The Development Bureau announced today that the Government has reached agreement with the Mass Transit Railway Corporation on the in-situ land exchange for the housing development at the Siu Ho Wan Depot site and the proposed Oyster Bay Station.

The bureau said the pact signifies that the development project will be entering the construction stage and will provide about 20,000 public and private housing units upon completion.

The 30-hectare Siu Ho Wan Depot site, a large-scale railway maintenance depot on the Tung Chung Line, was rezoned, as announced in the 2020 Policy Address, with potential to provide about 2,000 housing units, of which around half of them will be subsidised sale flats.

The Government's vision is to make good use of the depot site through comprehensive planning to develop a new community with public and private housing, a shopping arcade, community facilities and a waterfront promenade. In support of this development, the MTRC will construct Oyster Bay Station, a new railway station on the Tung Chung Line.

The bureau explained that the Government and the MTRC have been working at full steam to take forward the project. Various development procedures were executed concurrently, including the preparation of the layout plan for seeking planning permission, gazettal of road works and the railway scheme, detailed design and handling the in-situ land exchange required for Oyster Bay Station's development and project agreement.

After two years of hard work, the preparatory work for the project is near completion. The Lands Department will execute the land exchange documents with the MTRC shortly and the corporation will dispose of the first development package by tender as early as possible within this financial year, the bureau added.

The development of the Siu Ho Wan Depot site involves the MTRC’s in-situ revamp of the depot layout to allow construction of a deck over the depot and the development of private residential buildings and related facilities atop, and timely handover of the land parcels for public housing to the Housing Authority for constructing public residential buildings.

The project is a challenging one as the depot conversion works and topside development will proceed in parallel and in the process, normal railway operations have to be maintained throughout, the bureau emphasised.

As the depot will be converted in stages, the housing development project will be completed in four phases. Phase 1, with a total of around 6,000 public and private housing units, is expected to be gradually completed with population intake from 2030 to 2032. The new railway station is expected to complete construction and be ready for commissioning in 2030 to cater for the first population intake.

The bureau stressed that the depot's development demonstrates the Government's determination in creating more land and it will continue its multipronged approach to find land from diversified sources to increase land and housing supply.

The MTRC applied to the Government for lease modification by way of an in-situ land exchange and is required to pay land premium at full market value. The premium amount is assessed in accordance with the established mechanism applicable to lease modifications in general, taking into account the land use before and after the modification and the costs for development.

The Transport & Logistics Bureau has signed a project agreement with the MTRC to take forward the proposed Oyster Bay Station through the ownership approach under which the corporation will be responsible for the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the railway station.

The MTRC accepted the binding basic terms offer issued by the Lands Department for the in-situ land exchange. The formalities for the execution of the lease modification documents is expected to be completed within a few months.

Upon registration of the relevant documents at the Land Registry, the land transaction record will be uploaded to the department’s webpage for public inspection.