Govt mulls pre-sale of land to speed up NT development
The government on Monday said it is considering the idea of pre-selling industrial and IT plots in the New Territories to try to speed up development.  In a Ta Kung Pao interview, Development Secretary Bernadette Linn said some 200 hectares of brownfield sites have to be resumed and cleared by the end of 2026 and resettling their operators will be a major challenge.  The minister said she can't rule out using some green belt land for the resettlement, even if that would not be a popular move. Linn also said that rather than following the current practice of waiting for site formation works to be completed before putting plots out to tender, the bidding process could be launched a year or two earlier. Preliminary works such as plan designs and financing could then take place in parallel to the site formation, she said. "Before works begin, [developers] have to draw up design plans and prepare for finances, so a pre-sale period of one or two years is about right. If it's more than two years it may not be easy [to get a successful bid]," Ta Kung Pao quoted her as saying. Linn said the new arrangement could be adopted for the San Tin Technopole and multi-storey industrial buildings. The government has already invited interested parties to submit letters of intent for an 11-hectare plot earmarked for multi-storey industrial buildings, with the aim of starting the bidding process by the end of the year.