Table of Contents
9. IMPACT ON CULTURAL HERITAGE.. 9-1
9.1 Introduction. 9-1
9.2 Environmental Legislations and Standards. 9-1
9.3 Assessment Criteria and Methodology. 9-3
9.4 Results of the Desk-Based Study. 9-4
9.5 Impact Assessment 9-5
9.6 Recommended Mitigation Measures. 9-6
9.7 Environmental Monitoring and Audit 9-6
9.8 Conclusion. 9-6
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 9-1 Assessment Areas
for Cultural Heritage
9.
IMPACT ON CULTURAL HERITAGE
9.1.1
The EIA Study Brief for the
Project requires a Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment (CHIA) including a Built
Heritage Impact Assessment (BHIA). This BHIA requires to identify known and
unknown built heritage items within the Assessment Area that maybe affected by
the Project, assess the potential direct and indirect impacts on these
identified built heritage, and recommend mitigation measures where required
during construction and operation phases.
9.2.1
The following legislations and
guidelines are applicable to the assessment of cultural heritage impacts in
Hong Kong:
· Antiquities and Monuments
Ordinance (Cap. 53)
· Environmental Impact Assessment
Ordinance (EIAO) (Cap. 499)
· Technical Memorandum on the
Environmental Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM)
· Guidance Notes on Assessment of
Impact on Site of Cultural Heritage in Environmental Impact Assessment Studies (GN-CH)
· Hong Kong Planning Standards and
Guidelines (HKPSG)
· Guidelines for Cultural Heritage
Impact Assessment
· Development Bureau Technical
Circular (Works) No. 6/2009: Heritage Impact Assessment Mechanism for Capital
Works Projects
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap. 53)
9.2.2
The Antiquities and Monuments
Ordinance (the Ordinance) provides the statutory framework to provide for the
preservation of objects of historical, archaeological and paleontological
interest. The Ordinance contains the statutory procedures for the Declaration
of Monuments. The proposed monument can be any place, building, site or
structure, which is considered to be of public interest by reason of its
historical archaeological or paleontological significance.
9.2.3
Under
Section 6 and subject to sub-section (4) of the Ordinance, the following acts
are prohibited in relation to certain monuments, except under permit:
· To excavate, carry on building
works, plant or fell trees or deposit earth or refuse on or in a proposed
monument or monument; and
· To demolish, remove, obstruct,
deface or interfere with a proposed monument or monument.
EIAO, EIAO-TM and GN-CH
9.2.4
The Environmental Impact
Assessment Ordinance (EIAO) (Cap.499) was implemented on 1 April 1998. Its
purpose is to avoid, minimise and control the adverse impact of designated
projects on the environment, through the application of the EIA process and the
Environmental Permit (EP) system.
9.2.5
The general criteria and
guidelines for evaluating and assessing impacts to sites of cultural heritage
are listed in Annexes 10 and 19 of the Technical Memorandum on Environmental
Impact Assessment Process (EIAO-TM). It is stated in Annex 10 that all adverse
impacts to sites of cultural heritage should be kept to an absolute minimum and
that the general presumption of impact assessment should be in favour of the
protection and conservation of all sites of cultural heritage. Annex 19
provides the details of scope and methodology for undertaking Cultural Heritage
Impact Assessment, including baseline study, impact assessment and mitigation
measures. No quantitative standard for determining the relative importance of
sites of cultural heritage, but in general, sites of unique, archaeological,
historical or architectural should be considered as highly significant.
9.2.6
The Guidance Notes on
Assessment of Impact on Site of Cultural Heritage in Environmental Impact
Assessment Studies (GN-CH) serves as a reference to assist the understanding of
the requirements set out in Section 2 of Annex 10 and Annex 19 of the EIAO-TM
in assessing impact on sites of cultural heritage in EIA studies.
Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG)
9.2.7
Chapter 10 of the HKPSG details
the planning principles for conservation of natural landscape and habitats,
historical buildings and archaeological sites. The document states that
heritage conservation is the protection of monuments, historical, buildings,
archaeological sites and other antiquities, and in a wider sense implies
respect for local activities, customs and traditions. The guidelines state that the concept of
conservation of heritage features, should not be restricted to individual
structures, but should endeavour to embrace the setting of the feature or
features in both urban and rural settings.
Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment
9.2.8
The Guideline is issued by the
Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO). It assists the understanding of the
requirements in assessing impact on archaeological and built heritage, and
outlines the specific technical requirements for conducting a built heritage
impact assessments and is based upon the requirements of the EIAO-TM. The
guidelines include the parameters and scope for the baseline study,
specifically on desk-based research and field evaluation. There are also included
guidelines encompassing reporting requirements and archive preparation and
submission in the form of Guidelines for
Archaeological Reports and guidelines for the Handling of Archaeological Finds
and Archives. It is also in Appendix H-1 of the EIA Study Brief for the
Project.
