'Expediting land development won't pre-empt Legco'
Development Secretary Bernadette Linn said on Saturday that a proposal to streamline a series of land development procedures would not lead to Legco being pre-empted in approving projects.  Speaking on RTHK, the minister said that, in her experience, if lawmakers don't want the government to proceed with a project they will voice their opposition years before a funding request is tabled.  "Experience tells us that by the time we approach Legco's finance committee for funding to proceed with the works... by that stage, which is a rather final stage, normally the concerns of the Legco members will be on technical details like whether we have sufficient facilities to support the new population, whether the timing of the whole construction schedule is reasonable and whether we have done our best to respond to the concerns of the local residents affected," she said.  "Normally, if Legco members really do not want the government to proceed with a certain development project requiring resumption. they will actually voice out their concerns years before we proceed to that stage of seeking funding approval." The government has tabled an amendment bill covering six ordinances, saying the time needed to turn plots of land into “spade-ready” sites can be slashed from six to four years.