11 Built Heritage Impact Assessment
11.2 Environmental Legislations, Standards and
Guidelines
11.5 Evaluation of Potential Impact on Built
Heritage Resources
11.7 Evaluation of Residual Impact
11.8 Environmental Monitoring and Audit
11
Built
Heritage Impact Assessment
11.1.1
According to the EIA Study
Brief No. ESB-258/2013 of this Project, the cultural heritage impact assessment
shall include a Built Heritage Impact Assessment (BHIA). A BHIA has thus been
undertaken to provide information on the nature and extent of built heritage
impacts arising from both construction and operation of the Project and related
activities that take place concurrently. This assessment is to identify any
negative impacts on built heritage resources and to propose measures to
mitigate these impacts.
11.2
Environmental Legislations, Standards
and Guidelines
11.2.1
Legislations, Standards and Guidelines
relevant to the consideration of Cultural Heritage Impact of the Project
include the following:
l Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
(Cap. 499);
l Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance (Cap.
53);
l Assessment of 1444 Historic Buildings;
l Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact
Assessment; and
l Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines
(HKPSG).
Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance
11.2.2
According to the Environmental
Impact Assessment Ordinance (EIAO), Schedule 1 – Interpretation, "site of
cultural heritage" means an antiquity or monument, whether being a place,
building, site or structure or a relic, as defined in the Antiquities and
Monuments Ordinance (Cap. 53) and any place, building, site, or structure or a
relic identified by the Antiquities and Monuments Office to be of
archaeological, historical or paleontological significance.
11.2.3
Annex 10 and Annex 19 of
the Technical Memorandum (TM) on Environmental Impact Assessment Process under
the EIAO are relevant in assessing impact on sites of cultural heritage in EIA
Studies.
11.2.4
Annex 10 of the TM has set
out the criteria for assessing impact on sites of cultural heritage, which
include
(i) The general presumption in favour of the
protection and conservation of all sites of cultural heritage because they
provide an essential, finite and irreplaceable link between the past and the
future and are points of reference and identity for culture and tradition.
(ii) Adverse impacts on sites of cultural
heritage shall be kept to the absolute minimum.
11.2.5
Annex 19 of the TM stated
the guidelines for assessment of impact on sites of cultural heritage. In general, historical or architectural value
of sites of cultural heritage will be considered in deciding the relative
importance of these sites. A baseline
study shall be conducted and the best information shall be assembled for the
assessment of the identified sites of cultural heritage.
11.2.6
Guidance Notes for the
Assessment of Impact on Sites of Cultural Heritage in Environmental Impact
Assessment Studies has set out the details and assisted the understanding of
the requirements under Annex 10 and Annex 19 of the TM.
Antiquities and Monuments Ordinance
11.2.7
The Antiquities and
Monuments Ordinance (A&MO) is provided for the preservation of objects of
historical, archaeological and paleontological interest and for matters
ancillary thereto or connected therewith.
It provides statutory protection to proposed monuments, declared
monuments and antiquities, it also establishes the statutory procedures for the
declaration of monuments and proposed monuments.
Assessment of 1444 Historic Buildings
11.2.8
The Assessment of 1444
Historic Buildings was announced by the Antiquities Advisory Board (AAB) in
March 2009. In the Assessment, proposed grading was given to identified
historic buildings to reflect their value in historical interest, architectural
merit, group value, social value and local interest, authenticity, and rarity. Since 2009, the AAB has been working on
confirming the grading of the historic buildings and also considering the
heritage value and grading of the new items proposed by the public for
assessment. The updated list of
graded/proposed graded historic buildings can be found at
“http://www.aab.gov.hk/en/aab.php”.
11.2.9
The grading proposed to the
identified historic buildings is based on a grading system with the definition
of grading as follows:
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 to 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.
11.2.10 It is an administrative guideline adopted by AAB and Antiquities and
Monuments Office (AMO) for the preservation of historic buildings with no legal
effect.
Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment
11.2.11 The Guidelines for Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment is included as
Appendix I-1 of the EIA Study Brief No. ESB-258/2013 of this Project which set
out the detailed requirements in assessing impact on built heritage.
Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines
11.2.12 Under the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines, Chapter 10 –
Conservation, it provides some standards and guidelines for the conservation of
Declared Monuments, Historic Buildings, Sites of Archaeological Interest and
Other Heritage Items from the planning perspective.
Proposed Works
(i) Provision of
village sewerage to the unsewered areas of Po Toi O. The works involve construction of about 800m
of gravity sewers and 400m of rising mains;
(iii) Construction
of a submarine outfall of about 385m in length.
Built Heritage Impact Assessment Study Area
11.3.2.
As the scale and impact of the proposed works
is relatively localised, the Study Area for Built Heritage Impact Assessment (BHIA) is defined as 50m
from the work boundary of the Project, supporting facilities and essential
infrastructures. The BHIA Study Area is
shown in Figure 11.1.