9.2.9
The prerequisite conditions for
conducting impact assessment and mitigation measures are presented in details
including the prediction and evaluation of impacts based upon five levels of
significance (beneficial, acceptable, acceptable with mitigation measures,
unacceptable and undetermined). The guidelines also state that preservation in
totality must be taken as the first priority and if this is not feasible due to
site constraints or other factors, full justification must be provided.
9.2.10
Appropriate mitigation measures
will be proposed in cases with identified impacts and shall have the aim of
minimising the degree of adverse impact. The responsibility for the
implementation of any proposed mitigation measures must be clearly stated with
details of when and where the measures will be implemented and by which party.
Development Bureau Technical Circular (Works) No. 6/2009:
Heritage Impact Assessment Mechanism for Capital Works Projects
9.2.12
The identification of the
heritage sites shall be undertaken at the earliest possible stage, preferably
as part of the Technical Feasibility Statement. If the works boundary cannot be
defined at this stage, the checklist shall be provided as soon as the project boundary
has been defined. Upon receipt of the above information from the works agent,
the AMO will determine if the proposed project will affect the heritage value
of any heritage site and decide the necessity of conducting a Heritage Impact
Assessment (HIA) based upon the submitted information.
9.2.13
If a HIA is required, the works
agent shall submit a proposal for the scope of the HIA for AMO approval. Once
the scope has been approved it will be the responsibility of the works agent to
conduct the HIA.
9.3.1
The investigation of the
cultural heritage of the area follows the approach that is identified in the
EIAO-TM and the Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment as set out
in the EIA Study Brief of this Project. As stated in the Study Brief, the CHIA
shall include areas within a distance of 50 meters from the site boundary of
the Project, associated works, supporting facilities and essential
infrastructures (hereinafter “Assessment Area”). It is also mentioned that only
BHIA shall be included in this Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment.
9.3.2
In addition to the
desk-based study, a field visit was carried out along the alignment and within
the Assessment Area. This approach minimises the likelihood of any features of
cultural heritage interest being overlooked.
9.3.3
Features which fall within the
scope of built heritage resources include:
· All declared monuments;
· All proposed monuments;
· All building/structure/ sites
graded or proposed to be graded by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB);
· Government historic sites
identified by AMO;
· Buildings/structures/ sites of
high architectural/historical significance and interest which are not included
in items mentioned above; and
· Cultural landscapes included
places associated with historic event, activity, or person or exhibiting other
cultural or aesthetic values, such as sacred religious sites, battlefields, a
setting for buildings or structures of architectural or archaeological
importance, historic field patterns, clan graves, old tracks, fung shui woodlands and pons, and
etc.
9.3.4
The definitions of gradings are adopted by the Antiquities Advisory Board and
the AMO for the preservation of historic buildings. The classification has
three gradings:
Grade 1: Buildings of outstanding merit, which every
effort should be made to preserve if possible.
Grade 2: Buildings of special merit; efforts should
be made t selectively preserve.
Grade 3: Buildings of some merit; preservation in
some form would be desirable and alternative means could be considered if
preservation is not practicable.
Baseline Study
Desk-Based Study
9.3.5
A desk-based study was
conducted to reveal all published information available in the public domain.
The information sources include the following:
· List of Proposed and Declared
Monuments as issued by the AMO;
· List of Graded and Proposed Graded
Historic Buildings as issued by the AMO;
· Publications on relevant
historical, anthropological and other cultural studies;
· Unpublished archival, papers, records;
collection and libraries of tertiary institutions;
· Cartographic and pictorial
documentation;
· Relevant information from AMO’s
website; and
· Previous Archaeological Impact
Assessment, Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment and / or Approved EIA Studies
conducted within the study area.
Site Visit
9.3.6
A Site Visit along the Project
alignment and within the Assessment Area was conducted to note the current
condition of the previously recorded resources and also the record resources
not included in the previous studies, hence, to fill the information gap in the
desk-based study.
9.3.7
The scope of built heritage
resources included in this Study follows the requirements of the Guidelines for
Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment as issued by the AMO. These include proposed
and declared monuments, proposed and graded historic buildings and government
historic sites, all pre-1950 buildings and structures and selected post-1950
buildings and structures of high architectural and historical significance and
interest were identified and recorded.
Impact Assessment and Mitigation Recommendations
9.3.8
Prediction and identification
of both direct and indirect impacts that may affect the built heritage
resources within the Assessment Area was undertaken. Preservation in-situ
should always be the first priority for sites of cultural heritage. If
preservation in totality is not possible, mitigation would be proposed to
minimise the degree of adverse impact to the greatest possible extent. As well,
any disturbance to sites of cultural heritage that may cause physical damage
should be avoided wherever possible through alteration of design, construction
method or protective measures as appropriate.
