The Bills Committee on Northern Metropolis Development Bill has completed its scrutiny after 12 meetings totalling nearly 30 hours. The bill remains under consideration in the Legislative Council, where its second reading is due to resume on 11 November.
The bill is intended to simplify land-planning and land-administration procedures. Its measures include streamlining town-planning processes, speeding up compensation after land resumption and simplifying applications for construction-noise permits.
Committee chair Priscilla Leung Mei-fun said the bill focuses on those procedures and does not cover tax incentives or low-altitude-economy policy. The committee has asked the government for a comprehensive explanation of how the dedicated law works alongside existing territory-wide laws and policies, for the public, overseas investors and people considering entering the Northern Metropolis. Commercial Radio reported that the government submitted a draft explanatory document to the committee in mid-October.
The committee will propose wording or content changes to 18 of the bill’s 25 main clauses and to two headings, affecting 106 clause numbers, Leung said.
Some works using new technologies or construction methods could receive exemptions under the bill, the committee’s deputy chair said. A future review panel would assess projects on factors including quality, function or sustainability, with safety to be ensured.
If the bill passes second reading, it will go to a committee of the whole Council. After that committee’s report is adopted, the bill can proceed to third reading.