Geographical District
| Geographical District |
No. of Discontinued Cases (ha) |
No. of Regularised Cases (ha) |
| North West New Territories |
174 (45.16) |
125 (54.23) |
| North East New Territories |
56 (10.26) |
9 (1.26) |
| Sai Kung |
6 (2) |
--- |
| Islands |
1 (0.01) |
--- |
| Total |
237 (57.43) |
134 (55.49) |
As at December 31, 2009, enforcement actions were being taken on 471 UDs. The geographical distribution of these UDs (with land area involved) by type is shown in Table 2 while Table 3 indicates the percentage of UDs by type.
Table 2 Number of Unauthorised Developments Enforced (with Land Area involved) by Geographical District and Type as at December 31, 2009
| Geographical District |
General Open Storage (ha) |
Filling of Land / Pond (ha) |
Container Storage / Container Trailer Park (ha) |
Car Park (ha) |
Workshop (ha) |
Others (ha) |
Total
(ha) |
| North West New Territories |
126(23.4) |
49(20.2) |
26(32.1) |
33(6.5) |
21(2.2) |
59(16.2) |
314(100.6) |
| North East New Territories |
81(8.8) |
36(10.9) |
1(0.2) |
13(1.5) |
3(0.5) |
9(5.3) |
143(27.2) |
| Sai Kung |
4(1.3) |
8(4.1) |
--- |
--- |
--- |
2(0.1) |
14(5.5) |
| Islands |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
| Total |
211(33.5) |
93(35.2) |
27(32.3) |
46(8.0) |
24(2.7) |
70(21.6) |
471(133.3) |
Table 3 Distribution of Unauthorised Developments by Type as at December 31, 2009
| Type |
Percentage |
| General Open Storage |
45% |
| Filling of Land / Pond |
20% |
| Container Storage / Container Trailer Park |
5% |
| Car Park |
10% |
| Workshop |
5% |
| Others |
15% |
| Total |
100% |
In 2009, 3 391 warning letters/reminders, 2 191 enforcement notices, 309 reinstatement notices, 4 stop notices and 1 535 compliance notices were issued to responsible persons of UDs. Table 4 shows the number of warning letters/reminders and notices issued in different districts.
Table 4 Number of Warning Letters / Reminders and Notices Issued in 2009 by Geographical District
| Geographical District |
Warning Letter/Reminder (No. of Cases) |
Enforcement Notice (No. of Cases) |
Reinstatement Notice (No. of Cases) |
Stop Notice (No. of Cases) |
Compliance Notice (No. of Cases) |
| North West New Territories |
2 630(381) |
1 850(222) |
193(36) |
3(3) |
1 204(170) |
| North East New Territories |
739(167) |
324(67) |
109(25) |
1(1) |
317(59) |
| Sai Kung |
22(12) |
17(7) |
7(3) |
--- |
14(3) |
| Islands |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
--- |
| Total |
3 391(560) |
2 191(296) |
309(64) |
4(4) |
1 535(232) |
On prosecution action, 142 summonses in respect of 58 cases were laid in 2009. 88 defendants in respect of 39 cases were convicted under section 23(6) of the Town Planning Ordinance (the Ordinance) for non-compliance with notices issued by the Planning Authority. Three defendants in respect of three cases were convicted under sections 20(7) and 20(8) of the Ordinance for undertaking/continuing UDs. Table 5 gives a summary of the number of defendants convicted with fines in 2009.
Table 5 Number of Defendants Convicted with Fines in 2009
| Convicted Under |
No. of Defendants Convicted |
No. of Cases |
Range of Fine Per Defendant |
Average Fine Per Defendant |
| s.23(6) |
88 |
39 |
$500 - $60,000 |
$9,682 |
| s.20(7) & s.20(8) |
3 |
3 |
$20,000 - $25,000 |
$23,333 |
| Total |
91 |
42 |
--- |
--- |
|