Methodology
Desktop Research
Field Survey
(i)
All declared monuments;
(ii)
All proposed monuments:
(iii)
All buildings/ structures/
sites graded or proposed to be graded by the AAB;
(iv)
Government historic sites
identified by AMO;
(v)
Buildings/ structures/
sites of high architectural / historical significance and interest which are
not included in items (i) to (iv) above; and
(vi)
Cultural landscapes include
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 ponds, and etc.
11.3.6.
A field scan of all the built heritage
resources with photographic recording was carried out. Historical and architectural appraisal of the
built heritage resources is included in Appendix 11.2 and key plan showing the identified built
heritage resources is provided in Figure 11.2.
Impact Assessment
(i)
Preservation in totality of
the built heritage features should be taken as the first priority.
(ii)
If, due to site constraints
and other factors, only preservation in part is possible, this must be fully
justified with alternative proposals or layout designs which confirm the
impracticability of total preservation;
(iii)
Total destruction must be
taken as the very last resort in all cases and shall only be recommended with a
meticulous and careful analysis balancing the interest of preserving the
historical, architectural and other cultural values as against that of the
community as a whole.
(i)
Impact on its settings
which impinge on its character through inappropriate siting or design; and
(ii)
Indirect damage to the
physical fabric of historic buildings or historic landscapes through mechanical
vibration.
Reporting
Historical Background
11.4.1.
Po Toi O (布袋澳)
is a small fishing village at the Southern part of Clear Water Bay Peninsula,
Sai Kung, New Territories. The village
is situated at a bay shaped like a sack, thus named Po Toi (meaning a
"sack"). Two historical maps
showing Po Toi O are appended in Appendix 11.1,
these are the oldest map available in the Hong Kong Public Libraries. It showed that the shoreline of Po Toi O is
more or less the same as today.
11.4.3.
There is a Tin Hau Temple at Joss House Bay, a
Grade 1 historic building, it is also called Tai Miu (大廟)
as it is the largest scale Tin Hau Temple in Hong Kong. Nearby, there is also a Rock Inscription from
the Song Dynasty which is a Declared Monument.
Built Heritage Resources
Table 11-1: Summary of Identified Built Heritage
Resources in the Built Heritage Impact Assessment Study Area
Type |
Coding |
Number |
Declared Monument |
(DM) |
Nil |
Proposed Monument |
(Proposed DM) |
Nil |
Graded Historic Buildings |
(GB) |
1 |
Proposed Graded Historic Buildings |
(PG) |
Nil |
Government Historic Sites |
(GHS) |
Nil |
Built Heritages |
(BH) |
2 |
Cultural Landscape Features |
(LF) |
6 |
11.4.9.
Brief information about the identified built
heritage are set out in Table 11-2 below and details with photos are
provided in Appendix 11.2.
Table 11-2: Brief Information of the Identified Built
Heritage Resources
Graded Historic Buildings |
||
GB01 |
Hung Shing Temple |
A temple with over 350 years. Built with
grey bricks with pitched roof and attached with a Communal Hall. |
Built Heritages |
||
BH01 |
Sir Ho Tung
Recreation Centre |
One storey concrete structure |
BH02 |
House 10, Po Toi O Village |
Village house in poor condition with
temporary supports |
Cultural Landscape Features |
||
LF01 |
Grave of Ms Shek |
A simple gravestone sitting under the
shade of trees next to the carriageway |
LF02 |
Shrine |
A box like concrete structure with metal
gate |
LF03 |
Earth God Shrine |
A shrine on a platform |
LF04 |
Earth God Shrine |
Modern structure in traditional Chinese
Temple style |
LF05 |
Earth God Shrine |
Modern structure in traditional Chinese
Temple style |
LF06 |
Sea God Shrine |
Three shrines in modern style are grouped
together with an altar in the front. |
11.5
Evaluation of Potential Impact on
Built Heritage Resources
Table 11-3: Impact
Assessment in Construction Stage
Site Code |
Site Name |
Figure No. |
Approximate distance from the
works boundary (m) |
Impact assessment |
Graded Historic Buildings |
||||
GB01 |
Hung Shing Temple |
11.2 |
2.5 |
In general, the alignment will run at a
distance away from the Temple to avoid adverse impact. At the nearest point, the proposed works
boundary is less than 3m from the Temple, there is potential to be affected
by mechanical vibration. Public access
to the Temple should not be affected. |
Built Heritage |
||||
BH01 |
Sir Ho Tung
Recreation Centre |
11.2 |
13.5 |
This structure is at a distance from the
proposed works and should not be affected. |
BH02 |
House 10, Po Toi O Village |
11.2 |
0 |
The house is in poor condition and the
front façade is currently supported by temporary steel frame. The house shall not be directly affected by
the proposed works but has the potential to be affected by mechanical
vibration. |
Cultural Landscape Features |
||||
LF01 |
Grave of Ms Shek |
11.2 |
0.5 |
The proposed works will be carried out
along the carriageway and the grave is sitting in the lawn with some other
trees. It should not be affected by
the proposed works directly. Public
access to the grave may be affected. |
LF02 |
Shrine |
11.2 |
43 |
The shrine is at a distance from the
proposed work, no impact to the shrine is expected. |
LF03 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
14.5 |
The shrine is up above the stair and at a
distance from the proposed work, no impact to the shrine is expected. |
LF04 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
0 |
The shrine and its furnace are very close
to the proposed sewerage alignment. The shrine appeared to be a modern
concrete structure. It should not be
directly affected but there is potential to be affected by mechanical
vibration from the construction works.