9.4.1
As stated in the EIA Study
Brief, the Assessment Area for the built heritage impact assessment is 50m from
the Project site boundary (including works area), as shown in Figure 9-1. Based on the desk-based
study, there are no proposed or declared monuments, government historic sites,
historic building nor built heritage resources within the Assessment Area. The
nearest identified built heritage resources are the Tin Hau Temple near Ha Kwai
Chung Tsuen and the Tang Ancestral Hall at Ha Kwai Chung Tsuen. Both of them
are nil grade and are about 400m and 600m from the Project
boundary respectively as shown in Figure
9-1.
Level of Impact
9.5.1
According to the Guidelines for
Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment, the evaluation of the impacts on heritage
resources affected by the proposed development is classified into five levels
of significance/level based on type and extent of the effect:
· Beneficial impact: the impact is
beneficial if the project will enhance the preservation of the heritage
site(s);
· Acceptable impact: if the
assessment indicates that there will be no significant effects on the heritage
site(s);
· Acceptable impact with mitigation
measures: if there will be some adverse effects, but these can be eliminated,
reduced or offset to a large extent by specific measures, such as conduct a
follow-up Conservation Proposal or Conservation Management Plan for the
affected heritage site(s) before commencement of work in order to avoid any
inappropriate and unnecessary interventions to the buildings;
· Unacceptable impact: if the
adverse effects are considered to be too excessive and are unable to mitigate
practically;
· Undetermined impact: if the
significant adverse effects are likely, but the extent to which they may occur
or may be mitigated cannot be determined from the study. Further detailed study
will be required for the specific effects in question.
9.5.2
The impacts were assessed for
both the construction and operation phases with the potential sources of
impacts are discussed in the following sections. A proposal with details for
the mitigation measures and monitoring of impacts on built heritage shall be
submitted to AMO for comments before commencement of work, if considered
necessary.
Construction Phase
9.5.3
Any heritage resources, located
in close proximity to the Project may be impacted through:
· Direct impact to historical (e.g.
demolition) and sites of terrestrial archaeological potential (e.g.
excavation);
· Indirect vibration impact on
historical buildings due to drilling and piling activities during construction
phase that may lead to the structural damage or interference of normal
activities; and
· Indirect visual impact to
historical buildings due to construction works e.g. excavation works at
surface.
Operation
Phase
9.5.4
Impacts on sites of cultural
heritage during operation phase of the Project includes indirect visual impact
associated with alteration in surrounding environment of the historical
structures due to the vehicular traffic noise at the above-ground structures of
the Project.
Evaluation of Potential Impacts
Construction
Phase
Direct Impact
9.5.5
During construction phase, no
direct impact is expected as none of the historic buildings / structures are
located within the Assessment Area.
Indirect Impact
9.5.6
During construction phase, no
indirect impact is expected as none of the historic buildings / structures are
located within the Assessment Area.
9.5.7
Temporary visual impact would
not be anticipated since no built heritage resource was identified within the
Assessment Area. For the nearest built
heritage resource, ie. Tin Hau Temple near Ha Kwai Chung Tsuen (nil
grade) and Tang Ancestral Hall at Ha Kwai Chung Tsuen (nil grade), they are
distanced away from the construction site (approx. 400m and 600m from the
Project boundary respectively), and the associated views to the Project site
are highly disturbed / blocked by the surrounding developments such as the
existing road network (both at grade and elevated) and / or the surrounding
buildings/structures/development (e.g. Kwai Chung Road and the existing Tsuen
Wan Road etc.) as shown in Figure 9-1.
Operation Phase
9.5.8
No impact is expected as none
of the historic building / structure is located within the Assessment Area.
9.5.9
Similar to the discussion in Section 9.5.7, no visual impact would be anticipated as the closest identified
built heritages are located over 50m from the Project site and the associated
views to the Project site are highly disturbed / blocked by the road networks
(both at grade and elevated) and / or the surrounding
building/structures/development as shown in Figure 9-1.
9.6.1
No adverse built heritage
impact associated with the Project during both construction and operation
phases would be anticipated. Therefore, no mitigation measures for cultural
heritage would be required.
9.7.1
No mitigation measures are
recommended and, therefore, no EM&A is required. As a precautionary measure, the AMO shall be informed
immediately in case of discovery of antiquities or supposed antiquities within
the project boundary.
9.8.1
No cultural heritage resource
was identified within the Assessment Area of the Project. No impacts to
cultural heritage are expected to be anticipated during both construction and
operational phases of the Project and no mitigation measures would be
required.