Currently, there is no outdoor karting track in
The karting
track will be managed by the Project Proponent and oversee by the Hong Kong
Kart Club (HKKC). HKKC is a member
of the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, as well as
one of the sporting organizations under the subvention of the Leisure and
Cultural Services Department.
The Project is classified as a Designated
Project by virtue of Item O.4 of Part I of Schedule 2 (ie
a motor racing circuit) under the Environmental
Impact Assessment Ordinance (Cap. 499) (EIAO).
The main objective of
this Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study is to provide information on
the nature and extent of potential environmental impacts arising from the
construction and operation of the proposed Project and related activities
taking place concurrently. The
criteria and guidelines stipulated in the EIAO-TM, the EIA Study Brief, and
other relevant legislation, polices, and guidelines
are adopted in carrying out this EIA Study. To address the environmental concerns
associated with the proposed karting track, the EIA
study has made reference to the operation of an existing karting
track located in
The EIA provides a
detailed assessment of the potential environmental impacts associated with the
Project, in relation to the issues specified in the EIA Study Brief (No. ESB-135/2005), including air quality, noise, water quality, waste, land contamination
and landscape and visual.
The Project site is located at various lots in D.D.134, Lung Kwu Sheung Tan, Tuen Mun.
Location of the site is shown in Figure 2.1. The
total site area is about 1.8 ha. The
proposed site is currently dominated by wasteland and only very minor site levelling will
be required. No slope cutting or
major site formation is required as part of the construction and no
superstructure will be constructed within the site. An existing village house within the site
boundary will be used as an office for the karting track
and four units of mobile toilets will be provided at the site together with
thirteen containers to be used as maintenance and storage area for the petrol
kart. The proposed site layout plan
is shown in Figure
2.2.
The facilities required at the proposed karting
track are
as described in Section 2.1. All the construction activities will be
restricted within the Project Area. As discussed in Section 2.1, no
slope cutting or major site formation is required and the construction work on
site is minimal and will not result in adverse impacts to the environment.
The main activities and construction sequence are:
·
Site levelling and associated drainage
work;
·
Compacting;
·
Track paving works; and
·
Fence installation.
The proposed karting track
is for sporting purposes and can only be used by members of the HKKC. The karting track
will not be opened to the general public for recreational uses. A kart driving licence, issue by the HKKC,
is required for driving the petrol karts and the proposed track will hold a
maximum of 200 visitors with about 20 staffs. No on-site parking facility is provided at
the proposed karting track. To control the number of visitors, a shuttle bus service would be provided
for the visitors. A 45-person bus
would run between Tuen Mun Town
Centre and the karting track every hour.
The proposed karting track
is for running with petrol karts. To
operate any karting track, the design of the karting track must satisfy the international safety
standard for kart racing. The karting track will operate from Monday to Sunday with
operating hours from 09:30 to 19:00. A maximum of 40 karts would be allowed on the track for
training or rental run and 34 karts for match. Each run would not last more than 30 minutes
including kart running time and break time between each run. The karts to be running on the track are powered
by Rotax Max FR125 2-stroke single cylinder engines
with displacement of 125 c.c. The fuel tank capacity of the kart is small,
i.e., about 3 litres, and re-fuelling will be required once or twice a day. The re-fuelling will be undertaken on
site using a hand pump. Only
limited quantities of petrol, a standard 18 litre safety petrol tank, will be
stored on site. Only minor
maintenance works will be conducted on-site, which may include the use of
lubricants, chain oil, and brake cleaner. If any engine maintenance works are
required, the kart vehicle will be transport to a garage.
The construction
of the Project is expected to be completed in two months. All the construction activities are expected
to be undertaken during normal working hours (ie Monday to
Saturday, from 07:00 to 19:00 hours). No restricted hour works are anticipated.
The nature and extent
of the environmental impacts associated with the construction and operation
phases of the Project are summarised below. Specific mitigation measures for the Project
have been developed during this EIA. The Implementation Schedule of the
recommended measures is presented in Table 10.1 of the EIA Report.
Given the small scale of the construction
works , the dust impact at ASRs is minimal. In addition, due to the small scale of
site area, the number of construction plant operating on site is limited,
therefore, the gaseous emissions from the construction equipment is minimal and
no adverse impact is anticipated.
In view of the limited emissions from
karts on tracks and separation distances between ASR and tracks, air quality impact
is not expected. Since the number
of shuttle bus running between the karting track and Tuen Mun Centre is limited, the
air quality impacts due to additional traffic arising from karting
track would not be anticipated. Besides,
with the proper handling of petrol stores and re-fuelling and regular
maintenance of karts, no odour nuisance is expected.
Based on the impact assessment,
no EM&A measures are required.
Due
to the large separation distances, unmitigated construction activities
associated with the Project will not cause adverse noise impact at the NSRs. The
predicted construction noise levels are in the range of 35 – 37 dB(A), which complied with the stipulated noise criterion.
Based
on the worst case scenario by adopting a maximum sound pressure level of 98
dB(A) at 1 m for 13-kart movement, the predicted facade noise levels for a
maximum of 40-kart event is well below the daytime noise criterion of 55 dB(A)
at all NSRs located at more than 1km from the site
boundary.
Based
on the impact assessment, no EM&A measures are required.
Given the small scale of the construction
works, short duration of construction period and no identified WSRs within the study area, water quality impacts are negligible
and minimal during construction phase of the Project.
For the operation of karting, the main concern is the water quality impact may be
caused by the servicing and petrol re-fuelling activities. Nevertheless, the surface runoff can be well
controlled by adoption of a proper drainage system with peripheral channel and
petrol interceptor. Addition to the
proper handling of petrol tank and re-fuelling and regular maintenance of karts,
no adverse water quality impacts are anticipated.
Based on the impact assessment,
no EM&A measures are required.
The anticipated quantities of C&D
materials to be generated from site clearance and building renovation, and
chemical wastes, sewage and general refuse to be generated during both the construction
and operational phases will be minimal. Minimal residual impacts are anticipated from
the construction and operation of the karting track.
Given the small scale of the construction
works, short duration of construction period and minimal use of heavy-duty
construction machinery, fuel and oils, land contamination impacts are
negligible during construction phase of the Project
For the operation of the Project,
the main concern is the potential land contaminations caused by the karting activities, servicing, repairing and oil filling activities.
Nevertheless, all the above
activities will be carried out on paved areas. Any leakage can be well controlled by secondary
containments or a proper drainage system with peripheral channel and petrol
interceptor. With consideration of
the infrequent refuelling activities and the minimal amount of fuel handled
each time, as well as proper handling of petrol tank, precaution on refuelling
activities and regular maintenance of karts, no adverse impacts on land
contamination are anticipated.
Based on the impact assessment,
no EM&A measures are required.
Given that the proposed karting track is selected to be located within a remote and
shielded area, the proposed karting track would be only
visible from limited viewpoints, including the transient road users along
The EIA has critically
assessed the overall acceptability of any environmental impacts likely to arise
as a result of the construction and operation of the proposed karting track.
This EIA Study
has predicted that the Project will comply with all environmental standards and
legislation and thus demonstrated the acceptability of any residual impacts
from the Project and the protection of the population and environmentally
sensitive receivers. The Study
concluded that there would be no adverse long term or cumulative effects/impacts
on the environment.