Public access to the shrine will also be affected. |
LF05 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
4.5 |
The shrine is at 4.5m from the works
boundary and the shrine appeared to be a modern concrete structure, it should
not be affected by vibration from the construction works. Public access to the shrine will be
affected. |
LF06 |
Sea God Shrine |
11.2 |
2.5 |
The sewerage alignment will run along the
shore. No impact to the shrine is expected. The submarine outfall will start at the
shore outside the shrine and the construction should avoid direct damage to
the altar. |
Operation Stage
Cumulative Impacts
11.5.3.
There may be two potential concurrent projects in the area, i.e.
l
Roundabout
near the minibus terminal;
l
Fish
culture zone (FCZ) dredging and relocation
Construction Stage
Table 11-4: Mitigation Measures in Construction Stage
Site Code |
Site Name |
Figure No. |
Page No. in App 11.2 |
Approximate distance from works boundary |
Mitigation Measures |
Graded Historic Buildings |
|||||
GB01 |
Hung Shing Temple |
11.2 |
1-3 |
2.5 |
Condition survey should be carried out by
professional qualified building surveyor or engineer to record the existing
condition of the Temple and report for this Graded Historic Building has to
be submitted to AMO for comment before the commencement of works. Vibration and settlement monitoring is
suggested to prevent the Temple from mechanical vibration. As the Temple is close to the construction
works, a protective covering on a movable fence should be provided to prevent
direct impact from the machine or dirt from the construction works. |
Built Heritages |
|||||
BH01 |
Sir Ho Tung Recreation Centre |
11.2 |
4-5 |
13.5 |
No impact is expected and no mitigation
measure is required. |
BH02 |
House 10, Po Toi O Village |
11.2 |
6-7 |
0 |
Condition survey should be carried out by
professional qualified building surveyor or engineer to record the existing
condition of the house before the commencement of works. In case further
structural support is required, it should be carried out accordingly. Vibration and settlement monitoring is
suggested to prevent the building from damages by mechanical vibration. As the building is very close to the
construction works, a protective screen should be provided during that
localised works to prevent damages by construction tools or waste. A buffer zone of at least 1m from the
proposed works should be provided as far as possible to prevent any direct
and indirect impact. |
Cultural Landscape Features |
|||||
LF01 |
Grave of Ms Shek |
11.2 |
8-9 |
0.5 |
Public access to the grave should be
maintained to allow descendants to visit the grave. As the grave is close to the construction
works, a protective screen should be provided during that localised works to
prevent damages by construction tools or waste. A buffer zone of at least 1m from the
proposed works should be provided as far as possible to prevent any direct
and indirect impact. |
LF02 |
Shrine |
11.2 |
10-11 |
43 |
No impact is expected and no mitigation
measure is required. |
LF03 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
12 |
14.5 |
No impact is expected and no mitigation
measure is required. |
LF04 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
13 |
0 |
Condition survey should be carried out by
professional qualified building surveyor or engineer to record the existing
condition of the shrine before the commencement of works. Vibration and settlement monitoring is
suggested to prevent the shrine from mechanical vibration. Public access to the shrine should be
maintained to allow villagers to worship. As the shrine is close to the construction
works, a protective screen should be provided during that localised works to
prevent damages by construction tools or waste. A buffer zone of at least 1m from the
proposed works should be provided as far as possible to prevent any direct
and indirect impact. |
LF05 |
Earth God Shrine |
11.2 |
14 |
4.5 |
Public access to the shrine should be
maintained to allow villagers to worship. |
LF06 |
Sea God Shrine |
11.2 |
15-17 |
2.5 |
No impact is expected and no mitigation
measure is required. |
Operation Stage
11.7
Evaluation of Residual Impact
11.8
Environmental Monitoring and Audit
AMO reference file AM98-0941, Hung Shing Temple, Po Toi O.
Environmental Impact Assessment Report: Drainage Improvement in Sai Kung, EIA-101/2004
Environmental Impact Assessment Report: Proposed Extension of Public Golf Course at Kau Sai Chau Island, Sai Kung, EIA-112/2005
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